1.  How many years have you lived in Maine?

7 years

2.  What experiences, motivations, and leadership styles will make you an effective City Councilor?

I love Portland – it is where I have chosen to live, raise my children and run my business.  I have volunteered at the community level, with the schools, and on business and civic projects.  Throughout my career, I have approached problems with an open mind and worked to build consensus and create practical solutions.  I understand the need to work with residents, businesses and others to achieve our shared vision of a prosperous and thriving Portland.  This requires thoughtful planning, strategic action, and targeted investment, supported by engaged citizens.

3.  If elected, what would your top three priorities be?  How do they affect Portlanders aged 18-35?

My top priority is to manage our resources well.  Given the tight economic times, it is critical to have the City budget reflect our priorities and to put in place the oversight and support necessary to ensure high quality services. We need to focus on long term planning across departments, so that when we make investments we understand their full impact and consequences  and can leverage our investment decisions to maximum effect.

In terms of direct policy priorities, my top three are:

1. Invest in our schools.  It is critical that we look at our school facilities and make responsible investments to save on energy and maintenance costs.  This is the fiscally and environmentally responsible course.  It is also the best course for education, to permit more of our scarce resources to go to educating students.  A great public education system is essential to all of us – it is the bedrock of democracy, necessary to perpetuate a citizenry that can fully participate in civic life.  Having good schools also means that 18-to-35-year-olds with children can remain in the City and continue to enjoy its many benefits with confidence that their children will get a first rate education.

2. Attract and retain investment in our community.  Portland benefits from unique and diverse assets – a deep water port, an active business center, breathtaking natural and historic beauty, and a population that values the environment and community.  We need to protect and leverage our unique assets to sustain our quality of life, grow the tax base and increase investment in Portland.  Portland cannot support the services and amenities we want and need on the residential tax base alone.  Attracting and retaining businesses has high value for 18-to-35-year-olds for many reasons.  Fair and equitable development policies with clear and consistent standards that reflect our community’s values would foster an atmosphere that encourages creative talent to build their business here, while still maintaining the unique values that make Portland the place we all want it to be.  A streamlined permitting process would help small business owners and entrepreneurs navigate the system.  This is important for new Americans and younger entrepreneurs who are building their business with sweat equity and cannot hire “development” professionals and lobbyists to get their projects through our current permitting maze.  These changes would help young people stay here and build their businesses and careers and would strengthen the local job market.  Having more businesses locate in the City would mean more of us could get to our jobs on foot, bike and by public transit.  When major employers chose to locate outside the city it creates more vehicle trips and removes activity and economic life from our City.

3. Keep our residential base strong. Portland is a city where you can live, work and play.  We have a remarkable quality of life – and many of us have come here for just that.  We need to support quality open spaces and recreational facilities and invest in continuous neighborhood sidewalks and safe crossings. These are the elements that connect and cultivate community.

4.  Please share one positive change you have seen on City Council AND in Portland over the last year?

The integrity and openness of the school budgeting process this year has re-established public trust in the school budget.

5.  Please share one frustrating change you have seen on City Council AND in Portland over the last year?

There has been too much rancor and too much grandstanding by Councilors and single issue advocates.

6.  What competing responsibilities do you have professionally and personally?

I run my own consulting practice and serve as Project Director for the Maine Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund.  I have been a community advocate and have leadership positions in a number of civic and business organizations.  I am also devoted to my children and my husband.  I have been balancing these roles for over a decade and believe I can continue to do so.  I expect to decrease my consulting practice hours to accommodate the effort I intend to bring to my service on the Council.

7.  Are you a homeowner or a renter?

We have owned our home (our first) for 6 years.  Before that I had lived in rental apartments since I was nine years old.

8.  Please answer and explain the following: 

a. Do you support reducing the parking requirements for new construction (Y/N)?  Explain.

