Tomorrow, October 1, the Biddeford Gazette will officially begin its coverage of the 2025 municipal elections in Biddeford.
It’s hard to explain why I am so excited about this time of year. I feel like a little kid on Christmas morning.
After working at other newspapers, I began covering news in Biddeford during the month of October, nearly 30 years ago. I jumped right in with almost no historical perspective.
I was immediately hooked and fascinated by the city’s political machinations, the stories and the legends.
I found myself intrigued by long-winded tales about people like ‘Babe” Dutremble, “Papa” Lausier and “Tiny” Frechette.
Sure, I was already a lifelong political junkie. At 10 years old, my parents had to pry me from the television as I watched the culmination of the Watergate scandal.
In middle school, I would brag that I had shaken hands with Ed Muskie and Jimmy Carter. Yup, I was a weird kid.
During my junior year of high school, I found myself working in an actual newsroom during a brief internship at the Journal Tribune. We had IBM Selectric typewriters. Everyone in the newsroom drank coffee, most of them smoked – at their desks.
Bob Melville, the city editor, wore his glasses perched on the end of the nose. He referred to me only as “kid.” He almost made me cry when he questioned my loose grasp of the English language.
We got lunches at Poli’s at Five Points, and profanity was acceptable in the workplace. I was working among titans who kept the city’s political players in check.
It was a glorious time. I knew then and there what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to be the next Carl Bernstein.
I feel a special connection to Biddeford City Hall. I am one of the lucky ones. I still remember smoke-filled, off-the-record meetings in “Ward Eight” with guys like Bob Dodge and Bruce Benway, the city’s first manager.
Secrets were carefully revealed. Suggestions were made. Deals were struck – all behind the scenes.
Back then, there were 11 members of the city council. The city had four at-large representatives. I still remember the meeting when Mayor Donna Dion appointed Maria Martin to fill the vacancy created by her father’s death.
J. Richard “Dick” Martin was another of those local political legends.
Today, I still love the creak and groan of those old wooden stairs that lead to the Council Chamber on the third floor. The smell is the same. If you pause, silent — you can almost hear the whispers of those now ghosts who were so eager to climb those stairs for more than a century.
Today, I am honored to be entrusted by so many people to report the news that happens in Biddeford. It’s not an easy gig, and that’s what makes it great.
In the 1990s, I and my colleagues from the Tribune and Portland Press Herald sat in the back row during council meetings. We respected one another, but we were fiercely competitive.
We would have stabbed one another in the neck for an exclusive story. The people were well served by the local press. I got to work with top-notch reporters like Ted Cohen and Kelley Bouchard.
Over the years, I became more and more immersed in Biddeford politics. I got to interview people like former mayors Michael Cantara and Bonnie Pothier. I listened as former councilor Kitty Goodreau recalled a story about an angry businessman who threatened to “kneecap” a councilor because of a zoning change.
Former mayor Alan Casavant once lost an election by one vote because he did not vote for himself (true story).
I vividly recall the battles like a council order to re-route all trash trucks through Saco and the predictable, regular chorus of “Peaker’s Squeakers,” the three men from Biddeford Pool who were politically aligned with Councilor Ron Peaker.
And I cannot forget the marvelous “after council” meetings that would take place at that round corner table tucked away near the bar at the Wonderbar Restaurant.
I would give almost anything to have Vinny Keely pour me another perfect pint of Guiness while I chatted, laughed and fought with people like Jim Grattelo, Kent Webster, Kyle Noble and even my old editor Bob Melville — who didn’t even remember that I briefly sat next to him in a newsroom.
Yup, I am one of the lucky ones.
The next chapter of Biddeford’s ongoing political story begins tomorrow. I only hope for two things:
First, that you find my coverage to be helpful in making your decisions about who should run our city for the next two years. Secondly, that you are unable to figure out which candidates I am personally supporting. Now, let the games begin.
NOTE: For more information about the local issues, elections and candidates, please click THIS LINK
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Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He may be reached by email at randy@randyseaver.com
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