Second Annual Report
District 2 City Councilor David Marshall
The year of 2008 has presented us with many challenges that we are
facing together. The global economic crisis has forced us to do more work
with fewer resources. Over the past year I have focused my efforts on
moving us towards a sustainable future, coordinating with Police Department
and the neighborhood associations to address crime, refocusing economic
development, and strengthening our neighborhoods.
Sustainability
Energy is at the core of the challenges that we face globally and locally. Our
dependence on fossil fuels has led us to foreign wars and climate change. In
order to face our ongoing energy and environmental challenges, we need
bold action to decrease our energy usage, develop renewable energy
sources, and reduce our carbon emissions.
The City Council uses standing committees to process policy for the Council
to consider. Councilor Donoghue and I pushed Mayor Suslovic a year ago to
create a new committee to develop energy policy and Mayor Suslovic created
and chaired the Energy and Environmental Sustainability Committee to which
I was appointed a member.
The first matter of business for the EESC was a Climate Action Plan to
reduce Portland's carbon footprint. The, No Idling Ordinance was also
enacted to decrease emissions from private automobiles. We initiated a
request for proposals for an energy service contract. The City has received
many of these proposals from energy service companies. One of the
companies will be chosen to upgrade all of the City buildings and will be paid
back through the savings. The investments will improve the energy
performance of the City buildings while saving us money and reducing our
energy use and carbon emissions.
With sustainability in mind, I worked with the State and the region to expand
passenger rail service instead of widening I-295 between exits 5 and 7 in
Portland. Last fall, Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation Committee
was prioritizing a request for federal tax dollars through an earmark from
Maine's congressional delegation to widen I-295. Public hearings were
announced for PACTS and the Maine Department of Transportation I-295
Corridor Study.
The League of Young Voters and I lead the effort to petition the State
Government to invest in rail infrastructure and maintain the current road
system instead of widening I-295. At a public hearing hosted by Maine DOT,
over one hundred Portland residents delivered more than 450 petition
signatures. At the hearing, public officials, GrowSmart Maine, the Sierra
Club, and others told PACTS to drop its earmark request for I-295
expansion. A couple of weeks later, over 150 Portland residents spoke in
favor of investing in transit instead of expanding I-295 at a public hearing
hosted by PACTS.
In order to expand passenger rail service to Brunswick, the tracks needed to
be upgraded. Working with Patricia Quin of the Northern New England
Passenger Rail Authority and Tony Donovan of Fishman Realty, we
developed a strategy to amend a bill for the State to guarantee a Federal rail
infrastructure loan for NNEPRA. The Chair of the State Transportation
Committee, Boyd Marley, successfully amended LD 2019 accordingly in the
Committee. Speaker Cummings pushed for its passage in the Legislature.
On the final day of the session LD 2019 passed the Appropriations
Committee by one vote thanks to Governor Baldacci's influence. It was
because of a strong group effort that we will have passenger rail service to
Brunswick starting in 2010.
Finally, this fall PACTS voted to prioritize earmark funding requests for
sustainable transportation investments and to remove I-295 widening from its
top priority list. Councilor Donoghue, the only elected official on the PACTS
Board, was key player in convincing the Board to drop the I-295 widening
earmark request. Instead the PACTS Board requested regional transit
vehicles, bicycle and pedestrian improvements to Veterans Bridge, and rail
upgrades north of Portland for passenger rail. Thanks to the efforts of
transportation activists across the State, we are now headed towards a
sustainable future.
Public Safety
The Police Department under the leadership of Intern Chief Joe Loughlin,
has a done a great job adjusting to the loss of the Police Chief, a Deputy
Chief, and other members of the force due to injuries, staff reductions, and
other challenges. Meanwhile the City has seen an increase in violent crimes
in connection with crack and cocaine use. The West End and Parkside were
hit particularly hard this year with high profile criminal activity.
As the Chair of the Public Safety Committee, I hosted a public forum for the
Intern Chief to inform us on recent crime trends and provide safety tips. The
forum emphasized the importance of our cooperation with the Police
Department to address our challenges with crime. Through our
neighborhood associations we have formed crime watch groups and have
met regularly with the Police Department. With the help of the City
Inspectors, Attorneys, and the Public Services Department, we have started
to address the hot spots of crime in our neighborhoods.
In order to improve policing during tough financial times, we must share
resources with neighboring cities. Portland took a big step this year by
coordinating with cities and town in Cumberland County and the County
Government to develop a regional crime lab at the Portland Police
Headquarters. The crime lab will allow local law enforcement agencies to act
more effectively and efficiently in solving crimes.
Finance
The 2008 Budget was the most difficult the City has seen for decades.
Facing revenue shortfall and increased cost, I worked as a member of the
Finance Committee to keep expenditures down. Through consolidation of
departments and spreading staff reductions across all levels of all
departments, the City – not including the School Department – was able to
achieve an expenditure increase of less than 1%.
The consolidation, although a challenging undertaking, has brought forth
efficiencies. Most notable is the ability of the Pubic Services Department to
increase sidewalk plowing by 17 miles, a value of over $100,000. Before the
consolidation, the Public Works Department plowed the streets while the
Parks and Recreation Department plowed the sidewalks. Ineffective
communication between departments often resulted in to ineffective snow
clearance. Often the street plowing would push snow onto sidewalks that had
already been plowed. In addition to the extra sidewalk plowing achieved
through consolidation, the Finance Committee added 13 more miles through
the budget.
