The rezoning of the Saunders Brothers mill from Industrial to Gateway Commercial to clear the way for Wal-Mart to possibly come to Westbrook (favored)

I supported the zone change that would allow Saunders Brothers to negotiate with Wal-Mart about bringing in a new store to the City.

The additional site plan restrictions that limit the size of buildings in the Gateway zone developed by the Planning Board and approved by the City Council in response to the Saunders zone change (favored and opposed)

I think that the Planning Board did a good job in putting in restrictions on the site that made sure that the neighborhoods surrounding the Saunders site were protected. I did not agree with the restriction of the building size to 160,000 square feet. I think that the buffers were adequate protection for the neighborhoods and that there shouldn’t have been an overall size restriction. We have to make sure, though, that those protections/buffers are built and maintained as the restrictions state. I think that increasing the building size restriction to 180,000 sq. ft. would not have a significant detrimental impact on the surrounding neighborhoods. What raising the building size restriction to 180,000 sq. ft. would do would be to bring in a business that would draw people in not just from Westbrook but from surrounding areas as well. What this could mean to Westbrook is not only the additional tax revenue from the new business but it would also increase traffic to our existing businesses. It would also make the area surrounding the site more appealing and would draw in other businesses to the Exit 47 & Exit 48 corridor.

Pay-as-you-throw trash pickup and curbside recycling (favors)

I am for the pay as you throw trash pick-up and curbside recycling. I think that it is a good idea that has been used by our surrounding municipal neighbors well. I think that we really need to think about the price that will be charged per trash bag and make sure that we keep the price as low as possible. I have lived in Portland and lived there when they instituted their program with curbside recycling. Based on my own personal experience and that of my neighbors, there was a drastic increase in the amount of recycling that we did which led to just as big of a decrease in the amount of trash and trash bags that we used.

The city purchasing land on Saco Street to market it as the Westbrook Heights Business Park (favored)

I am not usually a fan of the city or any government entity getting into the development business. I think that there are plenty of quality developers out there that do a good job and it should be left to them, but with that said I think it was a good idea for the city to get involved in this situation. This development had been in the works for a long time and if the city did not step in when they did then it would have fallen through and not happened. I think that the city did a good job in marketing the project to prospective tenants, illustrated by the fact that they had sold several lots before anything moved forward.

How would you have voted on this year’s school budget? (No answer)

I do not have a complete and thorough knowledge of the school budget for this past year, so I can only base my comments on how it played out in public. I value high quality education at an affordable price, and I think that we need to make sure that we assess what our students are getting out of our School Department. We also need to make sure that we are spending the bulk of our money on areas of contact with the kids and minimizing the other expenditures. Our priorities need to be measured by outcomes from the process. I think that in an environment of ever increasing taxes on the state level, we need to, as a city, spend our money in the most efficient and effective way possible. There are tough decisions that have to be made, but that is why we elect our City Councilors.

The potential redevelopment of Saccarappa Park as a combination commercial building/public park (favors)

While I was chair of the Citywide Economic Development Committee, the Committee struggled with not only how to bring in new development but also what type of development we need to bring into the City. This particular issue was addressed by our sister committee, the Downtown Economic Development Committee. Based on the information shared by this committee with the public, I think that we need to develop that parcel of property while keeping the boardwalk and the falls accessible to the members of this community. We need the development to continue to try and move forward and make the Downtown area a destination location. We have wonderful restaurants and businesses in the downtown area but it can be a struggle for them because we do not have the foot traffic that we need to sustain them over the long term. As president of the Westbrook Community Chamber of Commerce, I have talked with numerous business owners regarding the situation in the downtown and throughout the city. What I have heard most is that we need more foot traffic in the downtown area, we need more of a draw. I think that the idea that has been passed around regarding retail on the first floor and a mix of office space or apartments above is the type of idea that we need to pursue to increase the foot traffic in the downtown.

