How many years have you lived in Maine?: since 1954 - 53+

What experiences,  motivations, and leadership styles will make you an effective City Councilor?:
Ques. 1.

My motivation to seek another term for the city council is to help in the ways I am able to improve the quality of life in Portlands, and continue its role as one of the top tier small American cities in the country.

During ten years of service on the Portland City Council, and during years of volunteer professional and civic activity prior to that, I have developed the ability to build teamwork and participate in the creation and achievement of group objectives and goals.  This has often led to my designation to lead the group and articulate the goals being advanced.

On the Portland City Council, I have served as Mayor, and served multiple terms as Chair of Finance and as Chair of the Community Development Committee, two committees which have been performing core work in advancing the citys vision for improving Portlands quality of life.  I represented the city in many ways, including on the Boards of Regional Waste Systems and Greater Portland COG, and ultimately served two years as the Board Chair or President of each organization.

The critical leadership quality, in my opinion, required for effective city council service is the ability to work with others, especially including those with whom you dont agree, while openly accepting both cooperation and criticism.


If elected, what would your top three priorities be?  How do they affect Portlander's aged 18-35?:
Ques. 2.

My top three priorities are:

1.    Normalizing the education situation by stabilizing education finance and facilities issues, and by encouraging higher performance educational management and greater school choice.  I expect to promote this effort citywide, with an emphasis on demonstrable current educational achievement as the basic performance benchmark.  This extends to seeking greater program integration with the University of Southern Maine, Southern Maine Community College, the University of New England and the Maine College of Art.

    This has no direct impact on the 18-35 yo population segment, except that the continued and enlarging support of Portlands higher education institutions has been, in my opinion, one of the principal reasons that a city culture which attracts people of that age to relocate to Portland has grown, and those institutions nourish the educational, cultural and commercial climate of the city.

2.    Continuing the New City development of  the Bayside and the Eastern Waterfront from its current status through the creation of comprehensive neighborhood style public amenities (including trails, parks and public plazas, pedestrian and bikeways, public art, etc..

    This is a primary location for new urban neighborhoods, including housing which will be the major location of new inventory for the market.  The 18-25 demographic clearly benefits from housing policies which encourage vibrant downtowns and the reuse of blighted areas as progressive and attractive neighborhood centers.  I dont expect that these neighborhoods will be stabilized to that condition within the three years of the next council term, however, the process should be substantially, and I would hope, irreversibly advanced during the next three years.

3.    Leveraging city resources to promote smart economic development, a current little known undertaking of the city council and administration, which is presently focused on two projects  a long running planning and study project aimed at developing a strategy for enlarging the biotechnology assets, and particularly the narine biotechnology assets of the Portland economy.   Second, the city in combination with Westbrook is pursuing implementation monies and other development strategies for a Technology Park at the citys Rand Road property.  This tangible infrastructure is intended to assist us in drawing .more and a greater diversity of technology related enterprises in fields associated with semiconductors, software development and technology solutions.

    This is the natural follow on development of an increasingly well educated populace, which needs opportunities in the high wage, high value segments of the American economy to be located in Portland.  Citizens 18-35 would be expected to be the greatest beneficiaries of a successful program of economic development in knowledge-based economic segments.


Please share one positive change you have seen on City Council AND in Portland over the last year?:
Ques. 3

Council  In the past year, several councilors have taken up difficult tasks to attempt to find ways for the community to progress in education (USM Master Plan, UNE School of Pharmacy, the 3X3 committee,)  economic development (Buy Local, Maine State Pier, smart economy, Bayside and Riverside Street building plans) and community development (Skateboard Park, trails planning and construction and Memorial Field reconstruction.)

City  The level of community activism surrounding education  undoubtedly spurred by issues within the Portland School Department  has given rise to a large self education parents/friends of schools group (the Building Bridges Group) and greater community interest in raising the accomplishments of our public education system to higher levels.  This is the type of community consensus which arises only rarely, and, unfortunately, often only against the backdrop of contentious issues.  The possibility of reaching for a new level of educational accomplishment is very exciting and the grass roots nature of the support for trying is an arresting development.



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

City Council  Too much political grandstanding.  Too much gamesmanship.  It is childish and should stop.

Portland  The needs being addressed by the social service community, including in particular the Preble Street Resource Center and the three Soup Kitchens, most dramatically including the Wayside Soup Kitchen and their second harvest operation, have grown to depressingly high levels.  Even as their resources have been strained beyond reason, other levels of support like state and federal funding have shrunk.  Portland is a special place because it is a particularly well civilized place, yet we are straining and sometimes failing the rule that everyone gets to eat, and a place to sleep out of the cold and rain.



