The Maine League of Young Voters 2010 - PORTLAND Edition

Endorsed Vote: Yes

While few people enjoy a trip to the dentist, The League supports a YES vote on this bond! Maine has substantially fewer practicing dentists than the national average, the majority of Maine dentists are approaching retirement age, and we have a real scarcity of dental care in the most rural areas of the state. We need to attract young dentists to Maine.

Endorsed Vote: Yes

The League supports a YES vote on this bond. Our open spaces, special places, and working waterfronts are what make Maine an amazing place to live—so we support protecting them. We like that there are significant matching funds available for this, too.

Endorsed Vote: Yes

The League supports a YES vote. Currently, Cumberland County operates under the state’s one-size-fits-all County Charter system. A home-rule charter empowers Cumberland County to incorporate a number of best practices in government to improve constituent representation. The new charter will improve services to the 28 municipalities in the county. It will also reduce the cost of those services through improved efficiency and accountability.

Endorsed Vote: Yes

The League strongly recommends a YES vote. Believe it or not, the largest city in the state does not (yet!) popularly elect our mayor. Currently, City Council members go behind close doors (no media in the room) and pick one of their own to be mayor for one year. Question 1 will grant Portland voters the right to directly elect their mayor for a 4-year term, up to 2 terms. The elected mayor would have new authority over the City Budget, become Portland’s official ambassador, oversee the hiring and retention of the City Manager; and oversee the implementation of City policies. By electing our mayor, we can hold City Hall accountable. By being salaried, the mayor can work full time for Portland voters, working to attract new developments, good jobs, and state and federal grants to the City. Critics have made much of the salary, but consider if our elected mayor attracts just one development project or federal grant to Portland, s/he will pay for the mayor’s salary and have money left over to support other critical parts of the budget. The mayor’s salary would be 0.03% of the budget. We need someone in City Hall accountable to voters, watching over our taxes, and attracting new opportunities to Portland. We also love that the proposal has the mayor elected through instant runoff voting (also called rank choice voting). This system ensures whoever we elect has the majority of support from the voters (unlike our current system) and eliminates spoilers (think Ralph Nader: no one that voted for him wanted Bush to be President).

Endorsed Vote: Yes

The League recommends a YES vote. This question gives more stature and dignity to the school committee and clarifies its role in being fiscally responsible for our school system. Voters might remember that three years ago the school was in dire straights, financially speaking. While the current school committee has cleaned up the mess, Question 2 would help ensure it never happens again.

Endorsed Vote: Yes

The League recommends a YES vote. This question does away with obsolete, anachronistic, conflicting, and unclear language in our charter. It may seem prosaic, but is important nonetheless. The most important change is that it clarifies our recall provisions, ensuring that a district representative can only be recalled by voters in that district, which just makes sense.

Endorsed Vote: Yes

The League strongly recommends a YES vote in favor Voting Rights: afterall, we organized the petition drive to put it out to vote! Question 4 on Portland's local ballot asks voters to allow legal immigrants who are residents of Portland and 18 years old or older to be allowed to vote in municipal elections. This question reestablishes voting rights for all legal residents. For much of America's history, voting was determined by residency: if you lived in a community, you had a vote. An anti-immigrant backlash in the late 1880s through the early 1900s led to literacy tests, poll taxes, and restrictive registration processes that took away new immigrants' right to vote. Voting YES on 4 recognizes America's immigrant heritage and gives every legal resident of Portland a voice. Legal immigrants pay taxes, start businesses, take part in our local economy, serve in the military, and send their kids to school like everyone else in Portland. It’s only fair for members of a community to have a say in the decisions that affect their lives. Voting YES on 4 enables legal residents to participate in the community issues that affect us all: reducing crime, improving education, and keeping our streets clean. By voting YES on 4, you are voting against taxation without representation. The full text of the amendment reads:
Qualification to Vote.
Any other provision in this Charter notwithstanding, legal immigrants who are residents of Portland and 18 years old or older on the date of any municipal election shall be allowed to register to vote and vote in municipal elections. In order to register, a legal immigrant shall provide proof of identify, age and residency, pursuant to Title 21-A, and legal status according to standards established by the City Clerk. Such persons
shall not have the right to run for and hold an elected municipal office.

Elizabeth "Libby" Mitchell

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Elizabeth “Libby” Mitchell (Democrat) describes herself as “tough,” which is an accurate reflection given her status as the first woman in the country to be both state Speaker of the House and Senate President. We admire her support of marriage equality, which she helped champion. Libby is an environmental champion, too, and has chosen to launch her first statewide commercial highlighting her stance on protecting Maine’s people and special places. To help foster more Maine-grown jobs, she wants to help encourage more innovation and reduce energy costs through investments in sustainable energy. We hope Libby breaks the last glass ceiling in Maine politics to become the first woman governor.

