1.  How many years have you lived in Maine?
16 years

2.  What experiences, motivations, and leadership styles will make you an effective City Councilor?
My primary motivation is to work with the people of Portland to create a better future for all. The leadership style that I am most comfortable with is a combination of collaboration and independence. The experience that I bring to the council is broad and deep in our community. I have served on many non-profit boards and currently am Vice-President of both the METRO Transit District and the Greater Portland Council of Governments. I have represented the people of Portland in the Maine legislature and have volunteered in Portland’s schools and with youth sports. I am the first generation in my family to be able to attend college and that experience has reinforced my commitment to increase access to higher education for all.

3.  If elected, what would your top three priorities be?  How do they affect Portlander's aged 18-35?
My three top priorities flow from the work done by Portland’s Sustainability Task Force, and they are the development of a sustainable economy, a sustainable community, and a sustainable environment.  We should test all our actions and policy proposals against these three long-term goals to determine if we are moving our city in the right direction.
One way to promote a sustainable economy is to promote greater inclusion of small, locally owned businesses in the bidding for city contracts.  In many instances we can generate greater local business involvement simply by reducing the size of the city’s contracts. When I served on the Finance Committee we did just that and I am proud that a contract that used to be awarded to a large out-of-state firm now goes to a locally owned business.
On environmental sustainability the city should lead by example by requiring green design on all municipal projects and by reducing energy consumption in both city vehicles and buildings (see answer #19 for more details).
Finally, we can achieve a more sustainable community by placing a much greater emphasis on early childhood development and ensuring that EVERY child realizes their full potential. We know that 80% of human brain development occurs by age 5 and yet we struggle to meet even the basic needs of many young children and their families. We can and must do better.  We must embrace both children under age 5 and their parents in an environment where their educational and developmental needs are met.  This is why I formed the Early Childhood Task Force, a group which has been hard at work developing a model for meeting the complete developmental needs of our youngest citizens.
The sustainability of our economy, community and environment are of the greatest importance to 18-35 year olds because it is they who will have to deal with the long-term consequences of our current city policies.  The longer we wait to make our economic, community and environmental policies sustainable the more uncertain the future of our city’s 18-35 year olds will become.  Failure to make our economy sustainable will force young people to leave in search of better jobs; failure to make either our community or environment sustainable will erode young people’s desire to remain in Portland in the first place.  A sustainable community with great opportunities for children represents our best hope for our future.


4.  Please share one positive change you have seen on City Council AND in Portland over the last year?
The increasing diversity in our community which is reflected in the increased diversity on our city council.

5.  Please share one frustrating change you have seen on City Council AND in Portland over the last year?
The attempt by certain lobbyists, special interests and elements of the old power structure to reassert their control over the council and by extension the city.

6.  What competing responsibilities do you have professionally and personally?
 I don’t view being a father of three school age children as a competing responsibility but rather as a great way to stay in touch with our public schools and as a daily reminder of the challenges of working parents. I also serve on numerous boards and committees but I see such service as an opportunity to gain input from under-represented segments of our community.

7.  Are you a homeowner or a renter?
Homeowner for 14 years.

8.  Please answer and explain the following: 
a. Do you support reducing the parking requirements for new construction (Y/N)?  Explain.
 YES. I would then require developers to apply the savings ($25,000-30,000 per space in a garage for example) to fund public transit. I would reduce the parking requirement even further along established transit corridors to encourage higher-density, more transit -friendly development.
b. Do you support increasing housing density to build more units (Y/N) Explain.
YES. Portland is not built out by any stretch. We should plan now to accommodate an increasing number of people who will want to relocate closer to jobs and services as the cost of commuting continues to rise.
c. What are you thoughts and ideas about housing in Portland?
As a member of the citizens committee that wrote the housing plan I believe we need to go back to that document and establish measurable benchmarks so we can be held accountable for making progress towards the goals laid out in the plan. We have made strides in some categories but we are still woefully short on affordable ownership units. My answers to a and b above include some specific policy proposals.

9.  What is your primary mode of transportation?  How can we improve transportation in Portland?
I use a combination of driving, walking, and biking depending on the season and the distance. The best way to improve transportation is to implement a regional approach to public transit since people’s travel needs do not respect municipal boundaries. We also need to review all of our land use policies to weed out the inherent bias towards serving single occupancy vehicles.

10.  How do you intend to represent the needs of low-income and new American community members?
    I have always believed in the importance of empowering people of all communities to raise their voices and be heard, a belief strengthened and informed by my experience on the Board of Trustees at PROP. Because of this belief I have always sought, and I will continue to seek, opportunities to meet and listen to residents that are not accustomed to being heard. In particular, the Global Communities Task Force which I created specifically targets Portland’s international communities for representation as we chart the course towards becoming a truly global community.

11.  What do you see the role of the city council to be?  If elected, how would you govern?
    The role of the city council is to reflect the goals and aspirations of the people of Portland as we face our future together. Elected officials need to have the courage to communicate to the voters the reality of the challenges that we face and not simply pacify residents with bland assertions that all is well and that they – the politicians - know what is best. The council should be a place where ideas for our future are debated and held up for the public to examine, NOT a place for back-room deals or the pitting of one group against another. Elected officials should not be afraid to challenge our community to rise above our differences and reach higher as we plan for the future. If we do this we will ensure that Portland continues to move forward, not backwards.

