Candidates, residents meet during roundtable event

Several city council hopefuls and one of the three candidates for mayor in Biddeford attended an event Tuesday that was billed as a “Community Roundtable” discussion between candidates and members of the public.

The forum was held in an ante room at Pizza By Alex and was attended by 18 members of the public. Delilah Poupore, executive director of the Heart of Biddeford, served as moderator of the 90-minute Q & A session.

The event was organized by Better Biddeford, a non-profit organization focused mainly on residential tenant rights. On its website, the group describes its mission as follows: “to connect, inform and empower the community through shared resources and civic engagement.”

Several candidates were not able to attend the forum. Those who did attend provided short answers to a wide range of topics and questions from the audience, including concerns about affordable housing, ICE enforcement actions, sustainable development and making Biddeford a more walkable community.

Each candidate was also allowed to make brief opening and closing remarks.

Although Mayor Marty Grohman stopped by shortly before the event began, he said he was unable to participate because of a Traffic Committee meeting at City Hall. Mayoral candidate Norm Belanger also did not attend the event, telling the Gazette last week that he will be out of town on vacation.

City Council President Liam LaFountain did attend the event and said he is hoping that candidates will have even more opportunities to connect with residents and talk about their priorities.

Of the three at-large candidates, only Nasreen A Sheikh-Yousef attended Tuesday’s forum. Neither Councilor Marc Lessard nor Lisa Vadnais attended the meeting. The two council candidates from Ward Six — Roger Hurtubise and Jake Pierson – also did not attend. And Ward Two candidate John McCurry said he had a prior engagement.

Ward Seven council candidate Brad Cote pointed out that all Biddeford residents are facing increasing costs for food, utilities and healthcare on top of skyrocketing housing costs.

“Sometimes it’s easy to simply say we should spend more on various projects, but we have to balance and prioritize our wants and needs,” Cote said. “We need to be creative in searching for sources of revenue that are not just reaching into the pockets of taxpayers.”

On the topic of how to increase “environmentally sustainable” housing, Sam Pecor, the other Ward Seven candidate, pointed out that Biddeford’s current housing stock is among some of the oldest in the nation.

Pecor — who owns a rental property on May Street – said housing is one of the biggest issues facing the city. “We have to be creative,” he said. “We have to look at different options. This is a really complex puzzle.”

Many of the candidates said the city needs to improve how it communicates with residents.

“As councilors, we have a responsibility to help educate and organize people into action,” said Sheikh-Yousef. “Citizens need to know what is happening in their own community.”

On the topic of accessible public information,” LaFountain pointed to the plans last year to convert apartments into market-rate condominiums at the Pepperell Mill complex.

“What really disturbed me is that we councilors were kept in the dark about those plans,” LaFountain said. “None of us were told about it until the news was dropped on the tenants in that building.”

Ward Five candidate David Kurtz will be unopposed on the ballot. He used some of his speaking time to warn residents that things happening on the national stage could and will impact the city, including federal funding cutbacks.

Kurtz also said he would like to see the city “slow down” its push for housing developments. “We are in a much different position now than we were 20 years ago,” he said. “We no longer need to offer commercial and residential developers sweetheart deals.”

LaBelle reminded the small audience that the demand for all types of housing is quite high in Biddeford, and private sector employers are also struggling to find workers who can afford to live close to the city.

Former Ward Four Councilor Bob Mills said he has long been an advocate for rent stabilization programs but found little support for any kind of rent control from his peers during his prior service on the council.

“I am one of those people in Biddeford who is earning more than $100,000 and still feels poor,” Mills said.

On the issue of ICE enforcement actions, all of the candidates said they do not want the Biddeford Police Department to enter into agreements or cooperate with the federal agency’s enforcement activities.

Ward Two council candidate Abigail Woods was one of the organizers of Tuesday’s event, and said the council should always act with compassion, especially for its most vulnerable citizens.

Former Ward One Councilor Pat Boston talked about the difficult realities of serving on the council.

“We have to be fiscally responsible,” she said. “But the hard part is ‘the how.’ How do we balance the city’s needs without pushing taxpayers over the edge?”

__________________

Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He may be reached by email at randy@randyseaver.com

Never miss another update! Subscribe for free today!