Randy Billings is a government watchdog and political reporter who has been the State House bureau chief since 2021. He was named the Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in 2020. He joined the Press Herald in 2012 as the Portland City Hall reporter, where his beat touched on a wide range of topics, including municipal government, immigration, homelessness, housing and social services. Prior to that, he worked at various weeklies as well as business and arts publications. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine, Orono. He lives in North Yarmouth with his wife and two children and enjoys the outdoors and playing his upright bass.
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PublishedSeptember 28, 2015
Campaign for $15-per-hour minimum wage kicks off in Portland
Question 1 on the city’s Nov. 3 ballot will ask voters whether they support raising pay for all workers.
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PublishedSeptember 24, 2015
Portland Planning Board chair hired to lead city’s planning division
Stuart ‘Tuck’ O’Brien arrives as the city is recertifying its comprehensive plan with the state and is handling a rise in market-rate housing projects.
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PublishedSeptember 24, 2015
Study: Affordable housing requirements don’t stifle development, raise rents
A Massachusetts think tank says zoning rules similar to those being discussed in Portland can prevent ‘housing segregation’ in hot real estate markets.
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PublishedSeptember 23, 2015
Portland public works director on paid leave, will resign
The city says the departure of Mike Bobinsky, after 12 years, is ‘mutual and amicable.’
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PublishedSeptember 22, 2015
Maine mayors develop $2 million plan to fight drug addiction
The idea for eight pilot projects statewide to attack the heroin and painkiller epidemic will be presented to state Department of Health and Human Services this week.
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PublishedSeptember 21, 2015
Music promoter raises prospect of installing cover at Maine State Pier
Portland city councilors hear about Waterfront Concerts’ idea of covering the pier to give audiences a better experience and address neighbors’ noise concerns.
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PublishedSeptember 21, 2015
Portland council votes again to approve tax deal for affordable housing in West End
The 7-2 vote – identical to the council’s vote last month – will allow Avesta Housing to use 65 percent of the development’s property taxes to operate the building at 17 Carleton St.
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PublishedSeptember 21, 2015
Portland uses courts to enforce housing safety rules
Some landlords are surprised as the city gets serious about issuing summonses and fines to ensure code violations are fixed.
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PublishedSeptember 21, 2015
Portland council may insist on affordable housing units in big projects
A proposed ordinance rejected by the city’s Planning Board may have enough support from councilors to become law.
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PublishedSeptember 15, 2015
Despite LePage remark, ‘sanctuary city’ label doesn’t fit Portland, officials say
The designation generally means local police are instructed to not cooperate with federal immigration officials, but Portland has no such policy.
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