Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Campaign Phone
2076136776
We live in a divided economy. Roughly half of Maine households are enjoying the benefits of low unemployment, rising home values, and strong returns on all types of investments. For this half, life is good. But the other half of Maine's households live on the financial edge, forced to spend more than they can afford on housing, healthcare, utilities, groceries, and other essentials. Too many hard-working people's wages barely cover their costs - and sometimes don't. To close this gap, we need to increase the number of jobs in high-wage sectors of our economy, address the structural causes of low wages in crucial service roles, and adopt policies that make housing, utilities, healthcare, childcare, and other essentials more affordable.
The beauty of politics in Maine is how small our districts are, and how accessible we can be to our constituents. My constituents know my address, cell phone # and email address. They can reach me directly and I respond promptly. But at a broader level, Maine's legislature needs to do a much better job publicizing our work-in-progress so that citizens know, with enough lead time to respond, what policies are being discussed and how they can have their say. If elected to a second term, I commit to sharing more direct information with my constituents about bills in process and how they can provide input. I will also work within the legislature to reform our processes for making bills and amendments public with sufficient notice.
The legislature has made good recent strides in providing funding and regulatory reform to support more housing development. We need to continue this work -- funding rent support for low-wage Mainers, regulatory reform to speed the creation of more units of affordable housing, provide resources for municipalities to cut through red tape and overcome NIMBYism, and incentivize property owners to create more affordable housing units through ADUs and other creative measures.
I have pursued public service because I want to enhance Maine's ability to deliver liberty and justice for all. I am committed to reversing the growing inequality in how Mainers have access to opportunity and resources. Part of that work can be accomplished by growing the economic pie, and I'm committed to encourage more high-wage, high-growth businesses to operate in our state. But the other part of the work involves ensuring that enough of the "pie" is accessible to all. For that reason I also focus on eliminating all forms of discrimination, reducing barriers to educational and economic opportunity, and working to reform systems that reinforce generational poverty.