Portland is overly reliant on cars for transportation, and this needs to change.  I believe if you build it they will come – so we should design our parking structures and policies to accommodate the modes of transit that we want to promote.  Parking management is a key to encouraging responsible transportation decisions.  Well designed, secure bicycle storage and designated spaces for shared car parking can help.  I would be open to deceasing parking requirements, but would approach it in a holistic manner to ensure that the elements of an alternative transit plan are in place.  For example, the infrastructure for bicycling from off-peninsula into town is not currently supportive of families or elders taking this option, and bus service is not frequent enough and routes are not comprehensive enough to allow us to reduce parking without first bolstering these alternative transportation options.

b. Do you support increasing housing density to build more units (Y/N)  Explain.

I have long been an advocate of housing density, both personally and professionally.  It is the critical element  of “smart growth.”  However, you cannot just increase housing density without looking at the ancillary impacts.  Some areas of Portland already can accommodate greater density, including many parts of the peninsula and major arteries (like Forest Avenue, Woodford Street, and Stevens Avenue).  Yet many of our off-peninsula neighborhoods do not yet have the storm water management capacity for increased density, or the necessary sidewalk and transit infrastructure.  Better planning can help us build that infrastructure in the near future.  These are the sorts of strategic investments that can ultimately create a better and more environmentally sustainable city.

c. What are your thoughts and ideas about housing in Portland?

Housing is very expensive in Portland.  Increased residential taxes continue to put pressure on housing costs, both for owners and renter households. This is one of the reasons that a well managed budget and attracting more businesses are critical.  My consulting practice focuses on energy efficiency and healthy and affordable housing.  Portland needs to take a greater leadership role in helping property owners, particularly low income and multifamily property owners, make energy and water efficiency upgrades.  In addition to making housing more affordable, these investments produce health and environmental benefits.  This is an area in which I have considerable experience, in particular with helping municipalities look at their housing programs.  You may wish to look at a project I completed for Boston, Boston One Touch http://www.nmermin.com/Boston_One_Touch_Final_022708.pdf.  The 7 Sussex Street pilot where I helped change the specification used by the city has become the model for city-supported small rehab projects. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/08/22/boston_sets_green_standard_for_affordable_housing/.

9.  What is your primary mode of transportation?  How can we improve transportation in Portland?

My feet.  I am fortunate to be able to do the majority of my work by telecommuting and using the internet.  We chose our home so that our children could walk to school.  Numerous stores and activities are within easy biking distance.  We also have two cars and several bicycles.  As for improving transportation in Portland, see my response to question 8a above.

10.  How do you intend to represent the needs of low-income and new American community members?

I will represent all of my constituents the same way, by listening to them, reaching out regularly to keep them engaged and learning from their experience and wisdom.  I have worked with low income and new American communities throughout my career.  Many of the health and housing issues I work on are more pronounced within low income communities.  Multiple stresses make it difficult for these groups to engage in public processes, yet it is critical for them to be connected to the broader community and for public officials to be committed to keeping that connection and dialogue open.  As an example, just a year ago I helped pull together a workshop on the landscapes of affordable housing.  The workshop was held at a local public housing community room, and featured residents, facilities personnel, the director of Maine State Housing and the deputy director of Portland Housing.  By coming together, these housing professionals, community advocates, and the communities they serve were able to use the experience and expertise of all participants to fashion new and exciting ideas about how to incorporate food-growing areas, support community gathering places and allow residents to have more ownership and responsibility for maintaining their entry areas.  It also helped to create understanding between groups about their shared goals and commitment to healthy and beautiful grounds.

11.  What do you see the role of the city council to be?  If elected, how would you govern?

The City Council is the elected governing body of the City.  The nine members must together articulate a clear plan to manage the affairs of the City, determine its spending priorities and provide oversight of City staff.  I have founded and worked with organizations run by consensus.  My experience is that you need to invest time in understanding the priorities of each member and the unique strengths and wisdom they can bring to a shared plan.  It is crucial to have accurate information about how things are done today in Portland, and alternative approaches that have worked in other cities that could work here too.  We need to have respect for each other and for the staff that supports our work.  We also need better mechanisms to enable the public to  participate in meaningful ways in constructing a shared vision and plan of action.  We need at least one person who can help the group move towards consensus and action.  In my career I have often played that role.  I am a trained mediator and facilitator.  I have been able to help groups with competing interests come together and not simply compromise, but work in a positive way to produce real action with value to the community. 

