District 1: Joel Benson Monaghan

Your Top Three Priorities

1. Transparency
2. Open Communication
3. Neighborhood forums

Please list prior applicable experience:

I have no experience writing city charters. I do, however, have experience working with other people in a cooperative spirit in pursuit of a common goal. As a partner in a small business to my days as a paratrooper in the United States Army, I have engaged in many enterprises that have necessitated team work skills. Success is when many opinions triumph. Not one.

What do you hope to accomplish as part of the commission?

My hope for the charter commission is that we are able to address the Mayor question as well as some of the other issues that currently obstruct city government. Democracy is based on a system of checks and balances. The goal of a civic charter is to insure that power is appropriately balanced between the various government entities and that oversight, accountability and cooperation is encouraged by procedural processes.

What do you see as issues within the current structure of city government?

Budgetary issues certainly top the list. The current method by which the City Council reviews and approves budgets needs to be examined. As it currently stands, boards too often engage in disingenuous negotiating ploys as opposed to good faith cooperation. The council has little leverage over these boards to insure cost cutting strategies are carried out according to broader policy objectives. There needs to exist some mechanism by which the citizens of Portland are not being victimized by these tactics. Whether this is something the City Charter can address remains to be seen.

What are you thoughts on the 1986 charter report? What prior issues would be the most helpful for the current Commission to consider?

I have read through the charter and the report of the prior commission. The former commission primarily dealt with bonding issues and updating the language of the charter. I am open to revisiting these changes and, with some degree of hindsight, examining the merits of these changes and whether they should be readdressed.

What other city charters have you examined? How would it inform your approach to analyzing our city’s charter?

I have looked at several city charters and plan to look at many more. I am especially interested in how other municipalities dealt with the specific issues that we face. How they addressed and resolved these issues through their charter and what practical lessons were learned along the way.

Would you support an elected mayor? If no, why not?

I would support an elected Mayor. I believe that an elected Mayor would put a face on local government and lead to more civic engagement. But there is also a principle at stake. Our system of government needs to be consistent from top to bottom. There needs to be a direct chain in the executive branch from the President to the Governor to the Mayor, just as there exists a direct chain of representation in the legislative branch. This is the very fabric of our democracy. It is true that there are definite advantages to a City Manager system. But we can’t demand of our State and Federal institutions what we refuse to our own community.

What parts of the current city charter do you feel are antiquated?

None that I can think of off hand.

Would you consider re-districting the City of Portland? Why and how?

Again, this is not an issue that I find pressing. However, I would be open to it should there be presented to the Commission a strong case for doing so.

Would you modify the current relationship between the school committee and city council?

The school committee appears to have little accountability or budgetary discipline. It is too often composed of parents fighting for their child's interest and their respective schools' in complete disregard for the larger budgetary-social issues. I don't know what the solution is, but tax payers need more control over these budgets and operations.

What role do you think the charter commission should play to educate the public on changes made to the city charter?

We should play a very prominent role. I plan on being very proactive in this regards. I want to hold meetings, regular emails and blogs.

What role is the charter commission for public engagement during the process of re-examining the charter?

Again, we need to have as much public engagement as possible. I think this is almost obvious. This is a public enterprise. Our chance as a community to determine how we will allow ourselves to be governed.

What else would you like to add?

Most people know me as "Ben." Unfortunately the City Clerk feels that any deviation from my full legal name will corrupt the election. Consequently, I will appear on the ballot as "Joel," a name few people outside my immediate family know me as, a name I both despise and have avoided until now. I hope this doesn't confuse anybody when voting.