The city has certified candidates for mayor, City Council and Board of Education.
Randy Billings
Staff Writer
Randy Billings is a government watchdog and political reporter who has been the State House bureau chief since 2021. He was named the Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in 2020. He joined the Press Herald in 2012 as the Portland City Hall reporter, where his beat touched on a wide range of topics, including municipal government, immigration, homelessness, housing and social services. Prior to that, he worked at various weeklies as well as business and arts publications. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine, Orono. He lives in North Yarmouth with his wife and two children and enjoys the outdoors and playing his upright bass.
Posted inLocal & State, Local Elections, News, Politics
Advocates fail again to get expansion of ranked-choice voting on Portland ballot
City officials reviewed 300 contested signatures and say Fair Elections Portland still fell 76 short, even after the city lowered the number of signatures required to qualify for the ballot.
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Posted inLocal & State, News
Group pushing ranked-choice voting challenges city’s rejection of petition
Its petition effort to expand the voting system to citywide races fell short, but Fair Elections Portland is challenging signatures that were disqualified.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Petition seeking ranked-choice voting for more Portland offices falls short
But Fair Elections Portland did gather enough signatures on a separate petition to ask voters to create a local program to provide public financing to political campaigns.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Portland denies developer’s claims in lawsuit over failed Midtown project
City officials dispute allegations in a lawsuit brought by Federated Cos. over the $85 million project that it wanted to build in Bayside.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Affordable senior housing proposed in downtown Portland
Community Housing of Maine is proposing an $11.4 million project that would include 11 units of housing for long-term stayers in the city-run homeless shelter.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Maine hosts give weary migrant families time to rest – and hope
Some Maine families have opened their homes to recently arrived asylum seekers, who have spent months in temporary shelters and, in some cases, government detention centers.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Portland councilor seeks to delay new fee for makers of alcoholic beverages
A manufacturing license for breweries, wineries and distilleries that costs as much as $2,000 a year was quietly slipped into the city budget that took effect on July 1.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
City wants developers to reconsider plan for historic Portland Co. building
Portland’s historic preservation manager says proposed alterations for a restaurant, offices and a residential unit could compromise the historical character of the Pattern Storehouse.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Uncategorized
Narrow Gauge Railroad staying in Portland
The nonprofit considered moving to Gray after the Portland Co. was sold for redevelopment, but it now plans to remain on the Portland waterfront, where it has operated since 1993.