{"id":12422,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/miles-burleson-lesser\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T14:37:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T14:37:52","slug":"miles-burleson-lesser","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/miles-burleson-lesser\/","title":{"rendered":"Miles Burleson-Lesser"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-e44e021b wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-4-font-size\">Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-left is-style-short-red\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First time running for office<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-e44e021b wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-4-font-size\">Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-left is-style-short-red\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of my top priorities is ensuring that Bath is affordable for residents and newcomers alike. I&#039;m also interested in improving our quality of life by enhancing walkability and safety through road and infrastructure upgrades. I would like to reach out and be available to my constituency, and help interest and engage the wider community in their city government and in policy implementation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-e44e021b wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-4-font-size\">Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-left is-style-short-red\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#039;m running for Bath City Council because I&#039;ve watched my classmates have to move away to start families, and I&#039;ve seen my neighbors fall behind despite doing everything right.  I want Bath to again be a city where generations of families can not only survive but thrive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-e44e021b wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-4-font-size\">What is the biggest challenge facing your town\/county? The biggest opportunity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-left is-style-short-red\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bath is an incredible community. I&#039;ve never met such hard-working and talented people. Unfortunately, a sizable number of residents find it hard just to get by. An insidious element of that sort of struggle and anxiety is that it undermines human capabilities and potential. We stand to gain tremendously by providing the resources and environment for all residents to chase their dreams and achieve them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-e44e021b wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-4-font-size\">If you could change one thing about how the town\/county functions, what would it be and why?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-left is-style-short-red\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Downtown Bath and its businesses are the crown jewels of our city. Yet, building such a vibrant, mixed-use district today would be an uphill battle. Shelter costs remain part of the wider affordability crisis. Key to lowering them, along with simplifying our zoning code and disincentivizing speculation, is building more housing. I believe this can be accomplished without compromising the character of the city by collecting community input and growing where it makes sense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-e44e021b wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-4-font-size\">Do you support more development \u2013 i.e. more housing construction and business building in your town\/county? Why or why not?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-left is-style-short-red\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One major change I would focus on is pursuing common-sense regulatory streamlining to lower costs on citizens and boost efficiency. It shouldn&#039;t be easier to convert a residence into a short term rental than to build a garage on your own property.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7219,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Miles","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Burleson-Lesser","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":12420,"voter_guide_candidate_age":34,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"E-commerce consignment and consulting","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"I'm a proud Morse High School alumnus, renter, and small business owner.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"Southern Maine Community College (Bath campus)","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1fQRi-6sjac1VIdw93yT73nCoVP2iz6Jp","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1186],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-12422","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_party-non-partisan"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/candidate"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12858,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12422\/revisions\/12858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=12422"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=12422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}