What competing responsibilities do you have: professionally and personally?:
Ques. 5

I have all the competing responsibilities that come with a professional career as an attorney and business owner/operator and as a husband (of one) and father (of two.)   These are not in my view competing, but provide a backdrop for the work of being a city councilor.  I think those lacking serious employment or family responsibilities are unlikely to have life experiences which ground them in the nature of those responsibilities in a way that allows them to appreciate the nuances of many aspects of community life.


Are you a homeowner or a renter?: homeowner
Do you support reducing the parking requirements for new construction (Y/N)?: yes
Do you support increasing housing density to build more units (Y/N)?: yes
What are you thoughts and ideas about housing in Portland?:

Ques. 6

I have a very long record related to housing policy as a Housing Committee member.  I support the citys housing plan and have many ideas about ways in which its goals might be advanced.  I naturally believe I have some special skill and knowledge to bring to this, as I am a business owner and practicing attorney who specializes in real estate development, mortgage finance and consumer housing finance.

My recommendations for current action:

1.    Encourage/require the PHA to rebuild their budget with a capital replacement/expansion component as it retires debt.  This will crate a small dedicated stream of affordable housing capacity beyond what exists at present, in the hands of an affordable housing expert owned by the City of Portland.

2.    Consider changing the ownership patterns in public housing projects to mixed ownership to encourage community building the neighborhoods in which these are located.  Include amenities planning such as fencing detail, tree and garden planting opportunities, etc.

3.    Revise parking requirements to reflect performance-based critieria, such as patterns of use and availability of nearby parking capacity.
4.    Continue housing committee plans for zoning reform.


What is your primary mode of transportation?  How can we improve transportation in Portland?:
Ques. 7.

My transportation modes are automobile, bicycle and foot.

The Portland transportation system is primarily a regional system, which lacks capacity, and largely lacks the means to create capacity.  Unfortunately the easiest approach is the incremental additional of fairly inconsequential roadway capacity, which is also the most consistent with funding patterns.  Light rail or commuter rail/trolley seem most likely to succeed as a long term solution to me, but the implementation can only come from a broad consensus based on agreed sought outcomes.   The debate to date seeking a new approach has too frequently featured value laden scoldings of various sorts.  The community will only accept a results oriented approach which does not rely on policy changes which are not well correlated to changed transportation outcomes.


What economic development ideas would you bring to City Council?:
Ques. 8.

1.    My single most important economic development idea is to continue support for the growth and improvement of our institutions of education, particularly higher education.  This creates a multiple and self-multipying economic improvement effect, as well as a strong base of technical expertise and employment in advanced knowledge arenas in the community.

2.    The health care industry and a possible biotech/pharmaceutical component is a primary high wage, high economic performance sector, which unfortunately pays little direct revenue  (at least as to hospitals ad other non-profits) to the city coffers.

3.    The city should nurture and enlarge relationships with area high tech employers, including National Semi and Fairchild (and Unum, actually,) making plain that we support their continued (and hopefully expanded) operations.  Part of our educational development in the Portland Public Schools needs to be understanding the preparation needed by students to seek post secondary education and training which complements these enterprises and similar employers.

4.    The Bayside and the Eastern Waterfront new cities neighborhoods need continued council and community support as they become more fully defined in their development.   It is my opinion that the repeal of the formula business ordinance was a mistake, but one from which we can recover if a realistic balance between national chains and locally evolved businesses can be established in appropriate ways for our downtown, these new neighborhoods and the Old Port.  The current drafting effort is being managed in important ways by the opponents of this regulation, which I think experience in other places shows is both necessary and helpful to virtually all the businesses affected by it in the long run.

5.    Two of the most important employers in Portland are Barber Foods and the group of fish processing companies serving the waterfront.  In each case, these employers support with living wages members of our community who have not had the benefit of talent, education or experience to qualify for other employment.  Many of these employers offer career employment.  They both need our direct support and encouragement to remain and/or expand in Portland, in the case of Barber Foods despite the lucrative offers being made by other sate and local governments in the Southern United States, and in the case of the fish processors, as New England, and Portland suffer through the progressive disabilities of restrictive groundfish harvesting regulations and the need to rebuild our fishing industry as the fish populations rebound.

    When I was Mayor, I needed to immerse myself in the details of groundfish macrobiology, particularly as sporatic scientific studies were translated into objectives to be achieved by regional fishing regulations.  This resulted in overbroad and underinclusive regulations, which have been continuously adjusted since.  At present, there are massive quantities of haddock in the waters of Maine, and the industry has a respectable opportunity to revive in Portland if it can last one more year.  We should help it do so.



