SOUTH PORTLAND — It bothers Patti Smith that some people think she’s anti-business.
That’s the label she and other city councilors carry in the wake of recent actions against the Portland Pipe Line Co., and single-use plastic shopping bags, and lawn-and-garden pesticides. The running commentary on local news stories paints them as increasingly inhospitable to commercial interests.
“Drives me crazy,” Smith said last week as she prepared to be inaugurated mayor at 4 p.m. Monday.
Nothing could be further from the truth, according to Smith. With her parents as primary role models, Smith sees herself as a champion for business that’s as good for workers, community members and the environment as it is for owners and investors. Proving her passion for commerce, she has more than 20 years of executive experience, a master’s degree in business administration from Drexel University, and stacks of books and journals on the subject.
“I’m a nut about the way businesses are run,” said Smith, 54. “So many people think I’m just a tree-hugger. They have no idea I put in 80 hours a week at work. But I see businesses with a broader mission. I see them as being good stewards of the community.”
Last spring, Smith joined the management team at Scratch Baking Co., one of the city’s most popular and fastest-growing businesses. Started in 2004 by Sonja Swanberg, Bob Johnson and Allison Reid, the Willard Square staple was on the verge of a major expansion with a second location that opened in September at 205 Broadway. They brought her in as chief operations officer and “wrangler” to help maintain a positive business culture, including good pay and benefits, as the company closes in on having 40 employees.
“I try to bring business strategy and people planning together,” Smith said. “It’s got to be integrated.”
Smith said she’s working on getting B Corp Certification for Scratch – recognition that she helped to get for Coffee By Design in Portland, where she worked from 2013 to 2016. Certified B corporations are for-profit companies that have shown they meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. There are more than 1,600 certified companies worldwide.
“I think that’s the wave of the future,” Smith said. “You just can’t keep ripping people off and ripping the planet off.”
RETURN TO NEW ENGLAND
Smith and her wife, Susan Chase, moved here in 2004. It was a mutual gift after she graduated from Drexel in Philadelphia, where her degree was paid for by a previous employer, REI, the sporting goods retailer. She came here to be director of strategic initiatives, operations and human resources at Planet Dog in Portland. And she wanted to get back to New England.
Smith grew up in Concord, New Hampshire, the youngest of three children in a close family. Her father, Bob, was a university-educated executive in the floor-covering industry. “He was really my role model for why I wanted my MBA,” Smith said. He died in June at age 83.
Her mother, Norma, was a homemaker who never went to college but did The New York Times crossword puzzle every day in pen. A heavy smoker, she died in 2009 at age 73 following a hard battle with cancer.
“She was amazing,” Smith said, her eyes welling up. “She had a very tough upbringing, so she wanted to create the family she never had. She always told us, ‘You can be whoever you want to be and you can do whatever you want to do.’ ”
When Smith faced difficult decisions in her life, her mother advised her, “Don’t just do good, do the greatest good.”
A self-described “tomgirl,” Smith excelled at sports as a kid, following her brothers into the boys’ hockey leagues. To avoid making waves, she tucked her blond ponytail into a helmet with the name “Patrick” on it. She transfered her skill to field hockey in high school and went on to be an All-American player at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sports management and coaching.
It was during college that Smith told her family she was gay. Raised Roman Catholic, she worried especially about her mother’s reaction.
“My mom knew early on that I wasn’t going to be the daughter she always wanted,” Smith said. “Here I am, her only daughter, who hated dresses and wanted black hockey skates like her brothers and grew up to be a lesbian. I knew it would break her heart, but I also knew she wouldn’t want me to live a lie.”
She remembers the first time she brought Susan to her parents’ house for Christmas nearly 23 years ago. Her mother put gifts for Susan under the tree, just as she did for her sons’ wives, and her father welcomed Susan to the holiday dinner table as one of his “six children,” counting both kids and their mates.
“It was really huge to be welcomed into the family that way,” Smith said.
A PASSION FOR BUSINESS
Smith’s executive work experience started soon after she graduated from UMass and got a two-year teaching fellowship at Springfield College. By her mid-20s she was head coach of the women’s field hockey program at the University of Michigan. She was among the youngest of her colleagues in the Big Ten Conference and she loved it. But after six years, the pressures of the job far outweighed the joys.
“I was really never home,” Smith said. “I think I’m a teacher at heart, and I enjoyed coaching, but it was a grueling schedule of scouting, recruiting, practices and games. And I really wanted to pursue my passion for business.”
So she quit coaching, worked for REI for several years, went back to school and wound up moving to Maine.
Smith counts herself fortunate to have picked South Portland to be her home. An avid outdoorswoman, she enjoys gardening in her yard on Parrott Street and running, cycling and swimming in preparation for the annual Tri for a Cure triathlon to benefit the Maine Cancer Foundation, which she has done several times. She and her wife, who is an environmental scientist, were married three years ago in an intimate ceremony at Fisherman’s Point, overlooking Casco Bay.
“I feel like the luckiest person to live and work in South Portland,” she said. “My wife and I say every day, we can’t believe we live here.”
Smith acknowledged that she faces some significant challenges in leading the council and representing the city for the next year. It’s the second time she has been elected mayor by the seven-member council. She first served as mayor in 2012, during her first term on the council.
“The dynamics of the council are very different now and the dynamics of the nation are so different now after the election,” Smith said.
While the council is overwhelmingly liberal and progressive, Smith admitted that infighting among councilors has complicated many issues during the last year. The conservative agenda of Republican President-elect Donald Trump also could make her job more difficult.
Under particular threat are the council’s efforts to promote environmental sustainability, especially municipal solar energy initiatives and the Clear Skies ordinance, which blocks the pipeline from exporting oil and is being challenged in federal court.
“It’s a reality we need to face,” Smith said. “Having Donald Trump as president will change things for many, many aspects of our lives.”
Smith said she’ll call on her experience as a coach and business executive to develop clear strategies for the council and engage a wider range of community members in municipal government.
“There will always be tensions. We need to be ready to adapt,” Smith said. “I try to bring passion and compassion to everything I do. My goal is to be respectful of other people’s perspectives but guide us toward positive next steps. It’s going to take constant reinforcement of the idea that we are acting for the greater good of our citizens.”
Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:
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