Here is an illustration of this approach.  The playground committee for the new Ocean Avenue School, which I chaired, was asked to designate a space for the playground.  The budget was set at $70,000 for equipment, and recent experience had shown that this amount of funding could not give us the quality of play space that is needed for a great school.  There were school administrators whose first concern was safety and operation during school hours; there was a physical education teacher who wanted to ensure that the outdoor amenities could contribute to physical education goals; there were members of the City recreational staff who wanted to ensure that the pre- and post-school recreation programs would be served and that community recreation needs could be accommodated; there was a school physical therapist who raised the need for handicap-accessible play areas; and there were parents and other advocates for more naturalized play space that would connect our children to the natural features of the site.  We were also under a tight deadline to submit site plans to the state.  In our first meeting we were able to come together around a shared vision for the site, which was to consider the entire campus as room to play and learn, to ensure the design was fully inclusive and handicap-accessible, that it connected children to nature and provided areas for all age groups and all types of play (contemplative, imaginative, organized sports, etc.).  Once we had this shared vision in place, the committee members, staff and consultants were able to develop a creative plan incorporating many of the ideas into the site design.  The main “entrance” to the play areas and the “spine” that connects the multiple areas are fully handicap-accessible.  The play structures will all feature wheelchair accessible amenities including special swings and activity areas.  We  were able to lay out the paths so they could also double as a running circuit.  We incorporated natural features like hills for sledding and rolling, existing trees and even the storm water management elements of the building as part of the play environment.   All this was done before we touched the playground equipment budget.  This is how I would hope to approach problems and competing interests on the City Council.  I have done similar work on a regional scale, including founding the Asthma Regional Council, which involved negotiating with policy makers in housing, health, environmental and education agencies in six New England states to design a 12-point action plan to address the environmental contributors to asthma.

12.  In the last budget cycle the city council made cuts across the board to social services, forced a merger of two city departments, and scaled back equipment and positions for public safety departments.  If the future council were forced into a similar situation where the city budget needs to be balanced, what would you be in favor of cutting? 

Unfortunately I believe we are facing similar issues in the coming year.  I have been studying our current budget and listening to people’s ideas as I campaign.  It would be irresponsible to make across-the-board cuts or simply eliminate City services.  We need to do the hard work of examining every area of the City’s  operations to figure out how we can improve services and generate costs savings.  We may need to increase user fees to maintain some amenities.  We will need to look for more philanthropic and community support.  We have an obligation to provide basic services, including supporting our schools, fire and safety, trash pick-up, and maintaining sidewalks and roads.  In lean times we need to focus on accomplishing our basic duties and work hard to keep the many critical programs we have that support our community in place.

13.  How would you go about increasing local revenue?

The City has two principal sources of revenue: property taxes and fees.  There are problems with both, and I would support working with our legislative delegation to help expand the methods of revenue generation available to localities.

I do think that managed growth with both residential and commercial development can help spread the tax burden across more users.  I also think we can look at creative fee structures to help develop specific funds.  For example, there are “fee-bate” programs for development that incentivize energy efficiency.  If a developer, or even a home owner, is willing to meet high standards (beyond required code), they might pay a lower permit fee; those who agree only to meet code could be charged a higher fee, with some of the revenue dedicated to supporting energy efficiency programs.  A similar fee structure could be designed around issues such as  impervious surface or storm water impact, congestion or traffic impacts, and parking, and the funds generated could be dedicated to support appropriate infrastructure development.  These are just examples – not proposals.  We must be careful to have a rational approach to both property taxation and fees.

14.  Do you support the Peninsula Transit Study recommendations, which indicates that car owners should pay the true costs of storing their vehicles on public properties and directing the funds to support transit and neighborhood redevelopment projects (sidewalks, parks, etc.)?  If not, what areas don’t you support and what would you change?

The Study’s recommendations are interesting and creative.  I support all of them in principle. Many I think we should extend to off-peninsula locations as time, staffing and financing permit. 