The City Council’s recent decision to add $150,000 to a capital improvement bond for playground improvements and the Westbrook Food Pantry (opposed)

First and foremost, I think that there needs to be an ordinance that doesn’t allow last-minute additions or deletions to bond packages without going through the committee process. There is a process for putting money out to Bond, and I feel that this decision circumvented the whole process. I am president and treasurer of Mission Possible Teen Center on Main Street, so I know first hand the difficulties non-profit organizations have with raising funds. I also know that the Westbrook Food Pantry and the improvements to the playground are worthy causes, but I don’t agree with the late addition to the bond. I think that the additions should have been brought back through the Committee process and been given thorough scrutiny. What was the reasoning behind not having those items included in the first place? These have been issues that were talked about in the past, and the playgrounds have been an ongoing issue for many years. Were these ever discussed prior to the council meeting, or were they truly last minute additions? These are questions that I would like to have answers to. As a city councilor, I will push for an ordinance that would not allow last minute additions or deletions without going back through the committee process. Also, if the Food Pantry doesn’t use the $50,000 set aside by the council, there will be penalties imposed by the IRS. I am pretty sure that if the Food Pantry doesn’t need it then it will very quickly be spent on something else, but why take a loan that you have to pay back with interest if you didn’t need one in the first place, it just doesn’t make sense to me.

Please give us your comments on the following subjects:

Paper streets have been a major source of contention in the city recently. How would you have dealt with residents’ complaints about old paper streets being used for development?

I think that the issue of paper streets could have and should have been handled differently. I am under the impression that the developer did everything by the book, so I don’t want to say that he did something wrong. I would like to have seen some sort of notice given to the people living next to the paper streets that would have let them know what was going on before anything started. This would have allowed a conversation to occur between the developer and the surrounding residents. It would have lengthened the development process, but it would have allowed for better communication regarding the development of the street. I think that the City Council did the right thing by placing a six-month moratorium on developing the paper streets, and I think the committee that is being put together will be able to come up with ideas as to how to best handle the situation in the future.

How would you settle the dispute between the city and the two local businessmen who purchased the old Cumberland Mills police station?

I first want to say that I know the two local businessmen well, but I would still like to see them live up to the contract they signed. The idea of a business incubator is a good one, and I think that there is a definite need for it. If that is not feasible, then I believe the city needs to do what it is doing and that is to negotiate with the owners of the property. The negotiations and settlement of this issue is something that I feel should be handled by the Administration. I think that the job of the councilors is to look at the information brought forth by the Administration and then make a decision as to what is in the best interest of the city.

What can be done to help lower Westbrook property taxes?

I think that there are several ways in which we can lower property taxes. One way is to diversity the tax base by bringing in new business into the city. By doing this, we can alleviate some of the burden that taxpayers have been shouldering. We cannot continue to keep up the pace of residential development without continuing to add additional burden to the taxpayers of this city. It costs us more as a city to support a new residential home than we receive in taxes, and it costs the city less to support a new business than we get in taxes. By doing the simple math, it pays for us to bring in more businesses because we receive more taxes from the businesses than we pay out to support them. I think that we also have to look at the budget more closely for both the city and the school department. We need to make sure that we capitalize on the synergies between the two. We should not be duplicating our efforts when there are ways to avoid it. The mayor has been working hard at trying to trim the budget so that the burden on residents is as low as possible. He is the first to admit that more can be and should be done and I will be willing to work with the Mayor and my fellow city councilors to make sure we are stretching the dollars we get from our residents as much as we can.

How would you work to settle the protracted dispute between the police union and the city?

Again, I would have to say that I do not know all of the details behind the dispute except what has been made public. What I would like to see happen would be for this to end sooner rather than later. I know that the Administration has received an independent report, and is looking to negotiate further with the Police Union. I hope that both sides will look at this report and make appropriate concessions so that they can come to an agreement. I think that all of our great men and women out there putting their lives on the line for us deserve a fair Contract, and I think that this independent report will make sure that they do.

What do you want to see done to improve parking in the city?

I think that an overall parking and traffic study needs to be completed before we do anything. I know that a study has been ordered to address parking and traffic concerns. I think that it is the job of the council to get the information from the experts that deal with these issues on a daily basis, take that information, discuss it with the public and other councilors, and make decisions that will best alleviate the problems that we have. I don’t think there is one answer to this problem, I think there is a series of steps that we need to take to fix this problem and I look forward to working with the Administration and my fellow councilors to help deal with this problem.

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