Commitment: I will not vote for any more property tax increases. Period. We need diversification to spend less and make more. I’ve listed 3 ideas to start with and execute on within my first year on the council:

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. Let’s see what we learn.

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. We have latent commercial and industrial space and we need to put it to productive use.

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 clear priorities to anchor our investments in education.

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 acronym/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 with investment in remediation (9), and billing for insurance eligible service currently provided by schools without billing (10).

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.

Commitment: Government documents 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 a 1 page summary.

Idea #15: Organize board ‘sprints’ around specific topics to advance to decision more quickly.

Commitment: I will focus my board work here.

#Idea 16: Reconsider sewer bill tranches.

#Idea #17: Model wastewater needs under multiple growth scenarios and publish our results.

I will make a great member of the town council because of:

-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 similar steward of other people’s money.

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