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By Shelagh Talbot - GREENVILLE - Two candidates - Paul (Arno) Fichtner and Carroll Smith - have tossed their hats into the ring for the position of selectman following Eugene (Gene) F. Murray’s resignation from the board. Both men are natives to Greenville and each has a desire to serve the community. Fichtner is a local businessman and has owned Big Lake Equipment for the past 16 years. He has also been instrumental in coordinating the grooming for the snowmobile trails for the town of Greenville and worked closely with town manager John Simko in the purchase of the new Pisten Bully grooming machine. Fichtner also owns and operates the Penobscot Lodge on pristine Penobscot Lake near the Canadian border. “My reason for running is to be a representative of the business community,” Fichtner said. “I feel that Greenville is fast becoming a tourist/retirement town and we need to broaden our scope. If you transition from an industrial community to a more service-oriented community, things can be lost. There are some very important issues that need to be addressed. We don’t want to lose our hospital and school and at the same time, we don’t want to tax our residents to the point that they cannot continue to live here,” Fichtner continued. “There has to be some equality. The bottom line is making Greenville a better place to live.” Fichtner and his wife Donna reside on the East Road in Greenville. They have three children. Smith brings a wealth of knowledge of school systems to his candidacy. He has taught at Washington Academy in East Machias and he retired as assistant principal from Penobscot Valley High School. His wife Fonda has been teaching in the Greenville schools for many years. “I think we need to make some changes in the town,” Smith said. “My main objective is to see that taxes are lowered. We cannot allow the citizens of Greenville to shoulder such a large tax burden. We need to get the town and the school system to work together. The school can be a big resource for the town,” Smith added. Smith expressed concern that if the school should close, the hospital would shortly thereafter follow suit. “That would leave Greenville as just a tourist town, with nothing else to offer,” Smith said. He and his wife live on Cottage Street in Greenville. They have three children, one of whom is a Junior at Greenville High School. |