Penobscot Bay Pilot has posed questions to each candidate running for the Rockport Select Board, providing the opportunity for the public to better understand their position on issues important to the town and region.

1)  Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself.

I am 65 years old and retired from my surgical practice at PBMC 3 years ago. I was born in Cleveland Ohio and during my childhood I lived briefly near Philadelphia. My high school years were spent in New Haven Connecticut. I graduated from Syracuse University and received my M.D. from The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. I did my surgical training in Burlington, Vermont and Buffalo NY. When I finished my training in Buffalo in 1985, my wife Pat and I moved to Rockport to begin my practice. In 1991 I received one of the first online Masters degree in Hospital Administration from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

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

The 3 most pressing issues facing Rockport:

 1) A lack of efficiency in town government that that has cost real dollars and opportunity costs due to poor use of time. One of the main reasons I am running for select board is to effect change in the stale status quo

2) A lack of planning for the future due to the inefficiencies noted above, as well as a comprehensive plan that is dated 2004.The Comprehensive Plan should establish the vision for the community 

3) An uncoordinated collection of projects which are very laudable individually, but together act like the links of a chain creating an undue tax burden on the citizens of Rockport.

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?

The primary three services that residents of a small town want are 1) public safety 2) good education for their children and 3) maintenance of the town's existing infrastructure. In general, anything beyond this needs to be considered as "discretionary spending", for lack of a better term. As noted above, there are many projects that when taken individually are well intentioned (new pathways, new libraries, new harbor floats, new ball fields, etc.), but when taken together and with no attention to a plan that prioritizes them, it creates an undue tax burden. It is critical that the select board focus first on the 3 primary services. After that the select board needs to work with an updated comprehensive plan and the capital budget committee to prioritize the other requests.

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

I am for pursuing a smaller, less expensive library. Rockport does not "need" a library, but it has historically been one of the anchors of the downtown village area. The voters have asked that if a new library is to be built that it should be located at the original 1 Limerock street location.

If plans for a reasonably sized and priced library can be developed for this site and if it appears that adequate private funding and public support can be raised, then the select board should recommend floating a public bond to finance the balance of the cost.

I have spent just about half of my years heavily using libraries during my education. I understand the value of a library. The cost of a new library needs to be balanced against other costs the town incurs and which they have little control over. Specifically, in our budget of roughly 16 million dollars, 10 million must go the school budget and roughly 1 million to Knox County for services they provide. This leaves only about 6 million to address the public safety and infrastructure maintenance that I referred to in an earlier response.

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

The public has already rejected a call to explore a high speed fiber optic network

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

Rockport is home to Pen Bay Medical Center which is the largest employer in Knox County and also the Samoset Resort. Additionally, there are multiple small businesses located along the commercially zoned corridors on Route 90 and route 1 near Glen Cove. I believe that Rockport should continue to pursue well thought out businesses to broaden the tax base in concert with controlling town spending. By doing so we will lessen our position as a "service community" where many of the people who work in town cannot afford to live in town. If elected to the select board I would like to invite all Rockport business owners to a Saturday forum to discuss what works and doesn't work for their businesses.;

7) Is Rockport's zoning adequate enough to sustain economic vitality and quality of life?

At the moment, Rockport's zoning is adequate, but as the Comprehensive Plan gets re-written, this will need to be revisited

8) What municipal committee would you like to be a liaison to, and why?

 I am not convinced that the liaison positions for the select board is an efficient use of their time. I would prefer to see the committee chairs present their committee's progress the select board on perhaps a quarterly basis. Again, I am running on a platform of change on how the select board conducts its business

9) How do you envision the future of solid waste processing for the four towns; i.e., recycling, waste stream reduction?

As we work with EcoMaine going forward, the select board will need to continue to educate itself with regards to "best practices" in waste management and adapt as needed. New technologies are constantly being developed and it is hard to predict what will be right for the midcoast.

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?

The theme of many of my responses has been about the necessity of prioritizing requests for worthwhile projects so that the town is not overwhelmed with debt. If the town is going to pursue more projects, the simple fact is that we will need to either raise taxes or find other efficiencies in government to offset the increased costs. Quite a few years ago Rockport, along with several other surrounding towns, joined together to transfer the emergency dispatching services to Knox county.

At the time some people were predicting that the loss of our sleepy evening dispatcher would have disastrous results. In fact, it has resulted in much better coordination of emergency services with no loss of town identity. Yes, I do believe there are opportunities for cost saving through municipal sharing. It will be difficult from a political as well as the "turf" standpoint, but as shown by the dispatch services as well as the more recent police consolidation, it is possible. One area that comes immediately to mind are the fire services in Rockport and Camden. I would need to talk with the respective chiefs before fully committing to this idea, but it seems that because these departments are largely volunteer, the pool of firemen to turn out and participate could be increased if we shared departments. The sharing of equipment could also conceivably result in significant cost savings. There is certainly no harm in getting the involved parties in the same room to discuss the options.