The Study was very thorough and I appreciate the cost estimates offered to implement its recommendations.  It will be important, however, to weigh these recommendations against competing City needs.  For example, the first recommendation is the hiring of a mobility coordinator, which would add a new $100,000 position to the City budget.  Given the number and depth of layoffs to City staff last year, and equally compelling requests for  “sustainability” and “energy” coordinator positions, we need to look at the value that each position would add and how to pay for them.  We also need to look at transportation planning across the City.  How does Peninsula traffic management relate to investments in the overall transit network of the City?  We need to weigh the investment options and timing.  Increasing the frequency of public transit along major routes and adding technology to allow waiting riders to know when the  next bus will arrive may be better investments in terms of increasing ridership and decreasing car trips to the peninsula then giving free transit passes to all City employees. 

15.  Given that car sharing was cited as a short-term recommendation in the Peninsula Transit Study do you feel the City should actively pursue car sharing?  And if so, would you recommend the City designate funds and/or parking spaces for such a program?

Yes.

16.  Do you support or oppose the repeal of the 100 ft. dispersal requirement between establishments with entertainment licenses in the Old Port Overlay Zone?

The ordinance went into effect about a year ago.  I am not fully informed about the reasoning and background information that was provided to support the rule’s passage.  The stated purpose is “to maintain and improve public safety…by preventing an over concentration of businesses with entertainment licenses, particularly those with liquor license and the public safety problems that have and will be experienced when too many of these businesses are located too close to each other.”  I would need to understand the information that was before the Council when they voted on this that gave them reason to believe it would improve public safety.  I would want to understand from the business community and our public safety personnel the extent to which the law has been effective, and what unanticipated outcomes may have occurred.

I have concerns when we limit activities, particularly arts/public expression activities without a clear public need.  The live music in local establishments has been a great attraction.  I would hope that we have not lost some of the potential richness of our community through this rule.  In addition, I think there may be more effective models for increasing public safety that should be considered if crowd control and dealing with alcohol related violence are the true issues. 

17.  Would you support or oppose community benefit agreements in contracts between the City and developers?  If so, what stipulations would you include in these agreements? 

The City must have better long term planning that incorporates community values into our comprehensive plan and zoning.  I don’t think we should wait for a developer to come in to decide what we as a community need and then negotiate it – we should set out for the development community the visions and values we have as a community, and then have a level playing field in terms our development process, not ad hoc negotiations on a case-by-case basis.  My understanding of community benefit agreements is that they are the result of the failure of a municipality to protect and promote the needs of the community.  I do support closer involvement of community stakeholders in planning efforts and zoning revisions (and when we do have contract zones, involvement in those negotiations).  Some of the key values I would bring to those conversations are a commitment to maintaining public access and public benefit from our waterfront, increasing pedestrian, bicycle and alternative transit options, and preserving open space, environmental integrity and social equity.

18.  Would you support or oppose a proposal to ban smoking in the outdoor seating areas of restaurants until 10pm? 

As a health advocate, as an environmentalist and as a business person, I would support the ban.  Second hand smoke is a toxic substance that is harmful to people with heart or respiratory disease.  When outdoor eating areas are designated to allow smoking, smokers congregate there and create a localized air quality issue.  Those who are sensitive to smoke are in effect excluded from the area.  This is unfair to adjacent businesses that have customers who cannot be near the smoke and are kept away.

19.  What are your plans for reducing energy costs and consumption for the City?

To get to real energy savings you need to look at the details of current energy use.  I recently helped the City to apply for an EPA Healthy Communities grant to look at municipal energy use.  One aspect of this project is to enter the City’s current use into the Energy Star Portfolio software to identify priority areas for energy savings.

I would need to be more familiar with the City’s current purchasing practices before I could offer a substantive plan for reducing energy costs.  Many cities have been looking at these issues and offer helpful models for Portland.  My expertise in energy efficiency would enable me to evaluate the options and work with the Council and City staff to make good decisions.

20.  What would you do to increase constituency engagement in City activities and City planning?

We need to have true neighborhood planning, with residents engaged in the process.  To the extent we have existing communication with the public, I think it is ineffective.  Meeting notices are not well publicized.  We could do much more with the local media and the city website to keep the public informed and engaged.