Platform
THE YOUTH MOVEMENT
As a young professional under the age of 30, a core effort when I am City Councilor will be to make the Bangor region an area that is able to attract and retain talented young professionals to live and work. Maine, especially eastern Maine, has suffered much too long from the “brain-drain” where educated young people have to move away to find a viable career, and make a decent living. Bangor must work to foster a business climate that attracts businesses that offer high-quality professional careers. I will speak to this issue as much as possible while on the City Council.
THE RACINO and NEW CIVIC CENTER
The racino development, and “keeping the promise” to build a new auditorium/civic center from the revenue collected by the city, is a key principle in my platform for City Council. The new Hollywood Slots Racino and a new civic center go hand-in-hand in advancing Bangor as a destination for tourists and business travelers. To this end, I would support a proposal to build the new civic center in the existing Bass Park location as opposed to a downtown location. Keeping the new civic center at Bass Park would allow for a more integrated relationship with the racino when it comes to traffic flow and parking due to their proximity to I-395. Furthermore, it would keep this traffic stress out of the downtown while marketing and promotion could still successfully lure visitors and shoppers to the shops and entertainment of our city’s center.
RETAIL GROWTH
“Big box” stores serve an important role in our city in their ability to bring low-cost affordable products to the hardworking people of our region, many of whom have to work ardently to support their families on modest incomes. WAL-MART aside, what would we do without Home Depot, Lowes, Best Buy, Kohls and Target!? They are a necessity for this reason, and also to increase the tax base of our city in order to shift the tax burden away from individual property tax payers. However, my concern with “big box” development in Bangor stems from the fact that they all seem to want to build in the same place (Stillwater Ave/Mall area) –now creating traffic and other infrastructure issues in that area. While the city is working to address those concerns on Stillwater, I would want to work with the Planning Board and other community leaders to explore alternative commercial development sites in different parts of the city that would help to remove some of the “economic-development load” from the Bangor Mall area.
HISTORICAL PRESERVATION and DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION
I stand behind the efforts to protect and preserve the historical integrity of downtown buildings. Bangor made the mistake once with Urban Renewal, and I’m not about to support development efforts that would repeat this tragedy. However, the “charm” that is protected through these preservation laws is a positive for the downtown in that it protects an alternative atmosphere for residents and visitors to enjoy our city. Continuing with the revitalization effort of the downtown in recent years is critical to keeping Bangor a dynamic city, but no one wants to repeat mistakes of the past. I am confident a happy-medium can be found between preservation laws and interested developers, both of whom are well-intentioned.
ARTS and CULTURE
The “creative economy” of art, music, and culture undoubtedly play an integral role in making Bangor a popular place to live, work and play. Bangor must protect historical places such as the Penobscot Theatre, promote the events that take place there, as well as support the Bangor Symphony Orchestra and other similar organizations to keep our city’s cultural offerings popular and relevant.
