While he is the youngest candidate for the City Council, Westbrook High School senior Michael Foley thinks his age could be an advantage as he runs for an at-large seat.
“I think it would be beneficial to have a young, new face on the council,” said Foley, D-East Valentine Street. “I think I can really make a difference.”
Foley has been serving the city for the past year working as the student representative to the School Committee, and now he wants to bring that experience to the City Council.
Foley thinks the city needs to do more than it has been to bring in new companies and the resulting jobs to the city. He mentioned the One Riverfront Plaza office building and the Kohl’s/Shaw’s plaza as two recent positive developments, but he said the city can’t just stop there. “The city needs to develop and bring in businesses,” he said. “And we’ve kind of put a halt to it over the last two years.”
Coming from the School Committee and as a student in Westbrook, Foley said he would be an advocate for the schools. He said he would make sure that the school budget is not cut to the point where it hurts students. Foley believes having a good school system is one of the keys to the economic growth in Westbrook or anywhere.
“The schools are the most important things in the city,” he said.
Foley also is a strong supporter of a city wide property revaluation. He wants to see a full revaluation that would include commercial properties as well as residential. This way, Foley said both businesses and homeowners would be paying their equal share of taxes. “A revaluation can improve a lot of the tax burden in Westbrook because it would make everybody equal,” he said.
As for his age being a detriment, Foley said he doesn’t think that’s the case. He has worked to learn about the challenges the city is facing and he would continue to do so as a city councilor. “I’ve learned a lot,” he said. “I work hard and I’m motivated.”
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