Chellie Pingree

Endorsed Vote: Yes

: Chellie Pingree (Democrat) is a champion for Mainers. After her first term in Congress, she has an excellent voting record on everything from healthcare to ending the wars in the Middle East. She’s voted against funding the wars (twice) in order to bring our war dollars home. She also has also earned constituent service points. She’s fought Anthem to get $500,000 in veteran claims. She’s fought for Maine consumers by helping pass a law that restricts predatory lending. We’d do good by Maine sending her to Washington for a second term.

Justin Alfond

Endorsed Vote: Yes

: Justin Alfond (Democrat): He’s not just a State Senator, he’s a Leaguer. When it comes to environmental and social justice issues, and equality for all Mainers, Justin has been our home-town hero. We’re not just saying that because he founded the Maine League of Young Voters. Over the past two years in Augusta, he’s fought for more funding for Portland schools. He’s also championed limiting special interest money in politics and increasing transparency in government by passing a bill that transfers municipal candidate reporting to the state’s efficient and ground-breaking system.

Joseph Brannigan

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Joseph Brannigan (Democrat) has a 26-year track record as an elected official. Joe’s a man of a few words, so we’ll just quickly mention that he's pro-marriage equality, wants to figure out a way for the state to increase its revenue, pessimistic (to put it mildly) about finding state funding for Amtrak, thinks jobs are the best way to keep young people in state, and pro single-payer. Joe has served on the all-important Appropriations Committee and has been a supporter of reducing cuts to critical social services.

Mark Dion

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Mark Dion (Democrat) is the outgoing sheriff of Cumberland County. He was recently the only member of law enforcement on the board of directors for the group rallying to operate the new medical marijuana dispensaries in Maine. Although Dion works closely with the immigrant population, and has very strong opinions around increasing integration, improving English Language Learning and education programs, and working harder to connect new Americans with good jobs. He is not, however, in favor of Legal Resident Voting. Dion supports marriage equality.

Peter Stuckey

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Peter Stuckey (Democrat) is an incumbent candidate and currently serves on the Health and Human Services Committee. Stuckey is a long-time progressive activist and has a strong background in education and child development policy. He believes strongly that the state must generate revenue to balance the budget and restore the programs and services that were cut—he points to special interests exempted from state taxes as a place to look in order to balance our budget. His other top issues are affordable healthcare and reducing energy consumption through innovation and incentives. He believes in universal access to comprehensive primary and preventive health care, including dental and mental.

Seth Berner

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Seth Berner (Green Indpendent) operates his own law practice where he works almost exclusively for impoverished people and those striving to change society in meaningful ways. He has, for six years, been a volunteer Legal Director for the Portland Chapter of the NAACP. Berner considers the top issues facing Maine to be wage fairness, tax policy reform, and single payer health care. He believes in human rights and basic services for all Maine residents, regardless of citizenship status and helped collect signatures to put the Portland Voting Rights initiative on the ballot. Berner is a tireless champion of marriage equality. While Seth can be a firebrand at times (we don’t expect him to be a consensus builder), we think Augusta could use a few outspoken activists that will stand up, speak out, and call a spade a spade.

Anne Haskell

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Anne Haskell (Democrat) is the incumbent candidate and has done a solid job representing Portland in Augusta. She’s worked on legislation for the allowance of medical marijuana, fair unemployment compensation for seniors, and efforts to improve juvenile justice outcomes in Maine. In order to support a healthy state budget, she favors an equal 33% split between local property, sales, and income tax rates. Anne has co-sponsored more than one bill in support of marriage equality and will continue to work towards that right. She supports and has voted for single payer health care; she believes the prevention and data collection arms of Dirigo Health should be maintained. Anne has most recently championed an effort to address juvenile justice issues in Maine and is working to decrease confinement and improve community-based services for young people.

Jon Hinck

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Jon Hinck (Democrat) is an attorney who has served the West End, St. John Valley, and parts of the University Neighborhood for 2 terms. As someone who worked for GreenPeace and the Natural Resources Council of Maine, who can argue with his environmental pedigree? He’s fought to reduce toxics in consumer and children’s products and has been a constant voice to reduce global warming pollution. His efforts have earned the support from the League once again. We look forward to another term of his strong leadership in Augusta.

