SOUTH PORTLAND — The way the City Council has behaved, or misbehaved, during the last year is a central campaign issue for all seven candidates vying for two at-large seats in the Nov. 8 election.

Some candidates also would like to undo recent council decisions, including the Clear Skies ordinance that’s now the subject of a costly lawsuit and the penalty-free pesticide ban that was approved in September.

Incumbent Councilor Maxine Beecher, a four-term veteran, faces Richard Carter and James Gilboy, current and past school board members, respectively; political newcomers Susan Henderson and Kate Lewis, and former councilors Louis Maietta Jr. and Michael Pock. Mayor Tom Blake, an at-large councilor whose seat is also up for grabs, is termed out as he concludes a third consecutive term on the council.

In taking issue with council relations, several candidates referred to the actions of two newer councilors, Brad Fox and Eben Rose, especially during their successful, months-long effort to block a propane distribution facility at Rigby Yard. Both have openly clashed with other councilors and citizens during meetings and via email, criticized long-standing city policy and department heads, and intervened in municipal practices and operations.

Fox in particular raised hackles by refusing to use a city email account and sending mass emails about city business from his private account. He also shocked observers when he walked out of one meeting after a vote didn’t go his way, and when he skipped a workshop on Maine’s Open Meeting Law and Freedom of Access Act.

“It is very uncomfortable,” said Beecher, 73. “I’ve been on the City Council a long time and I don’t think there’s ever been this kind of division, almost bitterness, between councilors. Sometimes it has fallen out onto people in the audience.”

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QUESTIONING EFFECT OF BEHAVIORS

Beecher said she has tried to avoid infighting, and she would focus on improving the council’s demeanor if re-elected, but she believes the negative behavior has already taken a toll. She noted that the open city manager’s position drew only 23 applicants, though South Portland is one of the most financially healthy municipalities in the state. Auburn, meanwhile, received 40 applications in its recent city manager search.

“That’s one of the real horrors of this,” Beecher said. “We may be missing the perfect person because the whole world knows how we’ve been acting.”

Carter said if he’s elected, he would bring the same courtesy to the council that he demonstrated on the school board.

“The behavior of the council over the past couple of years has been an embarrassment to the city of South Portland,” said Carter, 54. “I would work with staff through the city manager’s office and treat everyone with respect and civility. We have faced some very difficult issues on the school side and at the end of the meeting, people would thank us for treating them with respect and kindness.”

Gilboy said he’s running without a set agenda or an affiliation to a particular group, alluding to Fox and Rose, who worked closely with residents of the Thornton Heights and Cash Corner neighborhoods and members of Protect South Portland to block the propane depot. Fox represents District 5, which includes those neighborhoods.

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“You have to represent what’s best for the whole city, not your own agenda or some little group you’re involved in,” said Gilboy, 48. “We have a lot of smart city employees and we need to let them do their jobs. We have a city manager and an assistant city manager. If there’s an issue with a city employee, it’s their role to take care of it.”

Gilboy also said it’s inappropriate to publicly chastise other councilors because “it sends the wrong message and puts the city at risk.” He said councilors can express their differences in public, “but you need to have common courtesy.”

Henderson said she would help to manage conflict between councilors without denigrating individuals, and she would seek solutions that incorporate the best ideas on the council to serve wider public interests.

“There have been attacks on all sides,” said Henderson, 74. “A lot of anger and a lot of attacks.”

She disputed the idea that it’s wrong for a councilor to work on behalf of a community group such as Protect South Portland.

“I believe we’re all good people,” Henderson said. “We all have commonalities. We need to focus on that and not attack people.”

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COMMUNICATION AS KEY

Lewis attributed much of the conflict on the council to lack of communication and patience, which she’d like to help change.

“There could be better communication between councilors, with city staff and with constituents,” said Lewis, 40. “I don’t necessarily agree with every councilor’s viewpoint, but I think we have to respect everyone.”

While some councilors seem bent on forging “abrupt change,” Lewis said she would promote collegiality, collaboration and communication to achieve what’s best for the city in a constructive manner. She said there’s a significant disconnect between what’s happening in city government and what the average citizen knows about it.

“I feel I can be a conduit for information and inspire other people to get involved,” she said.

Maietta said voters are concerned that some councilors have been scheming behind the scenes, harassing department heads and micromanaging city government. He said it has created a hostile environment at City Hall that contributed to the recent departures of experienced and valued city employees, including former City Manager Jim Gailey and former Fire Chief Kevin Guimond.

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Maietta said his primary goal would be to make the council more accessible to all citizens.

“I’m not going to butt heads with anybody,” said Maietta, 59. “I’m going to be respectful and rational. I want people to come to (council) meetings and know they’re not going to be ridiculed and it’s not going to be a waste of time.”

SEEKING ‘BUSINESS FRIENDLY’ LABEL

Pock said citizens are “fed up” with the way some councilors are “running wild.” He took issue with Fox’s sudden departure from a meeting last March after the council rejected his nominee to the Civil Service Commission, comparing it to an upset child on a playground taking the ball and going home.

“I would be calm and wait my turn to speak and not blast back at people,” said Pock, 69. “We’re supposed to be a little above that.”

Pock described himself as a fiscally conservative Tea Party Republican and Christian creationist who believes human beings should be good stewards of the Earth, but disputes they have a role in climate change. He said he’d like to restore some balance to a council made up of liberals and progressives.

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If elected, Pock said, his primary goal would be to restore the city’s “business friendly” designation from the state. The LePage administration bestowed the designation in 2013 and then yanked it following the council’s passage of the Clear Skies ordinance in 2014, calling the law “clearly anti-business, anti-growth and anti-jobs.”

Pock was the only councilor to vote against the ordinance, which banned the loading of crude oil into tankers on the city’s waterfront and effectively blocked Portland Pipe Line Corp. from reversing the flow of its South Portland-to-Montreal pipeline.

Communities with business-friendly status get a certificate, a sign and extra points on applications for competitive federal block grants that are disseminated by the state. Pock acknowledged that the LePage administration likely won’t restore the status as long as the ordinance is on the books, but he would push city staff to find out what’s required to get it back.

Gilboy said he also opposes the Clear Skies ordinance and would make it his priority to settle a lawsuit by Portland Pipe Line that has cost more than $500,000 and could reach at least $1 million.

“We can’t let this linger on,” Gilboy said. “We have to work with the Portland Pipe Line to resolve this because the legal costs are going to kill this city if it’s allowed to drag.”

VIEWS VARY ON CLEAR SKIES

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Like Gilboy and Pock, Maietta said he worries about the legal costs associated with the lawsuit and believes the council erred when it passed the Clear Skies ordinance because it overrode the will of people on the similar Waterfront Protection Ordinance, which was defeated by a 200-vote margin in a 2013 referendum.

“They totally ignored the people’s wishes,” Maietta said. “Whether or not you like the result, you have to adhere to it.”

Carter said he supported the Clear Skies ordinance but not the way it came about. He declined to comment further without being able to consult with the city’s attorneys.

Beecher voted for and continues to support the Clear Skies ordinance. Henderson and Lewis also support it; the latter said she’s “terrified that some candidates want to undo” the law because she believes it’s “key to making South Portland a safer, healthier and more viable city.”

Regarding the pesticide ordinance, Carter, Gilboy, Maietta and Pock said they oppose it for various reasons, including the fact that it will be difficult to enforce because it provides no penalties. Beecher voted for the law, and Henderson and Lewis said they support it.

 


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