Gorham voters may choose three candidates from the field of six to serve on their town council by election day, November 4, 2025.
Gorham is the only town council and staff that still supports a new turnpike expansion. The town also recently entered into a land sale agreement with Amazon, that would sell 94 acres of Main Street property for an undisclosed use. Mainers for Smarter Transportation believes that the Amazon project will be used as a pretense to revive the Gorham “Connector” turnpike expansion proposal.
We emailed each declared candidate and asked their positions on the Gorham Connector and the Amazon land sale. We have received responses from four of the six candidates. The full text of the questions and the candidates’ full responses are provided below. We will provide them in the order that we received them. Here is a summary of each:
Sam Purinton: Opposes turnpike expansion; Opposes Amazon land deal
Charlie Hamblen: Opposes turnpike expansion; Opposes Amazon land deal
Seven Siegel (incumbent): Opposes turnpike expansion; Opposes Amazon land deal
Tim O’Leary: Needs more information before taking a position.
Kelly Dearborn: no response yet.
Phillip Gagnon (incumbent): no response. Mr. Gagnon has been a vocal supporter of the Gorham Connector turnpike expansion on the town council, and voted in-favor of the land sale to Amazon.
We will continue to seek responses from Gagnon and Dearborn, and we will circulate them if we receive them.
Gorham’s council election is on November 4, 2025. The folks who win these seats would likely be the swing votes on the fate of the Gorham “Connector”, the pending deal with Amazon, and what kind of future the town will have. Gorham’s choices could reshape the town for generations, while also impacting traffic, town budgets, costs for families, highway tolls, and small businesses throughout the region.
Our questions:
1 . Do you support the construction of a new divided highway from I-95 to Gorham akin to the MTA-designed Gorham Connector that was paused in March 2025? Please explain your answer. Mainers for Smarter Transportation believes there are many cheaper, greener, faster, and less destructive solutions to address traffic in this region.
2. Do you support the sale of Main Street land to Amazon? On the Council, will you support Amazon’s use of that land for: (a) a warehouse and order fulfillment center; (b) an AI or traditional data center; or (c) a Whole Foods Market grocery store? Please explain your answer. Mainers for Smarter Transportation are concerned that Amazon’s unannounced project using this land will undermine the town’s stated goals of developing a livable, walkable, quiet and safe village center.
Here are the full responses from each candidate:
Sam Purinton
Do you support a turnpike?
Absolutely not. The traffic issue in south Gorham revolves around the mile long overlap of routes 22 and 114. The proposed solution is a 5 mile 4 lane highway that doesn’t even go to Portland, which in 2019 was estimated to cost ~$330 million. This is the equivalent of performing open heart surgery to fix a papercut. The solution is far too big for the problem. What I would like to see instead is replacing the lights with “smart lights” (which seems to have been done with 1 of the intersections). Also, the only way to “fix” traffic is to give people alternatives to driving, whether that’s creating more jobs in Gorham (to reduce driving to Portland), making it easier to walk or bike instead of drive around town, or make the husky line more viable for more people.
Do you support the Amazon land sale?
If I were on the council, I would’ve voted against authorizing the sale of the land parcel to amazon for 4 million dollars. 4 million for that lotbreaks down to $42,554 per acre. If I knew I could buy land in Gorham for ~$42k, I would’ve come up with 4 million dollars! I understand some of that land is wetland and otherwise impossible to develop, but even if half the plot is off limits, that’s still ~$85k an acre, which is still a great price for that location! Amazon got a deal.
On the Council, will you support Amazon’s use of that land for: (a) a warehouse and order fulfillment center; (b) an AI or traditional data center; or (c) a Whole Foods Market grocery store?
Amazon has not stated how they will use the land. If they use it as a warehouse/distribution center, this will flood the village with traffic as Amazon delivers to points west of Gorham. If they use it as a data center, they will create a massive burden on a water system after a historic drought. I’ve also seen rumors that they might use it for whole-foods, but that’s hard to imagine as they already have one in Portland, and greater Portland does not have the demand to support two Whole Foods stores. But there’s one possibility I’ve not heard discussed. If I were Amazon and had just bought land for $42k an acre in Gorham, I would probably just keep the land vacant and sell it later at a profit.
Seven Siegel (incumbent)
Do you support a turnpike?
I do not support the Gorham connector. The original study which spawned the idea of the connector specifically writes: “The purpose of this study is to develop a series of recommendations to enhance, expand and preserve highway connections.” It is a flawed idea from the start, highway connections do not reduce traffic. Reducing traffic is honestly simple: less cars on the road means less traffic. To get less cars on the road, we need to make it easier for people to walk, bike, and take public transit. We also need to promote mixed-use development with commercial close to residential so Gorham residents don’t need to drive everywhere. Both of those steps will go way farther to fix traffic than the Gorham connector.
Do you support the land sale to Amazon?
I don’t support the sale of Main Street land to Amazon. I think that land, especially being right along the Husky line, could have higher and better uses as a mixed-use development. At the same time, that lot has been for sale for close to 5 years at this point. We are beholden to private development and no one approached about buying the land for any kind of mixed-use. In fact, that lot was already zoned for a 100,000 sq ft warehouse with a different buyer who pulled out in the end. While I don’t support the sale, I don’t think we should hold up the plans Amazon has because that will further delay any residential tax relief. We should definitely make sure that community input from residents is listened to throughout the planning board process though. Being on the council for the past 3 years, I have learned that every decision has nuance. There are many sides to consider for every vote, but in the end we just get a yes or no; we get no nuance in how we vote. It makes decisions like this one in particular very hard.
Charlie Hamblen
Do you support a turnpike?
No. The Gorham Connector proposal does not reflect current needs of the state and surrounding communities. COVID changed the way many of us commute, make purchases and see the world around us. We are unlikely to return to pre COVID norms. The cost of a new vehicle now exceeds $50k for the first time, out of reach for many people. The economic factor will make driving more of a luxury, only when necessary. The explosion of AI impacts will reach most aspects of daily life, making changes we cannot foresee. Dusting off an old idea for a divided highway to solve problems of the future is not the answer. Let’s look at alternative ideas that better match the way people are living today.
Do you support the land sale to Amazon?
I don’t see Amazon as a fit for Main Street in Gorham. Whatever Amazon proposes for that location is designed to service people over a large area of New England, maybe further. Amazon belongs in a heavily industrialized area, with ready access to freeways and electricity. Gorham is not prepared for the impact of this type of organization. The community of Gorhamwould be better served by increased retail and housing to satisfy the current needs. Asking Hannaford to move to that spot, or building density housing along with retail/restaurants better serves local residents. A Whole Foods would be okay, especially surrounded by shops and restaurants owned by local people, serving local residents. Let’s build a better community for Gorham.
Tim O’Leary
As I have not privy to the innermost decision-making that was developed to spur the present status of these issues, I am as uninformed as our local citizens regarding the totality of previous discussions.
This is why I am running for the Town Council to ascertain why we are even at this level of indecision among the Town’s citizens. What total impact does the connector have and what are the ramifications to develop a piece of Gorham land that is fraught with developmental use?
I know this is not what you are wanting to know from me, but until I can understand how we’ve arrived at this point through previous Council meetings, I cannot give you definitive answers.
Kelly Dearborn
No response yet.
Phil Gagnon (incumbent)
No response yet.
Here’s more information on the candidates from a more open questionnaire.