How do you think the current Council has processed the Maine State Pier development?:
Ques. 9.

The MSP process began over eighteen months ago with the city manager pointing out we were subsidizing MSP operations at the rate of about $500,000.00 per year.  After a full public process which included multiple hearings, the CDC and Planning Board fashioned zoning based on existing CDEP approved Central Waterfront Zoning.

The resulting concept RFP generated two proposal which were, in my estimation palpably insufficient in various ways, but with concepts which were attractive.  Those have been substantially improved in ensuing discussions and proceeding, including the public comment process of the CDC, with the result that, at this writing, two acceptable proposals are before the council.  Whether it will choose one remains to be seen.

The change in process in this case was the extensive public process and council proceedings before a contract negotiation was to begin.  Ordinarily, the process would be less publicized.  The publicly made complaints about the process are not new  developers dealing with the city have voiced the view that the bargaining is hard and dealing with a public body is confusing.

Despite this, the process works well for the citye.  It is very important with millions of dollars at stake to be very aware of the potential for public posturing as an attempt to affect or manipulate the award process.  In my opinion, both proposers in the MSP process have engaged in this, and it is, after all, a free country.  However, the public process has been fully reviewed by city attorneys, it is legal and effective, and the competition has driven both to improve their vision of this unique opportunity.

I think the misinformation concerning the process is unfortunate.  The basic groundrules were described to both in October 2006.  The complaints of the changing of rules in the middle of the process is based on a textual construction of one of the process documents which the document does not support, plus the misconception that a concept RFP response is the same as a bid response.  In fact, the flexibility is encouraged by the city to encourage risk taking in design (by not penalizing design responses which prove infeasible, as substantial aspects of both proposals for the MSP did) and to reduce the costs associated with preparing an initial submission (in fact, the concept procedure was developed in response to complains about the burden and expense of conventional rfp response procedures for complicated projects which were inevitably going to be changed.)

It is legitimate to expect that the citys professional staff will develop a fuller description of the process for the future.  It bears repeating that this is of no consequence to the existing procedure, where a transcript of meetings shows that the participants were fully informed of these procedures, well in advance at the time the rfp document was drafted.



Do you think it is important to increase regional collaboration?  Why or why not?  If so, what would you do to collaborate more?:
Ques. 10.

Regional collaboration is an approach I have promoted throughout my time on the council and would continue to do so.  Greater Portland has had good success with collaboration in several areas, in which I have been involved.  I have a very friendly and sound working relationship with many regional municipal leaders and administrators, from all parties and from all types of local communities.

ecoMaine.  I was elected chairman of the board for the two years when RWS reformed its relationship with its regulators  (EPA/DEP), restructured the organization into a permanent entity and reinvigorated its management, board and owners to a new commitment to environmental excellence and sound, and growing business management in waste handling, power generation and recycling.  The new name and the unanimously ratified new organizational structures were adopted at my last meeting serving as Chair, and I continue as a member of the executive committee.

This is the premier regional organization in Maine.

GPCOG   I was the first President elected consecutively as GP COG reinvented itself as a Planning, convening and technical support agency owned and managed by its members.  Through a reorganization of the financial details of the GPCOG pension system, we were able to create an endowment of over $1 million which has become the financial backbone of this organization as it seeks to foster high quality solutions for community issues throughout the region.

PACTs.  I served on the PACTs policy committee for six years, immersed in the details of transportation planning and finance.

Other:  Board member, Casco Bay Estuary Project, Wayside Soup Kitchen (includes large regional food rescue program)


What do you think of Portland's overall tax structure, and specifically, about current tax rates?:
Ques. 11

The tax structure is unfair in its impact (technically known as tax incidence) to the middle class and the working middle class.  This is well known and widely ignored, although there have been some improvements in the state circuit breaker rebate program, which operates to mitigate the worst unfairnesses.  I support local extensions of these programs, sought legislative support successfully to allow localities to create such programs, and have sought council support for this.

The taxation system would be substantially more fair and less burdensome to middle and working class Portland citizens if a local tax relief system were enacted.  We have been one vote short for three years, but I believe eventually the support on the council will be sufficient to enact this reform.

I will address one argument  that this program would adversely affect renters.  This argument is based on a very unlikely modeling of landlord behavior which predicts that the incremental cost of property taxation would be passed on to renters.  It ignores these realities: First, landlords mark their rents to market in manner independent of costs  when interest rates, which are the most important cost to most landlords  go down, landlords do not usually institute a corresponding rent decrease.  Similarly, as costs rise, landlords pass on the costs only when the market allows.  Rent changes are a response to changes in demand, not a lowering of cost.  Second, property tax relief programs have a renter relief component; and third, rental property taxation assessment in Portland is based on cash flow multiplier calculations and therefore any taxation burden shift towards (or away from) rental properties would be self-correcting once its effects are evident, basically negativ!
ing the claims shift upon which the premise of renter disadvantage is based.