With the active support of the West End Neighborhood Association, I was
able to get the Council to amend the budget and save the Reiche Branch
Library. After the Finance Committee had recommended the budget to the
City Council, the Library Director announced that a $30,000 budget decrease
would result in the closure of the Reiche Branch Library. During Council
deliberations over the budget, I identified $30,000 that the Finance
Committee had placed in a contingency fund. The Library Director agreed to
develop a long-term facilities plan with public feedback and keep the Reiche
Branch open in exchange.
The Finance Committee also developed the Creative Economy Steering
Committee Recommendations into policies. The CESC, for which I was a co-
chair, had embraced the idea of setting up a Tax Increment Financing District
and used the TIF revenues for arts and cultural purposes. The Arts District
TIF concept was one that I generated while running for City Council two and
one-half years ago and published a letter to the editor in a June 2007 issue
of the West End News regarding the matter.
With the help of Representative Herb Adams and the League of Young
Voters, we were successful in amending State Law to allow the use of TIF
revenues for arts and cultural purposes. In the Finance Committee we drew
the lines for the Arts District TIF and set a plan for funding the Creative
Portland Corporation, a quasi-municipal non-profit with the mission of growing
the creative economy by implementing the CESC recommendations. It was a
great to see the Council unanimously support the Arts District TIF and the
rest of the Creative Economy Recommendations.
Strengthening Our Neighborhoods
As the District 2 City Councilor, my highest priority is to strengthen our
neighborhoods through organization, planning, and strategic investment.
The neighborhoods of District 2 are characterized as being the most diverse,
youngest, with the highest levels of residential density. District 2 also
consists of neighborhoods of affluence and poverty. Each neighborhood has
unique assets and challenges.
The West End and Parkside are both affected by criminal activity with highly
publicized events. Through the neighborhood associations we have been
organizing crime watch groups. During neighborhood meetings we discuss
the criminal activity with the Police Department and identify steps that can be
taken by the City to address the challenges. Neighborhood beautification
days have taken place in areas that are hot spots for criminal activity. Efforts
are also underway to increase street lighting and porch lighting. Both the
Maine Medical Center and Mercy Hospital are working with the
neighborhoods and the City to address criminal activity.
Meetings to mediate issues of anticipated institutional expansion have been
taking place with Waynefleet School, the Western Promenade Neighborhood
Association, the West End Neighborhood Association, the City's Planning
Department, and I. Through meetings that are mediated by Alan Holt of the
Community Design Studio as a hired consultant, the parties are striving to
develop an overlay zone for the Waynefleet School Campus. The overlay
zone is being considered as part of a long term vision for the School with
strong consideration for neighborhood concerns.
The Oakdale Neighborhood has benefited from increased street sweeping
and new sidewalk investments. The Oakdale area near the University of
Southern Maine – bordered by Forest Avenue, Dartmouth Street, Brighton
Avenue and Deering Avenue – became part of District 2 after the 2000
Census. The sidewalk improvements were funded through the Capital
Improvements Program, an annual program in which the City loans for
physical improvements. The additional services and investments were
brought forth in response to the activism of residents of Oakdale.
After a controversial contract zone was approved by the City Council on
Valley Street, I initiated a planning effort with the residents, businesses, and
organizations of the surrounding neighborhood. Several neighborhood
forums were held in conjunction with Graduate Students of the Muskie School
of Public Service with Alan Holt as the Instructor. The neighborhood forums
resulted in the first steps towards a neighborhood plan along with calls for the
creation of a new neighborhood association. Through helping a group of
committed residents of the area, we drafted bylaws and formed the St John
Valley Neighborhood Association. The SJVNA is now pursuing a planning
process similar to the one that created the Bayside Vision and seeking much
needed investments in public infrastructure.
Community Development Block Grant Funds are Federal tax dollars used to
invest in entitlement neighborhoods that have the oldest housing stocks and
the highest rates of poverty. The West End and Parkside have been
entitlement neighborhoods for years. St John Valley Neighborhood became
entitled after the 2000 Census when the median incomes of the residents fell
below the poverty line and is lining up for its first CDBG investment this
coming year. Just west of the St John Valley Neighborhood in District 3 is
Libbytown, which also became an entitlement neighborhood after the 2000
Census. In District 1, the entitlement neighborhoods include Munjoy Hill,
Bayside, and Cliff Island.
Over the past two years Parkside has received 66% of the CDBG funds
spent on reconstructing sidewalks throughout the entitlement neighborhoods.
Reconstruction of sidewalks on Park Avenue and Grant Street were funded.
Also, the Parkside Neighborhood will benefit from a new playground in
Deering Oaks worth $325,000, which will include natural elements along with
traditional playground equipment.
In the West End, improvements to Taylor Street Park were funded at
$95,000. Sidewalk reconstruction was provided for Brackett St from York to
Danforth at $74,000 along with the installation of dozen handicapped
accessible ramps near Riche School. The Reiche Community Center has
received $225,000 work of CDBG funds for handicapped accessibility,
upgrades to the locker rooms, new flooring, and window replacement. An
additional $75,000 was provided to Reiche School from window replacement
through the Capital Improvements Program.
Conclusion
During 2008 the City, Region, and State took the first steps towards a
sustainable future through long-term investments and policy decisions
necessary to face the global economic challenges that we are facing. In
2008 my focus was sustainability, public safety, finance, and strengthening
our neighborhoods. During 2009 I am excited to continue this important work
while chairing of the Housing Committee and the Energy and Environmental
Sustainability Committee.