Jill Barkley

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Jill Barkley (Democrat), a long-time Leaguer, is running to fill the seat vacated by term-limited Herb Adams. Jill, through her work fighting domestic violence, has undoubtedly improved the lives of many people. As an advocate walking the halls of the State House, she has a great grasp for how things work in Augusta. Jill has worked tirelessly in support of marriage equality. She understands the concerns of her neighborhood, which has many social services that assist lower-income individuals, the homeless, and those with addiction problems. Jill will work hard to ensure that prevention programs are both effective and well-funded to help those that live on the margins in our community. Augusta will benefit from her passion, compassion, and her big-picture vision.

Anna Trevorrow

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Anna Trevorrow (Green Independent) has been a one-woman force as a member of the Portland Charter Commission in an at-large seat. She brought up, lobbied for, and drove the debate on the legal resident voting issue. Anna's savvy showed when the Commission almost refused to discuss the idea; she managed to bring along 4 other charter commissioners to her side and the Commission gave the issue the debate it deserved. Anna earned extra points with us, going door-to-door to keep immigrants up-to-date on this issue. Anna was also a champion of having an elected mayor in Portland. As a Charter Commissioner representing the entire City, she’s served with distinction, doing her homework on every issue brought forward, working to build coalitions of unlikely allies, and effectively advocating on critical issues. She has earned our endorsement for her effective service to Portland in this regard.

John Anton

Endorsed Vote: Yes

John Anton is seeking his second 3-year term on the city council. Endorsed by the League in his first run, Anton has proven to be a staunch advocate for issues near and dear to the hearts of many Portlanders, including providing more affordable housing, improving sustainable transportation options, and economic development that benefits the whole community instead of a just well connected elite group of real estate developers. Anton favors increased investment and maintenance of our pedestrian infrastructure. He understands that what makes Portland distinctive among other cities throughout the nation is its creative economy. He therefore supports eliminating the current 100-ft dispersal requirement between entertainment establishments in favor of a licensing regime that focuses on stopping over-serving. Anton is a friend of quality K-12 education as well as and advocate for improved higher education institutions in the Portland area. John supports and elected mayor and legal resident voting rights.

Will Mitchell

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Will Mitchell, son of gubernatorial candidate Libby Mitchell, is seeking office for the first time and hopes to represent Portland’s Stroudwater, Libbytown, and Rosemont neighborhoods on the City Council. He believes in enhancing Portland’s quality of life through economic development and investment in education and infrastructure. He supports a popularly elected mayor and voting rights for legal residents of Portland. Mitchell is a strong advocate for vibrant affordable housing and favors a focus of building up instead of out. He recognizes that under the current budget situation, Portland has to do more with less. Though further cuts in services should be off the table, Mitchell does support consolidating and regionalizing services where appropriate and is in favor of reducing energy costs through retrofits to city fleets and infrastructure. As the owner of a small technology and mapping company, we believe that the City could really use his tech-savvy and measurable-outcome approach to solving the City’s problems.

Kate Snyder

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Kate Snyder works for the Board of Corrections in Augusta and has three children, all of whom attend Portland public schools. Snyder, a member of the school committee since 2007, is a strong advocate for developing a comprehensive plan for Portland schools, the continued use and expansion of the multi-year budgeting plan, as well as negotiation and settlement of union contracts in a mutually agreeable way. She says it is important to forsee and plan for future reductions in revenue without harming students and the learning process while potentially finding different funding sources for extracurricular activities should the need arise. Kate would like to see more Portland students move onto their post-secondary lives by improving graduations rates and continuing to require the administration of SATs to all Portland students. Kate has done a terrific job on the school committee and we believe it would do the City well to re-elect her.

Jaimey Caron

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Jaimey Caron, first elected to the school committee in 2007, has 2 children in Portland public schools. His top priorities for the school district are developing a comprehensive plan, upgrading elementary school facilities, and strengthening financial planning. Jaimey is pleased the district has fully recovered from the 2007 financial disaster and is now on a proactive instead of reactive footing. He supports working with staff and community members to strike the right balance of programs and services that define educational goals. He would boost graduation rates by continuing to make school more relevant for students through updating the curriculum, providing students with up-to-date technology, and integrating high schools with the business and arts communities. Jaimey is a level-headed problem solver and deserves to be re-elected to the school committee.

Laurie Davis

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Laurie Davis is Director of TRiO Upward Bound and Student Support Services at USM, as well as President of the Maine Educational Opportunity Association. A recent Portland Charter Commissioner, Davis has a lot of experience in knowing how to ask the right questions to cut to the core of an issue. She favors transparent and consistent evaluation of programs to determine which should be revised or eliminated. She believes schools should offer an education that provides full-person development and inspires students to aspire to a post-secondary education. She is in favor of an elected mayor and legal resident voting rights. After seeing the effective and thoughtful job she did as a Charter Commissioner, the League enthusiastically supports her bid for School Committee.