I am running for town council because taxes are too high, hard choices and investments need to be made, our infrastructure is wearing out, and I love living in this community. I want to be of further service to our town and I am a kind of a nerd. Want my attention? Talk data to me.
6 questions
6 commitments
17 ideas
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Commitment: I will not vote for any more property tax increases. Period. I will advocate for cost savings and belt tightening- not higher property taxes. We need smarter diversification to spend less and make more.
Idea #1: Use economists at the Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) to model the impact of reducing property taxes on a sliding scale depending on income. This option would not be age limited and it would not result in redistribution of the tax burden.
Idea #2: Reduce STAY age to 62. [ps: this is already proposed. I agree- but we need to track the data.]
Idea #3: Consolidate administrative roles across town functions with neighborhood districts to share overhead costs. We do not need to duplicate every single function in every small town. Keep what matters and consolidate the rest.
Idea #4: Focus on productive use of commercial and industrial spaces in town. Have not had a stable chamber of commerce or development director. Provide stable KPIs for this work and hold the team accountable for progress here.
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Commitment: High quality schools benefit every person in Yarmouth. I will always support schools as the cornerstone of this community.
Idea #5: In cooperation with the school committee align on quality metrics. Get public feedback, refine the metrics, and have a single reference we all understand and rely on to interpret data.
Idea #6: No acronyms on the budget. Every single line should be understandable at a glance. If that is hard- link to one page document that explains the line item.
Idea #7: Goal of 8% cost reduction in operations in year one on the council. Three ideas to start with include regionalization of shared services where appropriate (8), energy audit of all buildings (9), and billing for insurance eligible service currently provided by schools without billing (10).
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Commitment: I will make speed reduction on Yarmouth streets a central issue to our health work on the board. There was a severe accident in front of our home last summer. It is a matter of when - not if - this will happen again.
Idea #11: publish granular data on traffic calming project
Idea #12: publish monitoring schedule to ensure adequate coverage in hot spots.
Idea #13: work towards local control of high risk state roads in our community. This will be hard. People say it is not possible. These state roads now plow through neighborhoods. We need change because it is unsafe. There is broad alignment across town and we need to get it done.
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Commitment: Government documents are designed to intimidate. They are long, lawerly, and not practical for regular humans to understand. This needs to stop.
Idea #14: All posted documents longer than 10 pages will come with an AI generated 1 page summary.
Idea #15: Organize board ‘sprints’ around specific topics to advance to decision more quickly.
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Commitment: I will focus my board work here.
#Idea 16: Re-consider sewer bill tranches.
#Idea #17: Model wastewater needs under multiple growth scenarios and publish our results.
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I will make a great member of the town council because:
-my temperament. An effective town councilor needs to work effectively in groups. Town councils do not work by fiat or self-righteousness or self-promotion or yelling loudest. Effective leaders separate signal from noise and keep advancing the mission. This is how I view the work.
-my life and work experience. I am a parent, a physician, and I have started companies from scratch. This means I have raised money from other people to build things. I know what that responsibility is and a town councilor is a steward of resources.
Its a small town.
Lets meet in person or connect by phone.
Questions, comments, or ideas? Reach out and let’s talk.
I’ll be at 317 Main on 5/20 from 10-12pm. More dates to follow.