PLACE OF RESIDENCY: Harpswell

PARTY AFFILIATION: Democrat

PREVIOUS ELECTED EXPERIENCE: None

What about your past work has prepared you to serve in the state senate?

As a young Marine Corps platoon commander in Vietnam, I learned to work with people under the most difficult, stressful circumstances imaginable. We had to work together, to do our jobs well. Our lives depended on teamwork.

As a teacher and counselor in the Bowdoin Upward Bound Program in the early 1970s, I helped low-income high school students gain the skills and confidence they needed to succeed in school, and to pursue education and training beyond high school.

Earning a law degree (at the University of Maine) taught me how to think critically about complex issues, and six years as a staff attorney with Pine Tree Legal Assistance offered the opportunity to help resolve a wide array of difficult problems for individuals and families. Achieving these resolutions involved negotiation, administrative advocacy, and, when necessary, litigation.

During twenty seven years with the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM), I learned how all kinds of policy decisions are made by businesses, state government agencies, the legislature, the governor, and federal environmental agencies. I began my tenure with NRCM as a staff attorney, often lobbying at the legislature. My job was to make the case to individual legislators for changes in the law to better protect Maine’s air, water, land and the health of our citizens. In the 1980’s, a time of less polarization than in today’s political world, the merits of a proposal really mattered, and the merits were the focus of my lobbying efforts. That’s how I will approach fellow legislators if I am elected to the state senate.

As executive director of NRCM, I worked with many different people–legislators, business owners, community leaders, commissioners of state agencies, lobbyists for all kinds of interests, health care professionals, journalists, and others. Often, my job required that I (and the NRCM staff) bring a significant portion of all of these people and interests together to gain approval of a new environmental law or program. I not only had to make the case, but had to earn the respect and trust of other parties with a stake in the outcome. That task took time and perseverance. The bigger the project, the longer it took, and the more patience it required. In every instance, we all learned along the way, and we all usually gave a little (or a lot). But, in the end, the return on investment of time and energy was almost always worthwhile.

The lessons I have learned throughout my career will be valuable if I am elected to serve in the state senate.

What can the legislature do to raise Midcoast Mainer’s incomes in the coming years?

It is essential that the 128th Legislature invests in the best education and skills training that the citizens of Maine can afford. Legislators must work hard to make all post-high school vocational training and college more affordable for young people and for adults who want to upgrade their skills. High levels of education and skills training are the best paths to raising income, not only in the mid-coast, but all across our state.

The legislature should start by broadening access for all youngsters to high quality pre-kindergarden child care and early childhood education. Study after study shows that pre-K is the best way to prepare our children for their educational future. In addition, it saves money that otherwise may be spent on special education, addressing behavior problems, and other “catch up” work later on.

The legislature should make sure that our public schools have the resources they need to hire the best teachers, provide essential learning materials, offer up-to-date science and technology courses, and also offer a broad array of core curricula in math, English, languages, social studies/civics, art and music. Policy developed in the legislature should encourage not only excellence in the classroom, but also skills building “off campus” through service learning, apprenticeships, internships, community engagement and volunteering. This educational policy should de-emphasize “teaching to (standardized) tests,” and offer opportunities for critical analysis, entrepreneurship, real-world problem solving and teamwork.

The legislature should increase investment in our university and community college systems. It is important to make postsecondary education more affordable, thus more accessible, for all students and families. It should investigate ways for students to earn credit toward tuition though public service. It should consider creating a fund for low-interest loans (substantially lower than now offered through banks and FAME) for students, with built-in incentives for finishing a degree program.

The legislature should also create incentives, in partnership with Maine businesses, for people in the workforce to upgrade or broaden their skills. Higher skill levels mean more earning power and greater flexibility in the workforce.

In addition to investing in education, Maine’s leaders should focus on attracting and retaining businesses that thrive with a highly skilled workforce, and which pay excellent wages and benefits. The outreach and recruiting done by the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority is exemplary, with both start-ups and established enterprises locating at the former BNAS.

Finally, we need to invest in our infrastructure, including roads, rail, ports, clean energy production,, and broadband. For a vibrant 21st century economy, the Midcoast (and all of Maine) must have both first-rate physical infrastructure and a well-educated, highly skilled workforce.

What is the most pressing issue that you want addressed in the next legislative session?

There is more than one “pressing issue” that needs to be addressed by the 128th Legislature. Among the high priorities are:

1. Broaden early childhood care and education, modeled on a program like Family Focus (at Brunswick Landing), and make pre-K more affordable and accessible for Maine’s working families. Build a stronger foundation under our education system, expanding it statewide over time..

2. Enact forward-looking energy policy, with emphasis on restoring serious incentives for Maine based solar power (business and residential) and for investment in energy efficiency. Keep more of our energy expenditure dollars in Maine, save money for homeowners and businesses, and create jobs here.

3. Create a workforce development partnership (public/private) that identifies high-skilled, high-pay jobs which exist now in Maine and are unfilled, and the jobs that will be critical for our economy in the next decade. Task that group with responsibility for designing the best training programs for our citizens so that those jobs will be filled by Maine people. Make sure that the interests and needs of small business are fully represented and addressed.

4. Improve health care for Maine people. Expand MaineCare to the 70,000 low-income citizens who are eligible for health care under the Affordable Care Act. Rebuild our public health system, especially public health nursing services. Emphasize nutrition, preventative care, and “getting outdoors” as keys for good health. Take advantage of every opportunity and all federal funds to offer drug abuse prevention and treatment services. Create an effective campaign to reverse the trend toward obesity and attendant problems. Keep tobacco settlement funds targeted to essential health programs, as originally intended.