Editorial: Bonds have local payoff

Published in the Current

(Nov 3, 2005): In a time of high fuel prices, rising property taxes and state revenue problems, many people are saying that borrowing more money is not what Maine should be doing. We are being asked to do so on the Nov. 8 ballot, in five separate questions.

Some of the bonds include money for local projects, while others support programs that have helped local efforts in the past. Those benefits direct to you and other local residents, while not the only reason to consider supporting some or all of the bonds, are worth remembering when deciding what borrowing is acceptable to you when you vote.

Question 2, a $33.1 million bond for improvements to the state’s transportation network, includes $3.5 million for ferry vessels and port facilities, in particular rebuilding the pier at Fort Preble in South Portland, which would benefit the public as well as the marine science program at Southern Maine Community College, which has also raised $350,000 in private donations for the project.

The bond also includes money for projects in Cape Elizabeth: to repave Shore Road from Fort Williams Park to Route 77, and Spurwink Road from the Spurwink Church north for two miles; in Scarborough: to repave Pleasant Hill Road from Hackmatack Drive half a mile toward Route 77; in South Portland: to repave Foden Road from Western Avenue to Gorham Road, to help build a new bus garage for the city’s bus service and additional money for widening Western Avenue, according to John Duncan of the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation Committee.

There are several other local projects in the state’s plans that would either be constructed or move up in the to-do list, including repaving projects in all three communities, according to Herb Thomson of the Maine Department of Transportation.

Question 3, an $8.9 million bond for agriculture and water treatment, does not include any money intended directly for our three communities, but similar bonds in the past have supported the Portland Water District’s efforts to maintain a secure and clean water supply for its customers.

Question 4, for $20 million in medical research and small business investments, includes $8 million in biomedical research funds, from which the Maine Medical Center Research Institute and the Foundation for Blood Research, both in Scarborough, are two of only six agencies eligible for grants. It also supports the Maine Technology Institute’s grant programs, which have benefited countless small businesses in Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth and South Portland, supporting both startups and existing firms with growth and new product development.

Question 5 asks for $12 million for the Land for Maine’s Future program. This program has contributed significantly to protection of open space in Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough, including the William H. Jordan Farm and the Meserve Farm properties, landmark farms now preserved with the help of state, federal, local and private dollars.

Question 6, for $9 million for higher education, would allocate $2 million to match $4 million in private donations to improve the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine and $5 million for renovations to community colleges, including Southern Maine Community College, which would get $1.3 million to renovate the health science building, which houses the nursing program and other medical-related classes serving more than 1,000 students every year, according to a college spokeswoman.

Not all of the money in the bonds will come to local projects, firms or residents. But enough of them will to merit your thoughtful consideration when balancing the costs of more state borrowing with the benefits of these particular bonds.

Go to the polls

Remember to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 8. See Page 3 for poll locations and hours, and remember that if you can’t make it that day, you can contact your municipal clerk to vote in advance by absentee ballot.

Casting a ballot is your right as a citizen of a democracy. And without participation, government cannot represent everyone. Please be sure to have your say.

Jeff Inglis, editor

S.P. floats $70-plus-million school building plans

Published in the Current

SOUTH PORTLAND (Nov 3, 2005): The South Portland school department has begun seeking public comment on plans that could cost taxpayers between $70 million and $85.2 million to renovate and rebuild the city’s middle and high schools.

“The systems in our facilities are either at the end of their life cycle or past it in a couple of cases,” said Superintendent Wendy Houlihan.

There are two options, both of which would include a $38 million to $39.7 million renovation at South Portland High School, part of which is 50 years old and part of which is somewhat newer, Houlihan said. Though its enrollment is 1,100 – below its peak around 1,300 some years ago – changing needs for English as a second language and special education classes have upped demands so that “we’re just out of room, even though the population isn’t as big,” Houlihan said.

Both options would also include tearing down the existing Memorial Middle School, which is 40 years old.

One option would have the district paying $32 million to $35 million to rebuild a single middle school for 800 students on the Memorial site. In that case, the 80-year-old Mahoney Middle School would be closed.

