The two small-business owners vying to represent House District 53 say they are in search of good ideas to support. Neither believes any one person, or party, has a lock on developing those ideas.

Jeffrey Pierce, 52, of Dresden, a builder with a lengthy background in commercial fisheries, is trying to unseat incumbent Democrat Peter Kent, 63, of Woolwich, a long-time legislator who works as a sculptor and builder.

District 53 covers Dresden, Woolwich, Arrowsic, Georgetown and Phippsburg.

Kent grew up in a political family and was first elected to the House six years ago. He spent part of his childhood in Africa while his parents served with a social organization akin to the Peace Corps. Kent said both his mom and his dad were active in a variety of social issues.

Kent said it’s easy to lose focus at the State House, but it’s important to try to take a long-term view.

“I’ve been up there for six years and seen 2,000 or 3,000 pieces of legislation,” Kent said. “Sometimes I sit there and wonder what is it building? Legislation are the tools that build the future. I don’t know what we’re going to build when we have 3,000 bits of legislation going through and no vision.”

Pierce, too, became politically active later in life. His transition occurred in 2007 when the longtime alewife fisherman got a letter from the state notifying him he could no longer harvest the fish because of a change in regulations. Pierce founded the Alewife Harvesters of Maine, which organized fishermen to challenge the changes. By 2011, the fishermen had negotiated new regulations with the state Department of Marine Resources. The agreement preserved not only a $6 million industry, Pierce said, but maintained an important supply line of bait fish for lobster fishermen.

Pierce is executive director of the Maine Elver Fishermen Association, which shrunk from a $40 million industry in 2012 to $12 million this year. Pierce also serves with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s technical expert working group for habitat, which is looking at shad and river herring migrations in rivers and streams up and down the East Coast.

Pierce said his experience has made him a strong supporter of preserving Maine’s commercial fishing heritage while also protecting resources. He believes the state should look for ways to boost hydro power as a dependable, clean energy source, but not at the expense of crucial fish migrations.

“I’m a Republican and I’m an environmentalist,” Pierce said. “I’m a strong advocate of hydro passage, but also a great advocate of hydro power.”

Kent said his varied experiences, too, inform his approach as a legislator. He holds a degree in English literature from Arcadia University in Pennsylvania, but also studied forestry and conservation for two years at Cornell University and construction science for two years at Merritt College in California.

Kent said lawmakers have been distracted by “noise” that creates division, such as welfare and illegal immigration.

“These are all issues that can be looked at, but they are not moving Maine forward in a significant way,” Kent said. “Nobody’s asking where Maine is headed. We’ve got to create strategy and vision for Maine for 25 years from now.”

Kent said the concerns of his district mirror those of the rest of the state: jobs and the economy.

“Nobody wants fraud in welfare,” Kent said. “We don’t want to spend money where we shouldn’t, but that’s not moving Maine forward. Let’s talk about what is Maine? What is Maine good at? Why are people here? What kind of businesses will work? What can Maine grow in the long term.”

Pierce said part of that vision, at least in his district, includes preserving the commercial fisheries. He said there are a number of elderly lobstermen who are fishing the legal minimum number of traps so they don’t lose their license while young men and women lose interest in pursuing a license because of the difficult apprenticeship program mandated by the state.

“I think lobstermen should be able to give their licenses to an immediate family member who knows the water as well as anyone,” Pierce said.

Pierce said taxes and regulations are stifling business creation, but the cost of energy is the most difficult challenge facing entrepreneurs. Pierce said the state should continue to encourage the development of natural gas lines, which he believes will lower the price of home heating oil. Pierce said the state should eliminate the 100 megawatt cap on hydro power facilities so they are motivated to retrofit dams with more efficient turbines.

“They need to know they have a secure future in this because it’s a huge investment,” Pierce said.

He said wind power, which he described as unreliable and expensive, is only attractive to companies seeking government subsidies more than generating clean energy.

Kent said the Legislature is looking for long-term solutions to some problems, such as Maine’s aging population and job creation.

“Those are efforts, but they don’t get much media attention because we have a governor that’s creating so much division,” Kent said.

Pierce said there is a diversity of opinion in his district about what lawmakers should be doing to help foster prosperity. Legislation should be built with as much information as possible and with a guard against unintended consequences, he said.

“There’s a lot of great people on either side,” Pierce said. “Nobody ever gets elected to try and mess something up. I’d like to see my children be able to stay in the state of Maine, get a good paying job, so I can see my grandchildren. If my children can do it, that means everyone else’s children can do it, too.”

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @CraigCrosby4

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