Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself.

I am a working, single mom who grew up on a farm in Vermont. I graduated from Bowdoin College in 1984 Magna Cum Laude with a major in History. After college, I lived in New York City (5 years), Northern California (8 years), and Los Angeles (2 years). I came back to Maine in November of 1999 to raise my son, Lucas, near my family. My parents have lived in Port Clyde for 30+ years. I own a small design and consulting business that specializes in making products and services easy to use and understand. I started my business in the early 1990s in Northern California. It was one of the first web design businesses in existence. My first accounts were big clients like Wells Fargo, Sumitomo Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank. I have now lived in Midcoast for 17 years where I have been actively involved in the schools, as well as working to encourage and support technology innovation and business in the state by acting as a Tech Board Advisor for Maine Technology Initiative, advising UNE on the creation of their new Digital Studies Program, and acting as a Top Gun Mentor. My son is will be a junior at CHRHS this year. I really enjoy living in Rockport and want to see it continue to flourish.

2) What are the 3 most pressing issues facing Rockport today, and how would you like to see them resolved?

• 1. The community has been fractured by the Library issue. I would like to see this issue resolved so we can move on, together, to other projects that need our attention. I believe our vision for the town should dictate where the library should be located, and what type of library it should be.
• 2. Rockport needs to update its Comprehensive Plan (now over 13 years old) to reflect the times and give us a strong, community-wide, vision upon which to base our decisions.
• 3. We need to look at creative ways to make life affordable here while preserving and enhancing our quality of life. A variety of options should be considered such as possible tax deferral plans for the elderly, etc.

3) How will you protect the Rockport taxpayer as you shape and govern a municipal budget, and juggle various interests that request municipal funding throughout the year?
As was mentioned in the Forum, the budget the Select Board has to work with is limited. We do not have control over the costs of the schools or what we owe the county each year. That said, we still need to work to keep our portion of the budget contained so taxes are as manageable as possible for those on fixed incomes or living with limited resources. I believe we have opportunities to attract more businesses here to help defray some of the tax burden, however ultimately it all comes down to how well we are planning against our resources: I am a strong advocate of updating our plan and vision so we can make effective, strategic plans and decisions about our expenditures.

4) Does Rockport need a new town library, and if so, where should it be built?

Yes, Rockport needs a new library. Libraries are important community and cultural centers that help crystalize the identity of a town as well as acting as a critical resource for helping our residents, particularly the most vulnerable. Unfortunately, our community is currently living with open wounds around this issue. People don't seem to agree on where it should be built, what it should look like, how big it should be, and how much parking is needed. Personally, I think that both 1 Limerock and the old RES sites both have merits. The problem is that without a clear strategic vision for the town the choices appear arbitrary and based on personal taste. Some people are concerned about the loss of vitality of the harbor village, and this is a real concern. Others see the need for greater access for people who live outside the village, and this is also a real concern. Both concerns should be addressed in our long-term plan for the town, and this should guide the ultimate location of the library as well as what kind of library it should be. Rockport has an opportunity to become known as a regional center of learning with the many schools and education-oriented organizations we have. Our library would be a cornerstone in this picture. 

5) Should Rockport invest in a municipally-owned fiber network so that all residents have access to high-speed internet?

As someone who has had a successful career working remotely for all my adult life, I see having access to high-speed Internet as critically important to the sustainability and welfare of our community. Here are the reasons:

• 1. New work opportunities will be available to people if they have this kind of access, and these jobs tend to pay significantly more than most of the local jobs around here. It would be great if Rockport had a program to help residents access, and get trained to take advantage of, these opportunities.
• 2. Technology dependent businesses will have incentive to move here, potentially helping alleviate some of our tax burden and provide additional employment, while existing non-tech related businesses can leverage new technologies to make them more efficient.
• 3. All residents will benefit by things like being able to take advantage of remote medical monitoring (keeping the elderly and ill in their homes), increased access to education (some of our kids can't do their homework now because of lack of access), and the increased ability to interact both locally and across boundaries.

However, I don't know that the town of Rockport should necessarily be the sole owner of this network. There are several other models for funding that have evolved over the past several years, one of which is cooperative-owned (can be businesses, towns, or any other group of organizations). We need to consider all the possible funding models and seek partners where possible.

6) How do you see Rockport positioned in the larger regional Midcoast economy?

Rockport does not currently have the 'magnet' identity that Rockland has for its arts community and Camden has for its tourist business, nor does it have any great centers of employment outside of the hospital. In fact we have recently lost some important organizations that drew people to the town, including CMCA and CIFF. In the face of this, it is important that the town maintains a sense of vitality and clear identity so that the people and businesses here can thrive.

We have several opportunities to increase our participation in the Midcoast economy by bringing people and businesses here. One is 'brand' ourselves as the Midcoast's center for learning as many wonderful educational institutions already make this town their home and this identity could encourage additional growth. Additionally, we have the chance to encourage technology businesses here, particularly if we can guarantee a great pipeline to the Internet. Neither Camden or Rockland have focused on fully participating in the digital economy. Finally our harbor village and the recreational opportunities in and around the town have great potential and we should take advantage of these opportunities. Sitting between Rockland and Camden gives us a unique position that we should leverage, and we should encourage business here that supports the vision and spirit of our town.

7) Is Rockport's zoning adequate enough to sustain economic vitality and quality of life?
Our zoning should protect the quality of life in the town, the unique assets of which we are stewards, and support values of sustainability. However it should also allow for, and encourage, businesses that support our vision for the town. Our zoning should be at once both future-facing and protective of our heritage.

8) What municipal committee would you like to be a liaison to, and why?
The Planning Board – I would like to be involved in updating our vision for the town and the Comprehensive Plan that will enable us to achieve our goals. Our shared vision should be driving our decisions, guiding and prioritizing the activities we undertake, and justifying the expenditures we commit to.

9) How do you envision the future of solid waste processing for the four towns; i.e., recycling, waste stream reduction?
Solid waste processing is a significant issue for all of us. We must own our responsibility for the future of this planet and preserve its habitability for our kids. What we generate in terms of waste is a key component in this picture, and in short we need to all be making less of it. That said, there is a lot of innovation happening currently in this field. I am glad we have a partnership with our sister towns in solving this dilemma and am looking forward to helping shepherd us forward to a future where we are able to make creative use of our waste while living in communities that generate less of it. On a more mundane level, I'm a big fan of single sort recycling and would like to see program here.

10) Camden and Rockport now share a police chief and an assessor. Are there other cost-sharing arrangements that Rockport could do, with Camden or other towns, to spread the staffing responsibilities; e.g., share a planner? Public works director?
There are great benefits to cost sharing and I support it when it makes sense in light of our overall goals for the town. Certainly the right staff would have to be in place to support this as the demands of a much larger geographic area as well as a wider variety of responsibilities would be required. From my perspective, it makes sense to look at each cost-center individually, analyze the role it plays in the town and the impact of potentially moving to cost-sharing, and then make a judgement based on where we see ourselves and the needs of the town in 10 or 15 years. We certainly don't want to jump directly into cost-sharing if it is going to negatively impact our ability to deliver services to our residents.