2023 Municipal Election Candidate Bios

CANDIDATES NIGHT THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd at 6:00PM

Join us February 2nd, 2023 to ask questions and get to know the candidates on the ballot for the March 14th Municipal Election.

Town Councilors and School Board members determine the level of service and approve the spending of your tax dollars for schools, snow plowing, trash removal, police & fire protection, housing code enforcement, zoning, etc.

Questions can be submitted in advance until 5pm on February 1st to info@orono.org.

WATCH AND PARTICIPATE ONLINE (Zoom link to follow)

This event will also stream live on our Facebook page

Town Council: 3-year Term (TWO seats open)

Click names to read candidate-submitted biographies.

  1. Daniel  C. Demeritt
  2. Meghan L. Gardner
  3. Jonathan A. Parker

Daniel Demeritt HeadshotThank you for being so interested in Orono's municipal election. I am happy to share my story and hope we can talk soon.
Our family moved to Orono during Covid. We choose the community because of the great schools and the opportunity to live in the small-town home of Maine's largest university.
The Orono Land Trust was a big and unexpected bonus!
We have found incredible belonging in Orono, met wonderful people, and made unforgettable new family memories. I want the same for everyone who lives, works and learns here.
I have been a regular in Orono for several years, leading the communications function of the University of Maine System. I concluded my time on campus directing marketing and communication for UMaine and the System.
My most significant contribution over the last eight years was coordinating the university's "Together for Maine" public health campaign.
We saved lives by following the science. We also built trust in our universities by prioritizing public health leadership and staying focused on the safety of our students, employees, and communities.
That trust contributed to historic investments in the university mission and helped us set a new record for enrollment at UMaine in the Fall of 2021.
I left the university early last spring. I now lead the Maine Association of Health Plans.
I also help vision-driven organizations like the Greater Portland Council of Governments think about how personal connection can help Maine communities overcome polarization and inspire people to listen, believe in each other, and come together to navigate complexity.
My professional experience also includes owning small businesses and working with public officials and elected leaders across the political spectrum and at every level of government.
I was incredibly proud to be a part of the 2012 campaign that made marriage legal for all loving Maine couples.
People are being very generous with their time and their ideas as I reach out to say hello. Every chance I get to learn leaves me more excited about what we can do in Orono together.
I hope to see you soon!

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RSU 26 School Board: 3-year Term (TWO seats open)

Click names to read candidate-submitted biographies.

  1. Brittany B. Cline
  2. Jacob J. Eckert
  3. Kevin J. Roberge

As background on Britt and her motivations for candidacy, she is an ecologist and mother of two young children.   She completed her M.A. at Bowdoin College; M.S. in wildlife science at Oregon State University; and Ph.D. in conservation biology at UMaine.  As a researcher, she investigates how animals move and access resources in fragmented or human-altered landscapes; this interest transcends to early-childhood learning and fostering in children: (1) a keen awareness of the natural world; and (2) social-emotional and academic resilience in the face of increasingly uncertain futures (from pandemics to climate).  To this end, she has collaborated with the Board Health & Wellness Sub-committee to assess feasibility of outdoor learning sites.  Britt has taught environmental education for primary-age children and is adjunct faculty at UMaine; she co-authored publications in higher-education journals focusing on interdisciplinarity in education.  From 2018-2020, she was Coordinator of Native American Science Education for the Wabanaki Youth in Science Program, where she integrated Western Science with Traditional Ecological Knowledge.  Britt believes deeply in diversity, equity, and inclusion.  She was co-editor of a special edition of the Maine Policy Review (sustainability solutions in Maine).  Britt is a leader at the Orono Community Giving Garden (OCGG); she endeavors to find synergy between OCGG and Orono Schools to increase access to local organic food, awareness of food insecurity, education about growing food, and utilization of RSU26 greenhouse space.  Britt has a firm allegiance to supporting Arts education (having a lifelong love/practice of music and fiber arts).  Finally, Britt is keen to contribute to the Board’s “Portrait of a Learner” portfolio – incorporating traditional metrics of student success with measures of critical thinking, creative problem solving, and social-emotional intelligence.  

Britt believes that the role of the School Board – for all the tireless hours of negotiation and compromise – is a beautiful one. Unlike other municipal investments – such as physical infrastructure that depreciate or crumble over time – the development of young minds is an investment that only appreciates with time.  One can never erode the foundations of knowledge from an inspired education; it would be her honor to serve on the RSU26 Board.