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)
While Wal-Mart was the proverbial “700 lb. gorilla” that brought about strong opposition to developing this site for retail, big box development, I am strongly in favor of it. The property is owned by a long-time Westbrook business that can no longer sustain itself here. They want to sell the property and maximize their return. There are very few businesses or developers out there that have the financial wherewithal to clean up and improve that parcel and pay the asking price. Knowing that, I commend the neighbors and the Planning Board for developing the standards to offer protections to the abutting property owners, and I hope that the property is ultimately purchased and redeveloped. At this point I’m not aware of where things stand with Wal-Mart.
Pay-as-you-throw trash pickup and curbside recycling (favors)
I’m still in favor of this concept. While there are those that say this is simply a “trash tax” or a shifting of an expense within our tax base to a more direct expense to the user, I believe it is a fairer allocation of that expense in that the heavy users pay for what they use and those that do not generate a lot of trash pay less, and, this system promotes recycling, because hopefully you want to generate less trash and keep your costs down. The communities around us use this system and by not using it, we do get a lot of “alien trash” left here in Westbrook. Every taxpayer now pays for that. I believe we can bring the costs of the bags down to a reasonable amount in an effort to at least try this program. There are savings to be achieved that will translate to savings in taxes going forward. Can I say for certain that every household will pay less than what the present trash disposal allocation is within the mil rate, No – but if residents work to recycle, some will save, and, doing this is the right thing for the environment.
The city purchasing land on Saco Street to market it as the Westbrook Heights Business Park (favored)
This was the right move and a good move on the part of the city. That tract of land is one of a few remaining for development and if the city did not step in, an opportunity to bring in some interested businesses would be lost.
How would you have voted on this year’s school budget? (opposed)
First, let it be said, I am totally supportive of education. However, I do think our school department has gone overboard with spending and they need to do a better job of prioritizing needs and consolidating resources in an effort to help provide residents with some tax relief.
The potential redevelopment of Saccarappa Park as a combination commercial building/public park (favors)
This idea came from the Downtown Economic Development Committee I appointed. I believe there is merit to the concept. It provides the ability to maintain key green space within the downtown while still providing for the economic development of an important parcel of land. Of course, parking issues are still of great concern as are traffic movement issues within the downtown.
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?
We had a public process regarding our zoning ordinance changes and it’s unfortunate we did not do a better job of outlining some of outcomes of the changes. I’d make sure we did a better job next time. Given the complaints, the current moratorium is the answer.
What can be done to help lower Westbrook property taxes?
We’ve made some strides in that direction. My plan is to continue to look for ways to shrink government through consolidating, eliminating or outsourcing while maximizing differences and continuing to provide high levels of service to our taxpayers
I expect our schools to do the same, and, we need to continue with that overused term, economic development. I want Westbrook to be economically vibrant and affordable and my vision for that is through a deliberate and thoughtful approach. It’s not simply reacting and responding to the first proposal that comes to us, and, contrary to some beliefs, it is not simply focused on our downtown. The same issues that I was concerned about two years ago still concern me today. Parking for downtown businesses (both employee and customer) and the movement of traffic through our downtown and neighboring streets. The commitment made by a prior administration do provide parking for one of our new businesses puts severe strain on our limited parking resources. My vision for economic development transcends just our downtown area and reaches out to all appropriate regions of our city. We have and will continue to look for all opportunities to having good economically viable businesses into our city.
What do you want to see done to improve parking in the city?
I’ve established a committee to look at this issue. We’ve hired a consultant to help us identify issues we may not have identified and find solutions. This is not an easy problem to deal with as there is only so much land within the downtown available for parking and for development.
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