Protecting Gorham’s Future

Charlie Hamblen is a seventh-generation Gorham resident whose family has farmed the same land since 1783. A Gorham High School graduate, he spent time living in Florida and California before returning to Gorham to take over the farm. He raised four children here and built a 44-year career in business and finance, including three decades as CFO of a publicly traded company. Recently retired, Charlie has the time, energy, and expertise to serve full-time on the Town Council. He hopes to honor the memory of his father, Calvin Hamblen, who served five terms on the Gorham Town Council.
I am running in response to the rapid changes facing Gorham, including the infamous Amazon land sales, quarry expansion, and more than 900 new housing units that threaten to outpace the town’s roads, schools, and services. Is the town making the right decisions for the community?
I know how to evaluate budgets and set priorities—protecting taxpayers while still funding the services our town needs. With strong leadership and financial experience, I will make informed decisions and ensure accountability to keep Gorham a top place to live in Maine. I’m proud to be deeply rooted here and will always support the priorities of longtime Gorham families, while also including newer residents and the innovative solutions they bring to help move our town forward. Most importantly, I believe in truly listening to residents’ concerns and acting on them, so every voice in Gorham is represented.

Priorities

Smart Growth: Ensure development aligns with Gorham’s roads, schools, and essential services so that growth strengthens the community rather than straining it.
Fiscal Responsibility: Protect taxpayers by treating tax increases as a last resort and applying rigorous budget discipline to every decision.
Traffic Solutions: Pursue practical, data-driven strategies that ease congestion and improve safety for families and commuters without encroaching upon ancestral family farms.
Transparency & Accountability: Make Town Council decisions open, understandable, and directly accountable to residents.
Cultural Preservation: Keep Gorham true to its character and heritage while still welcoming thoughtful growth and improvements for the future.
Preserving Open Space: Fight to protect farmland and open space so they can continue to serve the community—for walking, biking, farming, and recreation.

Fiscal Responsibility Protecting taxpayers starts with disciplined budgeting

Raising taxes should always be a last resort.

After 30 years as CFO, Charlie knows how to evaluate budgets, set priorities, and protect taxpayers’ dollars.
Every dollar must be accounted for to balance community needs with taxpayer protection.
Funding education is a necessity, and inefficiencies should be eliminated to save money and balance community priorities.
Tax increases have put pressure on older residents of Gorham. Charlie hopes to alleviate that pressure through reallocation and community support programs.
Gorham deserves a representative who understands financial discipline and accountability — and who is better qualified than Charlie?

Gorham is growing fast but population growth must align with infrastructure—roads, schools and essential services need to keep up with demand.

Unchecked growth risks overcrowded classrooms, gridlocked traffic and overextended resources.
Smart planning ensures Gorham remains a desirable place to live, work and raise a family.
Each business should be thoroughly assessed before it is welcomed into our town to prevent environmental catastrophe or a drastic change in the town's character.
- The Amazon sale will not be finalized for 6 months, and Charlie believes it should be reconsidered.
This challenge may be new to Gorham, but it isn’t a new challenge - other towns have seen growth outpace development and strain their resources. Gorham can avoid those mistakes by planning ahead and learning from their examples.

Gorham’s growth makes traffic one of the town’s most urgent challenges — and with every passing day, solutions become more costly and invasive.

Congestion is both frustrating and dangerous for Gorham residents. It steals time from families, slows school buses, blocks first responders and makes daily life harder and riskier for everyone on the road.
Lasting solutions require planning and investment, not piecemeal fixes.
Smarter traffic management will ease daily burdens, improve safety and keep neighborhoods connected.

Residents should always understand how and why decisions are made. Open, accessible, consistent communication builds trust.

Town Council business should be clear, accessible, and easy for everyone to follow.
Accountability means explaining choices and standing behind them, even when decisions are difficult.
Residents should feel included in and informed about the decisions that impact their daily lives.

Growth should enhance Gorham, not erase the identity that generations have built or celebrate growth for the sake of growth.

Preserving the town’s heritage protects the sense of community that makes Gorham special.
Thoughtful improvements can honor tradition while making Gorham stronger for the next generation.
Charlie will work to balance progress with preservation so Gorham keeps its small-town feel even as it grows.

Farmland is disappearing fast; the town should support and promote the preservation of historical farmland.
Gorham has always been a farming community; let’s keep it that way.
Residents enjoy hunting, fishing, walking, biking, and other outdoor recreational activities, but undeveloped land is disappearing fast and must be preserved.
Partner with local land trusts to conserve beloved forests and trail systems.