November 1, 2022 at 6:00 am · Shelly Clark · Comments Off on Election day is next week. We encourage you to vote and make your voice heard!

Election day is next week. We encourage you to vote and make your voice heard!

On November 8, 2022, Portland voters will consider 13 ballot questions, consisting of five proposed Citizen’s Initiative questions and eight proposed Portland Charter Commission questions. These 13 questions, an unusually large amount for any one election, would significantly threaten Portland’s long-term viability. Specifically, four of the five Citizen’s Initiative questions, which are sponsored by the Maine chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, would drive rents up, make it harder to live in Portland, force restaurants to hire fewer workers, and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. They are:

Question B – An Act to Reduce the Number of Short-Term Rentals in Portland: This proposal would restrict short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs, in Portland to only those that are owner-occupied, tenant-occupied, or is one unit of an owner-occupied duplex. Further, it would reduce the cap on non-owner-occupied short-term rentals from 400 to approximately 170. Additionally, it would increase the fees for all short-term rentals.

Question C – An Act to Protect Tenants in Portland: This proposal would reduce the allowable increase for cost of living to 70% of CPI annually. Further, this proposal would remove the allowable annual increase due to an increase in property taxes. Additionally, this proposal would increase notice for rent increase and lease terminations from 75 days to 90 days.

Question D – An Act to Eliminate Sub-Minimum Wage, Increase Minimum Wages and Strengthen Protections for Workers: This proposal would raise the minimum wage to $18 per hour on January 1, 2025, while expanding the definition of covered employees/employers to include tax drivers, rideshare drivers, and delivery services. Further, this proposal would impact hazard pay at $27 per hour during declared states of emergency. Additionally, this proposal would eliminate the tip credit by January 1, 2025, so all employees previously eligible for tips would instead be paid $18 per hour.

Question E – An Act to Restrict Cruise Ships in Order to Reduce Congestion and Pollution: This proposal would require cruise ships to obtain a permit from the city that limit the number of passengers who may disembark to no more than 1,000 people on a given day, in aggregate.

A competing referendum question, Question A – An Act to Regulate Short-Term Rentals in Portland and Prohibit Corporate and Absentee Operation of Short-Term Rental Properties, would retain the 400-unit cap on non-owner-occupied short-term rentals, but would limit registration for non-owner-occupied short-term rentals to only local residents (those residing within 20 miles of Portland), single-member LLCs owned by local residents, or units where a local resident has been designated to be available 24 hours per day to respond to complaints about a unit.

Voters will also face eight questions proposed by the Portland Charter Commission’s Amendments to the Portland City Charter. They are:

Question 1 – Preamble and Land Acknowledgement: This amendment would revise the existing preamble and insert an acknowledgement that Portland sits on unceded Wabanaki land.

Question 2 – Governance: This amendment would establish an executive mayor, allow the council to remove or censure the mayor, change from a city manager to a chief administrator, increase the number of city council seats from nine (9) to twelve (12), and make several other changes to governance.

Question 3 – Clean Elections: This amendment would create a municipal clean elections program.

Question 4 – Proportional Ranked-Choice Voting: This amendment would authorize the city to use a proportional ranked-choice voting method for elections in which more than one person is to be elected for a single office.

Question 5 – School Budget Autonomy: This amendment would change the school budget adoption process by transferring school budget adoption authority from the city council to the school board.

Question 6 – Peaks Island Council: This amendment would maintain the ordinance establishing the Peaks Island Council as an elected advisory body to the city council.

Question 7 – Civilian Police Review Board: This amendment would replace the Police Citizen Review Subcommittee with a civilian police review board consisting of nine (9) or more members.

Question 8 – Ethics Commission and Code of Ethics: This amendment would require the City Council to form an independent Ethics Commission and adopt a Code of Ethics recommended by the Ethics Commission.

Election day is next week. We encourage you to vote and make your voice heard, as these questions could affect Portland for years to come. Absentee voting is currently underway. Maine citizens who are registered to vote may use the Maine Absentee Ballot Request service to request an absentee ballot for the November 8, 2022 General Election. Absentee ballots must be received no later than 8:00 p.m. EDT on Election Day.

January 28, 2020 at 7:10 am · Shelly Clark · Comments Off on Maine Real Estate & Development Association (MEREDA) Recognizes Outstanding Members with Annual Awards

Maine Real Estate & Development Association (MEREDA) Recognizes Outstanding Members with Annual Awards

Portland, ME: In a ballroom overflowing with the broad spectrum of Maine’s real estate and development professionals, MEREDA President Gary Vogel singled out five individuals at last week’s annual Forecast Conference. If tasked with building a structure, this quintet certainly would be qualified to do so: an architect, an interiors expert, a City planner, a lawyer and an artisan took the stage. Instead of an assignment, Vogel handed out MEREDA’s Annual Awards to this group responsible for significant and lasting contribution of responsible real estate development in Maine in 2019.

Brian Curley, President of CHA Architecture, received the 2019 Robert B. Patterson, Jr. Founders’ Award, recognizing his distinguished contributions and support of MEREDA as a highly effective volunteer, providing significant leadership and guidance. An active and enthusiastic member of MEREDA’s Board of Directors from 2011 to 2019, Curley served as vice president for four of those years; he also served on the Executive and Conference Committees.

MEREDA awarded this year’s President’s Award to Bruce Jones, recently retired from Creative Office Pavilion, and the MEREDA Board in December of 2019. MEREDA relies heavily on its volunteer board and committee members, and Vogel singled out Jones as an exceptionally dedicated volunteer who contributed with energy on every level. Since joining MEREDA in 2010, Bruce served on the Board of Directors for seven years, as the Vice President for four years, co-chaired the Conference Committee, and served on the Executive Committee.

Each year, MEREDA presents the Public Policy award to an individual whose efforts have had a considerable impact on public policy changes to benefit responsible real estate development in Maine. Jeff Levine, Adjunct Faculty at the Muskie School and MIT, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, took home the 2019 Public Policy award. From his willingness to present at numerous MEREDA events, to his passionate and diligent work on the behalf of the City of Portland, this award is certainly well-deserved.

The Volunteer of the Year Award is given by MEREDA’s current President to those who selflessly and tirelessly give their time, talents, and energy to MEREDA and its efforts. In recognition of their invaluable work on MEREDA’s 2019 Spring Conference, Shannon Richards of Hay Runner and Matt Worthen of Eaton Peabody shared this year’s Award. Shannon and Matt spearheaded the development of the 2019 Spring Conference, which fostered a thought-provoking discussion around the future of housing in Maine. The duo also served as the program’s moderators.

MEREDA congratulates these five outstanding members, and thanks every volunteer whose contributions of time and talent make the association’s continued success possible.

Gary Vogel, MEREDA President, Jeff Levine, Adjunct Faculty at the Muskie School and MIT, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Shelly R. Clark, MEREDA Vice President of Operations, Matt Worthen, Eaton Peabody, Shannon Richards, Hay Runner, Bruce Jones, recently retired from Creative Office Pavilion, and Brian Curley, CHA Architecture.