The other option would involve building a $21 million to $22.5 million middle school for 400 students on the Memorial site and renovating Mahoney to hold 400 students, at a projected cost of $21.5 million to $23 million.

District officials are trying to determine whether the city would be eligible for state aid for the project, though that could delay work for several years. If the city were not eligible or decided not to seek state funding, the question would go to voters in 2006, construction could begin in 2007 and the work could be done by 2011.

The city just finished an $18 million project renovating and rebuilding four elementary schools, for which state aid was not available, though the city did get an interest-free loan of $442,000 from the state.

The elementary project was originally slated to cost $28 million – a number approved by voters – for five schools. Houlihan said the city saved only $4 million or $5 million by closing the Marsh School rather than renovating it, meaning that the entire project finished well below the projected cost.

“We have new schools, lovely schools, for our elementary schools,” Houlihan said, but said they are good value for the taxpayers. “They are not Taj Mahals; there is nothing exotic” about them.

She did not know whether the cost estimates for the middle and high schools – based on work by Harriman Associates – would be higher than the real costs. “It’s so hard to predict,” she said, especially if the project is delayed a couple years in the wait for state funding.

The district is working with Harriman Associates, an architecture firm that designed Scarborough High School’s $27 million renovation, and is working with Scarborough on a $54 million proposal for middle and intermediate schools.

Upcoming meetings on the subject will be held on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 6:30 p.m. at the Frank I. Brown School at 37 Highland Ave.; and on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 6 p.m. at the Helena H. Dyer School at 52 Alfred St.

Editorial: Our votes

Published in the Current

(Oct 27, 2005): Election season is when local residents step forward and courageously volunteer to be in the public eye. We applaud all the candidates for their willingness, though we note two major races – Scarborough Town Council and Cape Elizabeth School Board – where there is no race. That’s too bad, and we encourage anyone considering a run to do so.

In this issue we have our election coverage, with candidate profiles and letters and columns taking stands on various election questions. Please write in with your opinions on the candidates and the issues. Also, in this space, we make our endorsements. The biggest endorsement we make is to vote. Your ballot counts, and you can vote in advance at town hall or on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Cape Elizabeth Town Council: We endorse incumbent Anne Swift-Kayatta and newcomer Mary Page. Swift-Kayatta has more than earned reelection, showing her dedication to doing her homework in every meeting, wrestling with data, asking people’s opinions and responding to residents’ concerns. Her regional connections could pay off as well, finding ways to share with other communities to save money.

Page, with less on-paper experience, is nonetheless dialed in to a broad segment of town not now represented on the council: the working folks, who built the town, keep it running and still form its connection to the past. They need a voice, which Page promises to give them, and her outspoken nature on issues like wetlands restrictions shows she will deliver.

Scarborough Board of Education: For the two three-year seats, we endorse Christopher Brownsey and Colleen Staszko. Brownsey’s experience with several ongoing efforts, including the major construction being considered for the intermediate and middle schools, will serve residents well. Staszko, who works as a teacher in North Yarmouth, will bring that experience to the board, helping ensure teaching and learning remain at the forefront of every discussion.

For the one-year seat, Jacquelyn Perry is the best candidate. A longtime member of the board who continues to attend and participate in its meetings as a private citizen, she has the institutional knowledge and up-to-date information to be effective right away.

Scarborough senior center: We urge Scarborough voters to approve the senior center’s $1.2 million bond. The seniors need a place to call their own, and the relatively low costs of debt service and operation of the building pale in comparison to the value a community building could bring not just to seniors, but to all residents.

Scarborough charter change: We oppose the expansion of borrowing power the council is asking for. A “yes” vote would allow the council to borrow up to $700,000 per project or item without asking voters. Now the limit is at $400,000, and a “no” vote would leave it that way. The council wants the change, to make their lives easier. But voters who want to keep town spending in check should not loosen the reins on borrowing, which affects budgets decades into the future.

South Portland District 1: We support Claude Morgan. He has good ideas, and an eye for the future as well as for the bottom line. His support for the schools – including finding a way to provide the school configuration residents want – puts him ahead of the competition.

