Walter Voskian

Office Sought: Lincoln County Commissioner

District: 2

Towns Served: Bremen, Waldoboro, Nobleboro, Bristol, South Bristol, and Monhegan Plantation

About Walter Voskian

I have served for over 40 years in elected and appointed positions in local and county government here in Maine and elsewhere. Most recently, I served as chairman of the Bremen Planning Board, where, building on the good work of my predecessor, I believe I led the Board to higher levels of efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency. I also served as a member of Bremen’s Budget Committee and Ordinance Review Committee, participating in revisions of the Town’s major ordinances, and as a member of the Executive Board of the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission. Before moving to Maine from northern Virginia in 2013,  I served for several years as town councilman and chairman and member of other town and county boards and committees.

In my professional life, I served for over 30 years in the CIA’s office responsible for producing intelligence assessments—written and spoken—for the president and other senior US officials. There I worked as an analyst, editor, and senior manager of a unit that produced classified analysis on a volatile part of the world for the “President’s Daily Brief” and other intelligence publications. I also frequently traveled overseas to consult with embassy and Agency officers and to brief foreign liaison services. After retiring from the CIA, I taught analytic tradecraft, evaluated analytic production, and authored two books on analytic tradecraft.

Platform Issues:

If elected I would work to ensure:

• That the county government remains on the solid economic footing it has enjoyed in recent years.
• That the many components managed by the commissioners for the citizens of the county’s 19 towns—ranging from the offices of the sheriff and district attorney to emergency management to county planning—are sufficiently funded, staffed, and equipped to deal with wide ranging, complex, and evolving responsibilities.
• That the county’s citizens have more opportunities to gain a clearer view of the functions, responsibilities, and performance of the commissioners and county government.

In other areas, I would work to ensure that the county continues to take the lead in addressing important issues such as housing availability, employment opportunities, transportation resources, environmental sustainability, broadband access, and law enforcement challenges, such as substance abuse and relations with federal officials.

I would also like to see more county sponsored training for local elected and appointed officials as the responsibilities for these important positions grow and evolve.

Finally, I would like to see the county move quickly to complete the identification of an appropriate site for the new, much needed county public safety building.