Roch Angers’ defeat signals the obvious in Biddeford

A once predictable city is changing so fast that it’s hard for me and my fellow dinosaurs to keep up with the shifting landscape

Fifteen years ago, what happened in Biddeford on Tuesday would have been unimaginable . . . but in the context of today’s Biddeford, Roch Angers’ brutal defeat for a seat on the York County Commissioners board was quite predictable.

Both Roch Angers and Doris Ortiz were good candidates; both former city councilors who ran good campaigns rooted in mutual respect and the highest of ideals.

But in the end, it came down to a battle between the new and the old.

And from where I sit, that election result only further demonstrates a somewhat obvious truth.

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The times, they are a changin’

There has been much talk lately about a changing Biddeford. The conversations that are driving a newly cemented – not yet solid narrative are taking place in coffee shops, social media mumblings and in traditional media stories across the state.

The former mill town, where a dying breed of Franco immigrants still wear their hearts on their sleeves, is slowly (and somewhat stubbornly) waking up to an exciting future with new energy and potential.  But as it is with all change, it is simultaneously terrifying for those who were quite comfortable as the city’s gatekeepers and keyholders.

The new narrative portrays Biddeford as a jewel in southern Maine, wedged conveniently between Boston and Portland with light rail and easy interstate access.

I think it’s bit too early to declare that new narrative as dominant, but I do think there is an undeniable truth that can longer be avoided.

This is no longer your father’s Biddeford.

I do think there is an undeniable
truth that can longer be avoided.
This is no longer
your father’s Biddeford.

From time to time, I offer my opinions on who I think are the driving forces in the Biddeford-Saco community — my hometown, where I was born and where I will likely die.

Who are the city’s most influential residents? Who are the movers and shakers?

Today — despite paying very close attention to local politics — I have almost no clue about who the local heavyweights are or what is driving them and their quest for power and influence.

I am a dinosaur with waning energy and my own set of historical biases. I am facing extinction, but that’s just the way it goes. It’s unavoidable. And it’s also fascinating to observe.

To all you young whippersnappers who think you have it all figured out – just wait 40 years. This dynamic of change is not isolated nor does it happen in a vacuum.

Goodbye, Mulligan’s. Hello, Sacred Profane.

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Where we were before

From my perspective — as a journalist who has been covering this community on and off for 30 years – Biddeford’s socio-political climate has experienced a seismic, irreversible shift and that earthquake isn’t ending anytime soon.

Whether you like it or not, it’s time – even as a new Charter Commission begins its work to determine our city’s future governing policies – for the old guard to step aside and acknowledge the obvious.

In short, it’s time for many of the former socio-political heavyweights to wake up and smell the coffee.

Biddeford’s socio-political climate
has experienced a seismic,
irreversible shift and that
earthquake isn’t ending anytime soon.

While this may be perceived as good news by those under the age of 45, it is causing some angst among older residents who never saw the change coming – or at least were reluctant to understand that they have been incrementally losing relevance over the last 20 years.

But as much as Biddeford has changed, some things remain as constant reminders of the city’s unique culture and history when compared to other Maine communities.

Despite a wannabe belief in mutual cooperation that extends across the Saco River, many Saco residents still hold Biddeford in certain disdain.

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Though carefully layered and presented, the old narratives of Saco’s disdain for Biddeford are still playing out – best evidenced in social media commentary regarding the current tension between the city of Saco and Thornton Academy.

There is a notable distrust of Jeremy Ray, a Biddeford-based school superintendent who also oversees public schools in Saco and the neighboring town of Dayton.

Despite the obvious cost-savings and improved efficiency offered to taxpayers on both sides of the river, Ray is being portrayed as a “spy,” somehow infiltrating the pristine and oh-so-beautiful city of Saco, a city that will soon come to terms with many of its own – though not rigorously discussed – internal challenges.

For now, — as Biddeford wrestles with the damage done by years of mismanagement by its former city manager (and his accomplices of mayors who were much more worried about their own place in history than the city’s well-being) many Saco residents can sit back comfortably and continue to sneer and laugh at those who live on the other side of the river.

And please don’t tell me that dynamic of insults and condescension from Saco is the stuff of legend or working-class resentment.

Spare me. I grew up on the right side of the river. I know all the jokes that are told – still today – about the city of Biddeford.

Back to Biddeford.

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In the late 1990s –before Biddeford’s current mayor was even born — when I first began covering the city of Biddeford as a journalist — the community wasn’t much different than it was when I was growing up here in the 1970s.

Yes, the mills were slowing down and marching toward inevitable death – and yes Woolworth’s, McKenney and Heard Hardware and Butler’s were long gone — but Biddeford was still recognizable.

In the late 1990s, the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce and La Kermess were the heavy hitters – the so-called golden calves that were treated with kid gloves by Biddeford’s political leaders – and even by the media.

Today, both of those organizations are struggling to remain relevant and influential.

Today, it is the non-profit Heart of Biddeford that gives pause to local politicians. Even questioning that organization can land you in a social solitary confinement. (I’m bracing, even as I write this)

To their credit, the Heart of Biddeford has done some amazing things, leading the transformation of a downtown that fell deep into neglect and pessimism once the last blankets came off the assembly line.

But in the 1990s, just uttering the Dutremble surname caused political wannabes to pause in their tracks. That family had become Biddeford royalty, quietly guiding and shepherding the city through many storms.

In those days, a political endorsement from any member of the Dutremble family – Babe, Duke or Richard — carried gravitas and an almost certain guarantee of political victory.

But despite an endorsement from Richard Dutremble, Roch Angers — a once venerable lion in the dangerous jungle of Biddeford politics — only slightly defeated fellow Democrat Doris Ortiz in the Biddeford primary.

Ortiz – a former Biddeford city councilor and now resident of Arundel – rolled over Angers almost effortlessly in the neighboring towns of Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport.

How did that happen? Easy.

Meet the new boss

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Angers was stymied in the other towns simply because of his address. It’s not hard to understand why voters in Kennebunk or Kennebunkport would much prefer a candidate from Arundel than Biddeford.

Angers’ political roots go back decades. His support among the old guard is quite storied with tales that trace back to his family’s small South Street market.

Make no mistake. Angers still has muscle and political clout. If you don’t believe me, just ask former mayor Marty Grohman.

But like me, and some other old-timers, Angers has the intellect to see and acknowledge Biddeford’s inevitable shifting landscape.

Ortiz came to Biddeford seven years ago. She left her post at Biddeford City Hall just weeks before the bomb exploded and the city was thrown into governing chaos.

Ortiz is smart, passionate and committed. She will likely be a good and responsible county commissioner. But think back to 1976 – or even as recently as 1996 – who would have ever believed then that openly gay candidates could defeat more traditional candidates —— in Biddeford?

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The elections of House Speaker Ryan Fecteau and Doris Ortiz clearly signal a new era and a big change in a former mill town’s once predictable political trajectory.

When I started covering Biddeford politics, the following names were completely unknown and thus, irrelevant. But those individuals are — today – (beyond doubt) rising political stars (Delilah Poupore, Sayeed Zafar, Abigail Woods, Leah Schafer, Sam Pecor, Patrick Conlon, Loren McCready, Stirling Roop and Cat Bates).

The rising national appeal of Graham Platner is sucking all the oxygen out of today’s news cycle, but I respectfully submit to you — that same political phenomenon is also embedded at the local level – right here in Biddeford.

P.S. Ortiz’s term as a county commissioner will take place in four years, the same exact time when her Arundel neighbor Henry Ingwersen will be facing term limits for his state senate seat.

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