Running for re-election to his Ward 1 City Council seat, Brendan Rielly said he wants another two years on the council to continue moving Westbrook forward.
Rielly, D-Alberta Drive, said Westbrook has worked hard over the years to move away from its dependence on the paper mill. While he feels the city has made great strides, Rielly said the city still has more to do.
“We need to be more proactive as a city government and less reactive,” he said. “We need to do better at predicting problems rather than fixing them as they come.”
Rielly said he would continue to work to bring more economic growth and jobs to the city. One way he is helping to do this is through an economic development forum he is organizing along with the city on Oct. 28. Rielly said the purpose of the forum was to bring together people from various fields to show off the city and also to hear what the city can do to make itself more attractive to businesses.
While economic growth certainly is a major concern, Rielly said he is also going to look for ways to keep taxes in control. He said he is proud of the fact that Westbrook was one of the few cities in Maine to reduce taxes without slashing services, and he wants to continue that trend.
Rielly acknowledged that it might be time for the city to undergo a revaluation to even out the tax burden. Rielly said a revaluation would be a tough pill for some residents to swallow, especially those residents who would see their property assessments increase. “It’s not something that’s fun to do,” he said. However, Rielly said he would make sure that any additional money received by the city as the result of a revaluation would be used to lower the tax rate to make sure taxes don’t jump dramatically.
Over the next two years, Rielly said he would work to help guide Westbrook and look for ways to ease the tax burden on residents. “No one’s going to work harder than me to generate new sources of revenue, reduce the tax burden and make cuts wherever we can,” he said.
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