I will be on WLOB tomorrow morning speaking in support of our school SRO. About 7am.

Alex Lear of The Forecaster was kind enough to include me in interviews for an article. Below is our discussion on some important current issues. I welcome residents' input.

-Thoughts on the town and school budget?
Funding our schools and services maintains what we love about our town so they are very important. I generally don’t have a problem with a budget that roughly follows inflation. However, though the mil rate isn’t effected greatly, there are areas of the budget that have grown much including maintenance and debt service. Besides looking at the incremental costs year to year, looking at efficiencies within the budget might be helpful. Within this town, we have the creativity to find savings without giving up what we have. I encourage people to share their ideas, especially with our (currently) uncertain road ahead.

-On the prospect of a new school?
It is frustrating to be in this situation so soon after closing 2 other schools. I’m pleased to see it postponed temporarily with today’s uncertainty. I am hesitant to endorse a $40 million dollar spend given the current climate and recent spending. My son is in a portable classroom at MIW and I think they are very nice and spacious (surprisingly so) – though they are stealing playground space unfortunately. I’d rather see us make due longer with what we have, as long as we aren’t truly being penny-wise-pound-foolish. Some extra time will give us more data on growth, at less cost. Especially given recent economic changes, it is hard to trust the student population projections previously published. If we must build something, I’d like to see it within the existing complex as those efficiencies of scale will save much money over time versus having it remote.

-Would you step down from the Planning Board if elected?
Yes, I believe that would be required and I’d offer to be planning board liaison.

-An objective you'd like to tackle (or something to improve upon)?
Learning from my time on the planning board, I’d like to do more to regulate growth. All residents should read last year’s insightful report on our growth from GPCOG. We have lots of growth now and need tools to meter that without creating an environment that stops growth too much down the road. There are some things we could do to slow new construction and generate revenue. Residents should voice their viable ideas – I’m listening. I’d also like to see a proper sidewalk down Blanchard instead of the shoulder “byways”; same thought for the new areas already in the Capital Improvements Plan (Greely Rd, etc.). Supporting aging-in-place is also important to keeping our town “feel”; this helps regulate growth indirectly as well.

-What qualities make you a good candidate?
I can get through the static and misinformation to find the key points and relevant information needed. I am focused on tangible, actionable items that will result in the change desired. I am not easily offended and I am pleased to help someone else bring a good idea to fruition; we have many creative, smart residents that should share their time and ideas. Having built multiple businesses from scratch, I know fiscal responsibility. I feel a great responsibility to spend tax dollars as wisely as possible for all of the town and for a sustainable, balanced future. ... See more

As of April 8th, it's official, I'm running for Town Council for Cumberland. All residents get to vote on all seats but the 7 seats are broken out as West Cumberland, Cumberland Center, Foreside and then 4 At-Large (whole town) Seats. All seats represent and vote on entire town matters. I am running for the Cumberland Center Seat. I am running against Allison Foster and Bill Stiles. I do not know Allison and only know Bill through his nearly 20 years of previous service on the Council.

Why am I running?
Foremost, because of a years-long, unshakable desire to do so. I have a need to want to serve and make things better and sustainable. After much debate about life and work commitments, I decided April 7th, that I MUST run. To not try, would disappoint myself.

I do not have a flashy platform or something to rectify with the town. In general, our town is a fantastic place and hard to beat. I want to help make sure it stays that way for a long time. We are central to everywhere and a shortcut to nowhere - what a wonderful geography. We have great schools, great officials, great services and great people.

If I had to speak of concerns with our town, I would voice concerns over spending and the long term viability of our growth rate and capital expenditures. I'd like to maintain our positive role/position in Maine but look at ways to curb spending and "flatten the curve" for a better long term approach. This would also help our aging-in-place community afford to stay here. Keeping our older residents here helps keep the feel of our community and also helps slow growth in our schools as clearly shown in last years GPCOG report on the growth of our schools and town.

I also feel the Council could have a better cross section of representation for our younger residents. I have 3 school age children (Riley, Kelsey, Colin) and my priorities may differ from those of other Council members.

A little about me...
I grew up in Clinton, Maine on a dairy farm and went to Lawrence High School (go Bulldogs). Over the years, I played, football, baseball, basketball, soccer and track. My favorites being football and pole vault. I was active at Lawrence including NHS and Student Council President. Although accepted to fly at Embry Riddle, I decided to take a year off.... That has turned into ahhhhh 27 years now I suppose. In lieu of flying planes, I opened my first retail store (second business) in the form of a pet store, Rexx Pets, in Fairfield, Maine at age 19. Rexx Pets transitioned to Petco for me for a few years then back to self employment since 2003 in the form of a Home Automation business (www.rexxhome.com) and additionally since 2014 with a soccer product business (www.refedge.com). I help in the community where I can with coaching, and volunteering for ski club, running club, etc. I am also on the Cumberland Planning Board as of January 2019.

My wife, Laura, is a kindergarten teacher and girl scout leader among many other things. My daughters, Riley and Kelsey are in 7th and 4th grades. My son Colin is in 2nd grade. I am pleased that they all WANT to go back to school asap - they enjoy their schooling and love their friends they have here.

Back to the Council... I want to hear from our community. I have my own thoughts but with all the wonderfully smart people in our town, I'm sure there are more and better ideas out there about how to improve our town and build a sustainable future. I will bring those thoughts to the Council - please share.

I'd appreciate your vote July 14. ... See more