Mayor candidates seek traction at arts forum

Fourteen mayoral candidates shared the stage Monday night at the State Theater for a forum that put the focus, for one night anyway, on the city's arts district and creative economy.

Voters on Nov. 8 will elect the city's mayor for the first time in 88 years. Currently, the mayor is one of nine city councilors and serves for a year in a position that's viewed as part time. Under the charter changes approved by voters in fall 2010, the mayor is elected every four years, is now a full-time and draws a $66,000 annual salary.

Moderator Sam Pfeifle of Portland Music Foundation asked candidates to explain their positions on parking and transportation policy, nightlife issues, and the creative economy. He also asked candidates in a lightning round to prove their support for the arts by naming, among other things, local actors, recent performances at The State and answering trivia about the economic impact of things like First Friday Art Walk.

Monday's forum was hosted by the Portland Music Foundation and Portland Arts & Cultural Alliance. The event was broken up into two segments, with a "long form" question-and-answer session first and a quicker lightning round in the second half.

Below is a summary of what the 14 candidates said during the event. Because of the format, not all candidates offered answers to each questions.

Richard Dodge, who works as a Maine Guide part of the year, was leading an excursion and was not able to attend.

John Eder highlighted his plans to create 1,000 units of affordable housing in the city's downtown. Eder also suggested that local school children take Metro buses to school instead of yellow school buses. Such a change would instill good habits and also save money. Eder also supported the return of twice-annual parking ticket forgiveness, a program that was eliminated two years ago during budget cuts.

"I think that what artists need is affordable housing. Most artists are working people who work several jobs and make their work on the side. What artists need is affordable housing so they can live downtown and have time to make their art," Eder told the audience.

Jodie Lapchick cited her work promoting the arts community in Portland for the past 10 years "since before people were calling it a creative economy." She said that the city's various organizations should work together to establish a "brand" for the city so that people from away are more familiar with Portland.

Lapchick also outlined a tentative proposal for a park-and-ride system within Portland that would allow people from suburban communities to come to the city without having to worry about parking.

Markos Miller said the city's long-term transportation solution lay in smart development goals such as the Bayside Vision and plans to reshape Franklin Street into a more pedestrian-friendly street. "We have an opportunity to build a mixed-use neighborhood (in Bayside) where people can live, work, play and shop. Only with those development tools are we going to create the context that would truly support vibrant transportation that provides an alternative for our cars," he said.

Miller also stressed the need for affordable housing and suggested a new funding formula for Metro buses that called for lower fares or even free fares to boost ridership, which in turn brings more federal subsidies. That model, Miller said, has worked in other places including Boulder, Colo.

Charles Bragdon said the city's parking situation was a major reason why he decided to run. He supports bringing back parking ticket forgiveness and wants to create a new business parking pass that allows downtown business owners to get special access to on-street parking.

Bragdon was also critical of Eder's plan to have students take Metro buses to school, wondering how such a plan would be paid for. But later in the forum, Bragdon said he too supports adding new buses and expanded routes to the four-city Metro system without referencing how such an expansion would be funded.

He also said the "average ridership is about six people per route, per day" on Metro buses. (Metro officials said average daily ridership is more than 4,000 people.)

Jed Rathband said he did not support bringing back parking ticket forgiveness, saying the program was "a nice gimmick, but unfortunately it is not where I would make an investment. My own feeling is that parking is cheap enough in Portland."

Rathband said he would set clear goals for housing, transportation, economic development and the creative economy, and would work to promote affordable housing whether the developer was public or private. He also faulted the city for not taking a stronger position on the redevelopment of the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Ralph Carmona stressed his support for the pending $100 million development project at Thompson's Point and also the planned $33 million renovation of the Cumberland County Civic Center. On other policy questions, Carmona said the end result mattered as much as how we got there, saying that he would work to build consensus on the council and with various stakeholders.

Ethan Strimling told the audience about his roots in theater and his education in New York City at Julliard. Strimling said the issues around affordability affect everyone in the city and that rising property taxes make the city less affordable and therefore less attractive. He also suggested that City Hall needed to make the most of any development opportunities that come its way, noting that Roxanne Quimby's project at 660 Congress St. never got off the ground because "the city couldn't get out of its way."

Strimling also said that arts programs should be strengthened at city schools and supported creation of a brand, but only after a city's "fundamentals" are in order.

David Marshall cited some accomplishments on the city council, including the creation of the first-ever Creative Economy tax-increment financing district, which has been used to support the creative economy in Portland. He also proposed the adoption of new technologies that allow Metro bus riders to know when the nearest bus would arrive through electronic signs in bus shelters and smartphone apps.

Marshall also reiterated his support for a "state of the art" streetcar system in Portland, which he said would spur economic development and provide another option for alternative transportation.

Christopher Vail was the only candidate to support a later "last call" at the city's bars and night clubs, describing a "tiered" closing time system that would allow bar patrons to trickle out instead of all leaving at once when venues shut down at 1 a.m. He said people who choose to live near the city's downtown "know what they are getting into" and that he "is a big fan of letting them play."

Vail said he loved "the romantic idea of a trolley system" but wondered how the city would ever pay for such an expensive project. He was also the only candidate who said he did not support spending public money on artist live-work spaces. Asked by the moderator to explain why, Vail said it was because "that well is already dry."

Jill Duson said that the city needed to balance competing interests when it comes to adopting policies, and cited the city's noise ordinance as a prime example. She said that bands and venues should be allowed to play live music, but that people who live near music venues were entitled to peace and quiet in their homes.

Duson was one of just a few mayoral candidates who admitted taking the city bus with any regularity, saying she rode Metro buses to recent medical appointments.

Nick Mavodones said he believes that the city council has been supportive of the arts over the years and cited the collaboration with Portland Arts & Cultural Alliance as evidence of that. (Duson and Mavodones left the forum early to attend a city council meeting).

Peter Bryant acknowledged that he is not much of an artist, but that the city is a better place because of the vibrant arts community.

Hamza Haadoow told the audience that he supported a strong arts district and creation of new affordable housing to prevent inflation in the city's housing market. Haadoow also read aloud some poetry he wrote on the spot: "I was born in Somalia, but I am not a pirate/ I am poor, but I am rich in my heart/ I swim, but I don't like to get wet/ and I am not a politician, but I like to check politics."

Michael Brennan 

Mike Brennan said he thought solutions to the city’s transportation problems are best solved with a region-wide effort, not just one within Portland city limits. He said the city should explore an “integrated,” bike and pedestrian-friendly transportation system that considers light rail, buses and other types of alternative transit. He also suggested that the two local bus providers that serve Portland should merge to save money and provide a better service.

Brennan also noted that the city needs to do a better job preventing gentrification, which in recent decades has seen the city’s arts community pushed from the Old Port to Downtown to the East End because of growing rents.