Touting himself as the "people's person" candidate, Jay D. Warren of Boothbay is seeking the Republican nomination for Lincoln County Commissioner for District 1. The District 1 seat represents the towns of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb, Southport, Westport Island and Wiscasset. The seat is currently held by Ken Honey of Boothbay who has announced that he is not seeking re-election. Warren is being opposed by Lynn Gilley Orne of Southport. The primary will be held in June.

"My main mission is to serve the people of Lincoln County by listening to their needs and then making the best decisions based on the facts," said Warren. "As I think about my mission, a quote by Abraham Lincoln comes to mind, `I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts.'"

Warren has been working in the safety field for 34 years. His working life has been devoted to safety and health in a number of settings, including federal and state government, private industry and management/labor boards. His experience working at Bath Iron Works as a safety inspector involved responsibilities to maintain and/or coordinate safety programs onboard ships, adjacent dock areas, ways, barges and dry dock, in accordance with regulatory criteria, i.e., U.S. DOL-OSHA, FDA, NIOSH, DOT, NAVSEA and BIW safety and fire regulations and directives. Special duties have included: team member coordinating ship launchings, bomb team for security, trained at Brunswick Naval Air Base, and worked with the Secret Service for then Vice President George Bush and his team.

In 1983, Warren was hired by the Maine Department of Labor as a safety consultant. His main duties included setting up and maintaining a health and safety office at the Job Service in Brunswick. This is where Warren set up more than 250 companies to train CEOs in health and safety programs. Other duties included reviewing inspection reports and conducting safety audits in the private and public sectors.

In 1986, Warren was promoted as occupational safety engineer. His duties included performing OSHA-related inspections at public workplaces, conducting OSHA-related training programs at private and public workplaces, developing OSHA-rated training programs at public and private workplaces, preparing safety reports, conforming to policies and procedures of the bureau and division.

Warren holds an authorized federal OSHA outreach trainer certification to train employees in the 10-hour and 30-hour general industry and construction industry. He helped develop the Education Network of Maine, which today is known as the ITV System, for long-distance education for the University of Maine system. Warren has also taught safety courses at the University of Southern Maine as part of the technology system.

He is a member of The National Association of Safety Professionals, Boothbay Harbor Fire Department, past director of the Boothbay Region Ambulance Service, Maine State Federation of Fire Fighters, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and former Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).

Warren's educational background includes: attended Franklin University in Ohio, business law school, Lincoln Memorial University School of Forestry in Tennessee, NFPA schools, graduated from The North American School of Conservation in California, OSHA Training Institute in Chicago, trained at the United States Merchant Marine Academy's Global Maritime and Transportation School in New York (shipyard process training), trained in the National Incident Management System (completing several courses), and is currently enrolled in safety update courses through the California State University.