Crossman seeking Democratic nomination for House District 120

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    MILO — Donald Crossman of Milo, who has served eight years on the SAD 41/AOS 43 Board of Directors, has taken out nomination papers for Maine House District 120.
    He’ll seek the Democratic nomination for the district consisting of his home town plus Atkinson, Brownville, Brownville Junction, Dover-Foxcroft, Lake View and Medford.

    “As school board chairman, I feel our district is on the right track,” Crossman said. “(Superintendent) Mike Wright is doing a great job; and with the AOS structure, there have been some financial savings, but we’re also giving our children the quality education they deserve.”
    House District 120 is being vacated by Rep. Paul Davis, whose hometown of Sangerville was moved to House District 119 after reapportionment. Davis is now running for Senate District 4 against incumbent Doug Thomas of Ripley. Two Republicans are now seeking the House seat: Norman Higgins of Dover-Foxcroft and Joseph Legere of Milo.
    Crossman retired from Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center in Bangor after serving for 24 years, most recently as the clinical nurse manager. He and his wife, Joni, own Crossman Rentals in Milo and Brownville and are in the process of reopening the former Four Corners Variety in LaGrange.
    “We’re going to rename it LaGrange General Store,” Crossman said. “We think it has a lot of potential and the timing is right for us. Right now, if you’re a resident of LaGrange, you have to drive 10 miles to get a loaf of bread.”
    Some of Crossman’s campaign issues are health care, the economy, transportation and the economic well-being of Piscataquis County. “Sooner or later, America is going to have universal health care,” Crossman said. “It won’t be free and it won’t be cheap. Therefore, the MaineCare expansion makes sense. When uninsured people go to the emergency room, we’re going to pay for their health care one way or another.”
    Crossman added, however, that government needs to tighten its belt in other areas. “I agree in some respect with the Republicans that we’re giving away money that we don’t have,” the Democratic candidate said. “The real question we have to ask our government is if we’re getting the amount of services for our tax dollars.”
    But Crossman added that he feels “the economy is going better than expected. The stock market is doing well and I don’t think things are as bad as some politicians imply.”
    Crossman also noted that Piscataquis County has had some economic development projects that were on the drawing boards but never materialized. “We’ve really been let down economically,” he said. “What we need to do is talk to business owners to see what it takes to hire one more employee each. Let’s look at our resources we already have and how we can make it work for us.”
    One thing that Crossman says bothers him is the reluctance of people to serve on municipal boards. “For example, we haven’t had a school board member from Atkinson in nine months,” he said. “If we’re going to make positive changes, it has to be at the local level.”
    Crossman is retired from the Maine Army National Guard and served on active duty with the Army from 1969-72.
    He is married to the former Joni Bishop of LaGrange, who ran for the legislature against Davis four years ago. Crossman ran for Piscataquis County commissioner against Fred Trask a few years ago, but said that Trask “is an excellent commissioner. There are no hard feelings between us.”
    Crossman can be reached at 279-0878 or Cro3don@msn.com.