VOTE411 Voter Guide

We need to lower the costs of housing, including property taxes, heating costs, and energy expenses, a particular problems for seniors and families struggling to get by even with two paychecks or fixed incomes. We need to increase access to affordable quality healthcare, and make childcare and other sevices for young families more affordable so parents can work and further their education and skills needed to succeed. We need to continue to work to protect our natural resources and and keep and create access for all. We need to address the disparity between rising prices and flat incomes as well as wild weath disparities. Finally, we need to work to increase civility and common decency in the legislature and thoroughout our state.

I will continue to work to limit rent increases for those living in our mobile home parks who too often are facing rapid increases in lot rent from out of state private equity groups. I will also work to enact several ideas of the Real Estate Property Relief Task Force such as expanding the property tax fairness credit, the tax deferral program, and school funding. I will continue to support the residents of the Town of Pittston in their quest to bring to completion the Pittston River Walk, a project that will benefit many residents of District 53. We also need to recognize the extraordinary cost of heating fuel this year and look for ways to help our neighbors in District 53 and throughout the state this winter.

My wife, Linda Hermans, and I have lived in Dresden for over forty years. We raised our three children here, built lasting friendships, and survived a devastating house fire. I have spent my career helping people navigate systems that feel overwhelming and that are all too often unfair. For more than forty years I practiced law in Augusta, much of that time representing people with disabilities or families facing financial crises. I saw firsthand how economic hardship and illness can make life incredibly difficult. Likewise, Linda practiced medicine at the Richmond Area Health Center helping people make decisions about their healthcare. Together we developed a deep understanding of the challenges families face in our communities.

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