South Portland District 2: Voters have a true choice here, between fiscal conservative developer Kay Loring and Anton Hoecker, a progressive who opposes spending cuts because, he says, lower taxes reduce people’s participation in the community. While Loring's fiscal conservatism is important, she did not have specific ideas to put into practice. Hoecker needs to be careful how much he fights spending cuts in a city facing a revaluation and potentially massive school construction bonds, but his fresh ideas – such as investing in libraries and child care to attract business – garner our support for him.

South Portland District 5: We support the reelection of James Hughes. Hughes has done very well keeping city spending in check and representing his neighborhood while still thinking of all city residents. His efforts to reduce tension between the council and the School Board are admirable, and his moderate approach to controversial issues have kept focus where it should be: on residents’ needs.

South Portland paving bond: We urge South Portland voters to support the $500,000 bond for road paving and sidewalk improvements. In neighborhoods throughout the city, cars bump along the streets and walkers and bicyclists dodge holes in footpaths. While this bond is not the final step, it is a beginning.

Whether you agree with these ideas or not, the most important message we can give is this: Vote. Whether you do it in advance, by contacting the municipal clerk’s office, or on Tuesday, Nov. 8, your voice matters and your vote counts.

Jeff Inglis, editor

Referendum asks $500,000 for roads

Published in the Current

SOUTH PORTLAND (Oct 27, 2005): South Portland voters will decide Nov. 8 whether to approve borrowing $500,000 for road paving and sidewalk reconstruction around the city.

The question stems from a decision by the City Council earlier this year to focus on roads and sidewalks as one of a few priorities, according to City Manager Jeff Jordan.

Councilors and other city officials – as well as residents – have noticed potholes in roads and deteriorating sidewalks, and the city needs to “play catch-up,” Jordan said.

The council has already agreed to spend $500,000 from existing surplus funds, of which $400,000 would be used for road repaving and $100,000 for sidewalks. The council also is asking voters for another $500,000, to be split the same way, to do more work in the spring, Jordan said. The interest on the bond is estimated at $123,750 over the life of the borrowing package.

Public Works Director Dana Anderson said the city has a list of road and sidewalk projects that would cost $20 million to complete.

He would not talk about specific locations that would be improved with the money, saying he was worried the details might make road improvements a political issue rather than a transportation problem.

The city used to spend about $400,000 a year on road maintenance but has put off the work the last couple of years because of budget constraints, he said.

“We’re really losing the edge,” and need to catch up, Anderson said. “Every other year we’re going to have to do some bonding” to keep on top of the work that needs doing, he said.

Harris and Reuscher unopposed for S.P. School Board

Published in the Current

SOUTH PORTLAND (Oct 27, 2005): William Harris and Mark Reuscher are running unopposed for two seats on the South Portland School Board.

Reuscher, the board’s chairman, is seeking his second term because he thinks they "still have a lot of unfinished work.”

The 47-year-old, unmarried father of two, a son in eighth grade and a daughter in fifth, is a full-time business instructor at Southern Maine Community College, prior to which he owned Ocean Fitness for 14 years.

He said the city’s high school has a good graduation rate, and is concerned about “making sure the kids are actually learning.”

“We’re going in the right direction,” he said. “Last year the budget went really smoothly” because of a new collaborative approach between the City Council and the School Board.

He is undecided on the subject of renovations to the city’s middle schools, on which there are two options: either renovate Mahoney Middle School and build new where Memorial Middle School is, or close Mahoney and build a single middle school where Memorial is now.

“I’ve tried to be honest and make fair decisions for all the children in the city no matter where they lived,” Reuscher said.

Harris, a married 69-year-old making his first run for elective office. retired four and a half years ago from the city’s finance department.

“My father, my brother and I, my two sons, my three step-sons all graduated from South Portland High School,” Harris said. “I wanted to give something back to the city that’s given me a lot.”

Harris has also been honored for his volunteerism: In 2004 he was inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame in honor of his 35 years as a Little League coach and umpire.

He wants to keep the city’s neighborhoods “vibrant and alive,” perhaps by involving neighborhood associations in classroom projects with teachers and students.

He wants to participate in the construction-renovation decision for the high school and middle schools and work to “figure out a way to keep high school and college graduates from moving out of the area.”