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? 
    Going into this year’s budget we faced the biggest financial challenges in the last quarter of a century.  In such a situation it would have been easy for the council to have become divided and paralyzed in the face of difficult choices.  While we were forced to make significant cuts, I am proud that we were able to bring the entire council together to unanimously pass a responsible budget that heeded public input in setting our city’s priorities and allowed us to move forward. Unfortunately, we are going to continue to be faced with similarly difficult decisions as financial challenges beyond our control are continuing to increase expenses as our revenues are either flat or declining.  If we are to continue to remain united in the face of the difficult choices we face we need to move quickly to begin the public dialogue over our priorities for next year.
    I see opportunities for savings by combining some services with the School Department just as we combined the Parks Department with Public Works. One area where I do not favor any further cuts is in the police budget because we face an increase in drug-related crime which, if allowed to go unchecked, will devastate our community as it has so many of our Northeastern peer cities.

13.  How would you go about increasing local revenue?
    The top priority is to convince the legislature to allow municipalities (or regions like GPCOG) to enact local option sales, meals, and/or lodging taxes which would diversify our revenue stream and lower our reliance on the property tax. As a former member of the Taxation Committee when I represented the people of Portland in the Maine House of Representatives, I have an advantage in working with legislators from around the state. I have also worked to bring the mayors of other cities in Maine together to help advocate for such a change in tax policy. We must work together, and I am encouraged by the unity that our group of mayors has been able to develop despite our geographical and partisan differences.  I believe we will have a good chance of success if we can continue to focus on what unites us instead of on our differences. Apart from local options taxes the only other possibility for significantly increasing our revenue is to increase our tax base through sustainable development, which I would encourage through appropriate incentives (as described in my answer to question #17).

14.  Do you support the Peninsula Transit Study recommendations, which indicate 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?
     I propose placing the recommendations of the Peninsula Transit Study into three categories: short, medium, and long term. For example, the TDM recommendations and bus route changes would be short-term goals and the establishment of commuter rail service would be a long-term goal. The establishment of variable parking fees would be a medium term goal, as I believe we must hold off until there has been the opportunity for sufficient public education to occur. I believe that once residents have had the opportunity to see the benefits of increased transit choices their reluctance to embrace change will decrease significantly.

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.  Consistent with my economic and environmental priorities the city should embrace car sharing as many other communities have done. Done correctly, we can embrace car sharing in a way that furthers our goals of developing a sustainable community, economy, and environment.  For example, at High and Danforth we lessened parking requirements in exchange for the condo association’s sponsorship of a car sharing service for residents.  In so doing we created a car sharing program that reduces environmental impact and created an economic incentive for the local developer.

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?
    I oppose the repeal of the dispersal requirement because it is a planning tool that has worked well in balancing the conflicts that arise when residential uses are in close proximity to entertainment venues. I also oppose repeal without engaging all of the stakeholders who crafted this policy when it was enacted. The dispersal requirement was the product of a citizen task force and I do not believe the council should ignore the work of citizen task forces.

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?
     I believe that we should develop a scoring system that would guide any type of public assistance provided to developers (such as contract zoning, Tax Increment Financing /TIF, housing subsidies, or guaranteed loans). This scoring system would award points for achieving specific public policy goals (such as transit friendly development, green design, affordable housing, or economic development in underserved areas) that are in accordance with the long-term goals of a sustainable city.  Such a system would implement an accountable, transparent method for awarding public incentives and would be a marked improvement over the current system which can often be based more on the sway of a developer’s lobbyist than on any benefits to the community.

18.  Would you support or oppose a proposal to ban smoking in the outdoor seating areas of restaurants until 10pm?
     I support the compromise measure as a reasonable measure that protects public health without adverse effects on business.  I believe the 80% of Mainers who are non-smokers have a right to breathe air that is not toxic.  Moreover, we know from the previous debate over the indoor smoking ban that business does not suffer as a result of smoking restrictions. 

19.  What are your plans for reducing energy costs and consumption for the City?
As Chair of the newly created Energy and Environmental Sustainability Committee, reducing the city’s energy consumption has been our top priority. We are in the process of entering into an energy service contract (esco) that takes advantage of outside expertise and financing to significantly reduce BOTH our carbon footprint and our energy cost. As Vice-President of the METRO Transit District, I have been a strong advocate for converting our entire fleet of buses from diesel to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). As Vice President of the Greater Portland Council of Governments, I chair the Environmental Sustainability Committee which is working on regional solutions that will have a greater impact than the policies of any one municipality could have on their own.

20.  What would you do to increase constituency engagement in City activities and City planning?
As explained in question 10 above, I have always believed in empowering all communities to make their voices heard, and I believe that active citizen engagement is an important part of building a sustainable community.  In the short term I intend to continue to personally reach out to groups and individuals that often feel disconnected from city hall. In the longer term we also need to reexamine the fundamental structure of our government to identify institutional barriers to citizen participation. I sponsored the council order placing the charter commission question on the ballot so that the voters of Portland can decide if they want to conduct such a review. I also worked to change state law to allow us to elect the charter commission in the same manner we elect the city council, enabling both district and at-large representation. Portland’s citizens should have the right to determine our form of governance, and allowing citizens to weigh in--not just on particular policies but also on the fundamental structures of our government--should help to increase citizen engagement in city government.