{"id":12566,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/rich-leone\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:07:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:51","slug":"rich-leone","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/rich-leone\/","title":{"rendered":"Rich Leone"},"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\">Ran in 2020 for town council in Old Orchard Beach, did not win. Have not served in any other capacity.<\/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\">During conversations with my neighbors and community, I\u2019ve heard the following issues are most important to them:\n1.    Exploring funding sources outside of property taxes to relieve the tax burden on residents and achieve our education goals.\n2.    Creating more positive awareness of how good Portland Public Schools are and have been, locally and afar.\n3.    Adding more classroom help for teachers and administrative staff.<\/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 want to serve my community and help guide the spaces that my child will enter when they are of school age.<\/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 area\u2019s schools? 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\">Our aging infrastructure will require a lot of attention and money, which makes focusing on the academic support more difficult due to limited resources.\n\nOur biggest opportunity is how we raise money for these big infrastructure issues. A capital campaign to raise funds through donations should be a priority for any upgrades\/renovations and new buildings.<\/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\">A top issue for many parents is the age of Maine\u2019s school infrastructure. How would you address this issue locally from your position on the school board?<\/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\">There&#039;s no easy answer without an increase in funding from the state and an alternative and stable revenue stream that doesn&#039;t depend on increasing taxes. Hard decisions to either close or renovate schools will have to be made, and there&#039;s no answer that makes everyone happy. We have to make the best decision for the children with the resources we have.<\/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 think the state government is too involved in local schooling? Not involved enough? The right amount of involved? Explain your answer.<\/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\">The state needs to increase the education funding that Portland receives. We send a lot of tax dollars to Augusta and we aren&#039;t getting enough back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":10928,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Richard \u201cRich\u201d","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"J.","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Leone","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":12564,"voter_guide_candidate_age":45,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Assistant Director, Compliance at The Hartford Insurance Group","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"My wife and I have been together for 13 years and we have a 3-year old daughter.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"BA, Asian Languages and Cultures, Religious Studies, Hobart and William Smith Colleges; JD, University of Maine School of Law","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1SJyDE1qMD524nZwNsPE8sxtpPQ2QbL-E","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1186],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-12566","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\/12566","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":1,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12567,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12566\/revisions\/12567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=12566"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=12566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}