I support the many techniques to reduce property tax burden:
1.    Increased general purpose aid for education
2.    eliminate exemptions (currently over 20% of Portlands tax base)
3.    broaden local taxation powers for property tax reduction purposes
4.    regionalize appropriate governmental functions and share expenses and revenues associated with regional activities and functions
5.    create local options for sales taxation and local homestead exemption value



What do you think Portland should do to encourage the arts and the creative economy?:
Ques. 12.

I was very disappointed that the second prong of the downtown/Old Port formula business ordinance didnt get implemented prior to the repeal.  This prong envisioned using about 100,000 square feet of vacant first floor space on Congress Street, mostly set back from the exterior facades, (and accessible only from interior hallways) as capacity to be used in a city sponsored redevelopment effort,. to be centered on artist work space.  This would have what I believe to be the major issue facing the creative economy in trying to grow an economically sustainable arts economy  the nomadic displacement of arts undertakings from facilities as the very success of arts related enterprises causes gentrification of the neighborhoods in which they operate.  This has been true of multiple performance and display enterprises in the downtown, the most recent notable example being the Oak Street Theatre.

The display arts need support in tangible form, for work space and retail display.  The economic development department could provide logistical, marketing and technical support within existing city resources.  The creative economy committee needs to seek tangible results involving actual enterprise.  The community as a whole has faced predictable disruption as displacement has occurred, and I think a fully articulated strategy, backed by meaningful tangible support, in which the cituy can play a role, will stabilize and sustain our private sector base.

I agree with the promotion of various shows, undertakings, etc,. in venues both tourist based (art in the park, 5 Alive, etc. Baystock) and the conventional performing arts centered at Merrill and other venues.  I would expect these will remain on a sustainable footing in the foreseeable future, but would expect to support these efforts in appropriate ways as identified by their respective boards from time to time.



What role do you think neighborhoods, and neighborhood associations, should have in our city?:
Ques. 13

Neighborhoods are the core of the city residential experience.  I believe the greatest impact from city government that affects neighborhoods pertains to transportation and traffic issues.  I know that it has been proposed to use congestion to manage citizen transportation choices by reducing the utility of automobiles, and thus indirectly induce resort to alternative modes of transportation.  The burden of this approach to inducing behavior change in both residents and commuters is likely to fall disproportionately on residents in residential neighborhoods, in my opinion.  I believe traffic modelling studies show this would be an unwise policy choice.  The negative impact on the quality of life in Portlands neighborhoods would be severe.

Neighborhood associations seem to ebb and flow, in many parts of the city, based on relatively small groups of active members.  They are welcomed at all levels of city government and perform a valuable service to the city government and to the people they serve.  Also, when they hold block parties, the food is often terrific.


What specific steps do you think Portland can make to become a more sustainable city and to safeguard a healthy environment?:
Ques. 14.

I believe the work of the sustainability committee appointed by Mayor Mavodones, and the healthy Portland initiative (also appointed by Mayor Mavodones) are an excellent way to stimulate grass roots participation in pollution control, personal health and healthy practices (including healthy public schools food and beverage availability), discovering and implementing techniques (like shutting off vehicles, school busses, etc when idling) to create more sustainable practices .
My own personal favorites are open space and recycling.

I take great pride in a few things which have happened while I have been on the council, in which I have taken a large role:

1.    Regional Waste has become a premier environmental organization, vastly enlarging area recycling activity, and achieving levels of clean air and waste management which could never have been anticipated a few years ago.  EcoMaine is now implementing single sort recycling across the region.
2.    I have been personally involved in the proceedings and negotiations which has led to four major additions to our preserved parklands  (1) Presumpscot River Preserve; (2) City preserve enlarging the Rand Road (Stroudwater) Wildlife Sanctuary; (3) Peaks Island Preserve protection; and (4) the Capisic/Stroudwater watershed open space preservation.

Portland continues to fulfill the very expensive and difficult task of separating sewers to assure best compliance with the clean water act and control bacterial overflows into the harbor during large storm events.  Our efforts have been complicated by the need to reengineer storm drainage systems to try to capture for treatment the first flush of storm water flowing from streets, roofs, other impervious surface into the collection system and ultimately through the system into the ocean.  Within another decade, we will be largely finished, and when we are, I hope to participate in a community wide effort to find ways to cleanse the tidal flats of the city and return them to ecological health.