Years lived in Maine: 42 of 46 ~ My response is in blue.
1. What experience, motivation, and leadership style will make you effective on the city council? As a Trustee from ’96 to ’06, I worked to safeguard PWD’s long term interests, some of which include water treatment, transmission, security, human resource development, and controlling costs. I have undergraduate degrees in business management (UM ’87) and water resources (USM ’97). I want to help ensure the many gains made continue to benefit Portland residents. Effective boards lead by developing and approving initiatives from broad public and staff input, hire and work through a General Manager to effectively manage operations, and encourage ongoing feedback to better evaluate operations and policy development over time.
2. If elected what would be your top three priorities? How do they affect young people?  Ensure effective water treatment /security, promote expertise and attract top quality staff, and control costs. Great tasting safe drinking water is a measure about how young people, and all of us, feel about settling in and living in a community.
3. Please talk about one positive and one frustrating change that you have seen in your city and your neighborhood over the last year. Not applicable.  Many daily concerns can frustrate us. It is best to try not to bring those frustrations to the Board’s work. I consider the Trustee position a place to serve, not a platform to bring, frustrations, complain or advocate beyond Portland Water District’s responsibilities.
4. What other responsibilities do you have? Work: VP Sales & Marketing for my family’s food management services company.  Personal life: Wife & son, T-Ball & Soccer coach, play golf, and Portland Y member.
5. Please evaluate the 2007 rate structure implemented by the Water District? Residential: Commercial & Industrial: Many water utilities in the past would hold off rate increases for as long as possible. Often, this would result in a large rate increase (Our Board lowered water rates 12% during my tenure). I continue to support my 2006 vote to make modest year to year increases. The 2006 rate design also starts to close the difference between residential and commercial rates.  The PUC approved the new rate design and increase.
6. What are your thoughts of PWD rate structures? Do you believe in a progressive or regressive rate structure?  I’m happy with the current rate structure and path that is being taken.
7. What is your position around residential users subsidizing industrial and commercial users? Businesses should be given time to adapt to new rates as the difference between residential and commercial rates closes.
8. What do you think about the Water Trustees pushing the policy that would automatically make an individual who qualifies for the CMP low rate income qualifier also qualify for a low income water rate? Why? I supported this exception in 2006 considering the modest expense.  There would be many more costs if the PWD had to set-up and manage their own “low rate income qualifier” program.
9. What is your philosophy around business and the threats around of them leaving Portland if water rate structures increase? It would be truly unfortunate if a business’s water bill was the straw that broke their back and they left the area. The same can be said for a residential customer trying to keep up. 
10. One of the Water District’s stated goals is to make the organization more environmentally friendly? What steps would you take if elected to reach this goal? Each PWD business sector’s energy budget should be understood, prioritized, and have and action plan, so we can when offer new options for energy usage when resources are available.  Wastewater systems allow communities to develop density, if they choose to do so. When requests come from nearby communities, the PWD should be available to offer our expertise.
11. What is you stand in the Sebago Lake debate – do we increasing the % of the lake for recreation or do we increases the % protected as a water source? Why? There isn’t a need to increase of the percentage of Sebago Lake surface water to protect Sebago’s drinking water resource. The “Two Mile Limit”, with no bodily contact within, has served us well for decades.
12. What do you think about the PWD selling access to private companies like Poland Spring? Additionally, what are you thoughts about letting other water municipalities tap into Sebago.  “Private company” access, or more plainly stated, access to well water isn’t a PWD issue. Municipalities, State, and Federal interests determine the type of commercial and residential land use. PWD watershed lands around Lower Bay are specifically set aside for low or no impact use. Wellhead testing in the Otter Ponds aquifer, next to Rt 35, is being done to find out if this groundwater supply is suitable to back-up Sebago in an emergency. For drinking water, a customer can connect to the system; they just need to pay for the service. A recent interpretation of the PWD’s charter suggests that bulk water sales need to be used within member communities. Fortunately, Sebago has over one trillion gallons of water, as big as the Quabbin Reservoir that serves greater Boston. Sebago has the capacity to easily benefit many more municipalities, as they become members, over the coming decades.
13. What is your position on the Portland Water District contracting with an outside insurance company to offer services like the 2006 mailing around water line breaks? I voted for this service, participate in the plan, and feel it is a good choice. As with all PWD services, customer feedback should be encouraged and the program’s merits should be assessed on a regular basis.
14. What steps would you take to reduce the discharge of wastewater into Casco Bay from our East End Sewer Plant? We need to continue to educate City of Portland customers on the dos and don’t when flushing. A top priority, wastewater pumps need to work well = keeping disposable wipes out = outreach. The District has to keep filling a staff training void. Wastewater courses that help train operators have been dropped at public schools. CSO work in Portland help to lessen high flows at the plant. Steps like these help to effectively utilize the East End Facility’s 81 million gallon per day wastewater treatment capacity.