Torno touts experience in bid for selectman's seat

Christine Torno (Courtesy photo)

Editor's note: This is the second of three stories on the candidates running for Lebanon selectman.

LEBANON - Christine Torno said she'd always thought she'd run for selectman once she retired from her job as Lebanon's excise tax clerk, so when she resigned last year and took another job in Waterboro, it was only natural to throw her hat in the ring now, she said recently.

She'll be facing off on May 10 against political newcomer Jennie McComish and incumbent Selectmen Chairman Ben Thompson.

Torno, who worked at the Lebanon town officers on Upper Guinea Road for 15 years, says that's one of the positives she brings to the table, that she knows her way around town hall and feels she has the wherewithal to make it work better.

"I want the community to work better together, for department heads to work more together and to make more things open," she said earlier this week.

Torno, who has served about four years during two separate stints on the budget committee, says she has "a lot of background in town matters" and experience counts.

She's lived in Lebanon for about 25 years and is married to Jeffery Torno. They have one child. She's also a known lover of horses and runs a dog-grooming business as well.

Torno acknowledges she's had a couple of rough patches during her time at town offices, including an incident four years ago in which she was found to have notarized a forged signature of the then-town treasurer.

Torno was never disciplined as a result of the incident, and it was represented by the then-town counsel as most likely an oversight in the normal "course of duty," and nothing sinister or for monetary gain.

Torno said there's always more than meets the eye.

"There's two sides to every story," she said. "I want to move on from all of that, and I want to make the town better."