A longtime fixture at City Hall, Roch Angers tells the Gazette he wants to follow in Richard Dutremble’s footsteps at the county level
By RANDY SEAVER, Editor
Roch Angers – a longtime former Biddeford city councilor and a current planning board member – told the Gazette Sunday that he is seriously considering a run for the District Two seat on the York County Board of Commissioners.
The county’s District Two seat is being vacated this year by Richard Dutremble of Biddeford who announced in January that he will not seek reelection after 20 years of service on the board.
Last week, former Biddeford City Councilor Doris Ortiz formally announced that she is hoping to replace Dutremble as the county commissioner representing Biddeford.
RELATED: Ortiz announces run for York County Commission
Angers, 73, is a well-known politician in the city of Biddeford. For many years, his family ran a small grocery store on South Street. He attended St. Louis High School and then graduated from Biddeford High School in 1971.
Angers has been a fixture at City Hall for more than three decades. His brother Luc was Biddeford’s city clerk in the 1980s.
Roch Angers has served on the Biddeford City Council under four different mayors, including Lucien “Babe” Dutremble, Roger Normand, Donna Dion and Alan Casavant.
“I guess you could say that I have been around for quite a while,” he laughed during a telephone interview. “I still enjoy public service.”
Angers, a self-described moderate and fiscal conservative, said he wants to follow in Dutremble’s footsteps.
“I think he [Dutremble] is an outstanding commissioner,” Angers said. “When I learned he was stepping down, I picked up the phone and begged him to stay in the seat.”
Angers has served nearly a decade on the Biddeford Planning Board, and he became the center of controversy last year when he personally appeared before the Biddeford City Council to express his concerns about a controversial research pier being proposed by the University of New England.
In August – only days before the planning board narrowly voted 3-2 to approve the project — Angers told the council he was troubled by the review process.
“Something about this seems fishy,” Angers told the council. He was one of two planning board members who later voted against the proposal.
RELATED: Planning board member tells council UNE plan seems fishy
Former Mayor Marty Grohman was incensed by Angers’ move to speak publicly about the project while also serving as a member of the planning board.
Grohman later attempted to remove Angers from the planning board but got almost no support for that effort from the city council.
When Grohman brought the issue forward, the council remained silent and stone-faced. No one would second a motion offered by former Ward One City Councilor William Emhiser.
After several seconds of silence from the other eight councilors, City Attorney Harry Center advised the mayor that the issue was dead on arrival.
Grohman later told the Gazette that he would continue his efforts to remove Angers from the planning board. That never happened.
Today, Angers is enjoying his retirement after working many years in various management positions for Shaw’s supermarkets across Maine.
“I think I have something to offer,” Angers said, pointing out that he is concerned about the growing county budget and its impact on Biddeford and the city’s neighboring communities of Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport.
Angers said he hopes to make a final decision about running in the next few days. He said he has been calling several people throughout the community.
“Many people have told me that they would support me,” Angers said. “I am honored and truly appreciative of that support, but I want to make sure that I dot my I’s and cross my T’s,” he laughed.
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CORRECTION: This story contained an error, stating that Angers retired as a butcher from the Shaw’s supermarket in Saco. In fact, Angers retired from Shaw’s after many years of working in various management positions for Shaw’s supermarkets across the state. We have corrected the story, and apologize for the error.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He has been covering Biddeford news and politics for nearly three decades. He may be reached by email: randy@randyseaver.com
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