Political experience

8 years as State Representative from Sanford; 4 years on the York County Budget Committee; 4 years on the Sanford Personnel Board, 3 years as Chair; 3 years as U.S. delegate to the Electric Infrastructure Security Council’s International Summit; conducted meetings in Congressional offices for the Task Force on National and Homeland Security.

Why are you running for office?

I am running for office to support a better standard of living and improve the quality of life for families and individuals. I am running to be a voice for courage, commitment, vision, urgency, and leadership in the Maine Senate, for vigorously dealing with the important issues that face us. I am running to continue my leadership in driving protections of our electric power grid from long term blackouts, which would assure societal safety and attract the important businesses that seek power reliability and offer good jobs. I am running to defend average people against special interest greed that leave them behind, promote transparency, prevention, wellness and affordability in health, safety, and addiction issues, and prioritize needy children, elderly, and veterans.

• Income Tax: Gov. LePage would like to lower Maine’s income tax rate and eventually eliminate it, by increasing the state’s sales tax and expanding it across a broader range of goods and services. Do you support this proposal?
  • No

    Sales taxes fall most heavily on those of the lowest incomes. They take a greater share of their income. Not fair.

• Background Checks: Do you support background checks for privately sold firearms in Maine?
  • Yes

    I respect the conscientious gun owners of Maine, and our hunting heritage, but I think the time has come to see this as an issue of supporting our neighbors in other states, where guns that are legally sold without background checks here are illegal and a problem there. I regret the inconvenience to hunter friends who have a history of trusted sharing, but In these times, when it may be important to us to ask other states to help us keep drug traffickers out of Maine, we need to show what neighborly support we can to them in their public safety challenges.

• Minimum Wage:
  In light of the ballot question facing voters this fall, do you support raising the state’s minimum wage from $7.50 to $12 an hour by 2020?
  
  • Yes

    Too many people are unable to survive on the meager salaries they receive for working hard for often long hours. This is a very gradual increase, and businesses owners should also benefit from greater sales and appreciative employees. I’ve always thought that apprentice or intern wages are worth considering, but valued workers deserve to take home compensation that communicates that value to them.

• Marijuana: Do you support legalization of marijuana for recreational use?
  • Other

    I don’t think this bill is good for Maine caregivers and patients who rely on their personal attention to their real medical needs. This will lead to greater penalties for smaller amounts on a person, and more serious criminal offense records. The testing it requires has not been proven valuable, and I worry that it is another instance of big business tactics designed to drive out smaller businesses with inappropriate regulatory burden. I think we need to wait for a more consumer-friendly idea.

• Addiction/Overdoses: Do you believe the state is doing enough in response to the rise in heroin/opiate addiction and overdoses? If not, what else should be done?
  • I am not equipped to give advice on this issue, except to say we need to find promising ways to deal with it. It needs to be directed at those who want to give up their addiction, or it won’t work. It also need to serve the suffering families whose hearts are breaking under this horror. I attended a wonderful forum on this in Waterboro a few months ago, and could see that there were good professionals engaged in finding solutions, and impacted individuals with meaningful insights. We need to involve all of them in answering this question.