Republican incumbent John O’Hara, 49, is running against Democratic incumbent Michael Foley and Democratic newcomer Phil Gagnon for one of the two Councilor-at-Large seats. He is seeking his sixth term in office.

“I still come with the passion and vigor I always have. Once that leaves me, then I’ll know it’s time to move on,” he said.

O’Hara has been working for the city of Portland for 27 years and is currently the facilities director for the airport.

O’Hara has been a proponent of a pay-per-bag trash system, but thinks it will take a different set of faces on the council before such a policy is passed.

“I was very disappointed that the tremendous document that came out of the Recycling Committee was just brushed aside by some councilors,” O’Hara said.

The automated system favored by some councilors would cost too much, he said, and involves hidden costs for equipment maintenance.

“Pay-per-bag gives us the flexibility to get in and get out,” he said.

O’Hara sees the proposal to turn the soon to be vacated Wescott Junior High School into a community center as a positive step in consolidating city services.

“We’re like a shotgun blast. We’re scattered all over the city,” he said.

O’Hara believes the city could save money if the Recreation Department consolidated at the building, and sees construction savings and an educational program if the Westbrook Regional Vocational School students were able to do some of the commercial construction, which would allow them to expand beyond the residential construction programs they currently have access to.

O’Hara was a supporter of the ordinance adopted by the city recently that restricted where sex offenders could live and work. “If we as a community stop one incident by that ordinance, then we would have done our job,” he said. “What’s ‘too far’ if it saves a child from lifelong pain and agony?”

O’Hara believes that most communities will eventually adopt a Westbrook-style ordinance that will force the state to take action on the issue. “Sometimes the people have to lead, and the leaders will follow,” he said.

When asked about the recent kerfuffle between City Councilor Michael Foley and former Human Resource Director Tina Crellin, O’Hara joked, “One of the great things about that was I didn’t know that it was going on.”

Turning serious, O’Hara said, “Any good organization knows where its boundaries are,” and the Council didn’t know what its role or obligations were in dealing with the issue. He would like the council’s role and authority made more clear.

On economic development, O’Hara has a number of ideas to work towards what he called a “critical mass” in overall development, downtown development in particular. He said in order for the “second phase” of downtown development to happen a parking garage is a necessity. It will require a public and private partnership.

“There are a few parcels of land downtown that should be opened to requests for proposals,” O’Hara said. “Go fishing with RFPs,” he added, to see what happens. One of these parcels is where the Lincoln Street ice rink is. O’Hara suggested that if a developer wanted to discuss developing that land, it may be possible to involve the developer with balancing that development with a contribution to the ice rink idea at the Wescott Junior High School.