Biddeford City Councilor David Kurtz expresses gratitude for city employees and several others impacted by last week’s fatal shooting and seeks ideas for new local laws that might prevent a similar incident in the future
By DAVID KURTZ | Biddeford City Councilor
Thank you to everyone who showed up on the streets. Full stop.
Thank you to the organizers, the marshals, the de-escalators. Thank you to everyone who showed up to protest but also to put in work to keep the protest safe and focused. No kidding guys, I have been to a lot of actions like these, and I have been blown away by how good you all were at keeping things safe and supportive.
This is community in action; this is community protecting itself and I am just very proud to be part of your community.
Thank you to the street medics. You show up at protests, you show up at vigils, you show up. See you all makes me feel so safe I can’t even express. When I see you guys out there, I know that if something happens to me, you will do your best to save my life. That is the thing that gives me the courage to utilize my First Amendment rights.
(Everyone reading this: take the Stop the Bleed training online. It’s free, it’s fast, it saves more lives than you know. And if that leads to you being in EMT school, or paramedic school, or nursing school, or medical school – well, many such cases, right here in Biddeford.)
Thank you to all the clergy who came out. I know I’ve said this to a lot of you, but I’m going to say it again: seeing clerical collars and shawls and tallit, seeing all of you out there, made me feel just unbelievably safe and supported. I love how you just checked in with people and listened, that was such good works. Really, really . . . can’t thank you enough. May you be blest and kept.
“This is community in action;
this is community protecting itself
and I am just very proud to
be part of your community”
Thank you to all the downtown business owners. This has been a tough year for your guys anyway, believe me I know that. I’m sorry I have not found much I can get done to help. I will keep trying. And I’m sorry I haven’t checked in with more of you, I keep going out to do check-ins and getting to like two businesses before I get distracted by something. I’ll keep trying.
Thank you to the local groups who support my friends and neighbors. I will give especial thanks to Presente! Maine, to Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (MIRC), to Biddeford Saco for Racial Justice (formerly SURJ), to the Maine Solidarity Fund (you guys are real as hell), and, as always, to Better Biddeford.
Thank you to the people who work for the city of Biddeford.
Thank you to our chief of police. JoAnne, please thank all of your officers for me. Thank you. And thank you to dispatch and all your civilian employees.
Thank you to the officers who de-escalated situations, who directed traffic, who formed a safety barrier and did it so respectfully, who sprinted up the street when the protest had a mind of its own, who were just very decent to talk with. I will be blunt: not every police station is like the BPD. I don’t want to imagine living in a place where the police are like them. I want to live in a place where the police are us. I’m very proud that you are my police chief.
Thank you to our fire chief. Larry, thank you for coming back from vacation (AGAIN) to be there for your city and your firefighters. You are one of the most competent men I’ve ever known, and that radiates out to your department. Thank you to all of your firefighters and EMTs. Thank you to my friends from D Shift and every first responder in that building. Thanks for doing the work that never ends.
Thank you to our director of public works. Jeff, I feel like every single week I learn about a new thing that public works does to keep this city working. Like I didn’t realize until this week how absolutely integral you are to public safety. Thank you to all of your team for *everything* you did. Thank you to *you* for never failing to say “It’s not me, it’s my team.” But Jeff, it’s you too. Thanks for doing everything you did this week in addition to the 50 things you do every week. IOU.
Thank you to our code enforcement officer. Roby… look, when I think of a “wise man,” I picture an ancient guy holding a walking stick or something, I think of Master Roshi. But what I’ve come to learn is that, in the city of Biddeford, “wisdom” is a guy in a polo shirt and a lanyard who knows every damn thing and is just here to help.
Code Enforcement is 13 different types of integral to public safety in this city, and there’s probably a dozen more ways that I haven’t even learned about yet. Thank you to the entire code enforcement team for what you did this week, and every week.
Thank you to our general assistance director. Jake, you have gone above and beyond this week to try to help people. You do that every week. Your calm and compassion spreads out, sir. I gotta be careful being around you or I might turn into a good person. Thank you in particular for staying so late to coordinate trauma counseling responses with mental health professionals, there were some people in bad shape, people who /saw what happened/, and I realize now how just incredibly important it was that they could talk to good professionals. (Thank you to everyone from Sweetser who jumped right on in to that – Joanne, Miss Prissy, everyone. Bless you.)
Thank you to our communications director. Danica, you were the “front lines” this week. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that your work was as integral to the public safety as that of any sworn officer or first responder. I wouldn’t have had your job this week for anything. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you to the executive assistant to the city manager. Shelly, I don’t think people appreciate how just unbelievably important you are to the running of this city. Don’t think we talk about how UNBELIEVABLY lucky we are to have you. Just… thanks.
Thank you to our City Hall staff. I really appreciated you putting up with me coming around to check in on you this week, I’m sorry to everyone I missed. Thank you for being at your desks and doing your work during this horror of a time. Thank you for still being here after everything you have been through. Solidarity.
Thank you to the Recreation Department. I am aware of the challenges that this week has brought to your work. I have just been so consistently and thoroughly impressed by how thoughtful you are about addressing every challenge, weighing the pros and cons – not just for your staff but for all the people you serve, especially kids. Thank you for knocking it out of the park, as always.
Thank you to the McArthur Library. You guys don’t just serve Biddeford. You ARE Biddeford. Nicole, your compassion suffuses that institution. Your commitment to staff and patron safety is world-class, full stop. Also thank you for not saying anything when I checked out this YA fantasy book, I’ve been having trouble sleeping this week and this damn book is the only thing that’s working. Special thanks to Rose our archivist for preserving the memorial tributes during that freak thunderstorm that blew through. This is our history being written. As is often the case, history is written in blood. You have a very serious job. Thank you for taking it seriously, for all of us and for the future.
Thank you to our many partner organizations who do some of the hardest and most important work in this city, including Seeds of Hope, the Biddeford Food Pantry, Maine Access Points, Bon Appetit, The Reach, literally dozens of others that I’m sorry I can’t list you all.
You’ve just been there in the background, unsung heroes, as always. Just know that I see you, and I know I should basically get down on my hands and knees and thank you for what you do for our city. Thank you.
Thank you to our partners in county government. Honestly, I’ve barely scratched the surface of what you all do – I was right in the process of setting up meetings with a few county agencies when Joan was killed, I haven’t exactly had time for meetings this week. But I know that you do a lot, and I bet you have been involved this last week. Thank you for that. I’ll reach out to you as soon as I can.
Thank you to all the organizations that I have reached out to, with the simple question: can you help me find ordinances to bring before council that will help my neighbors not be killed on the streets.
If you have ideas, please email me or write to Contact All Councilors. It would be really helpful if you linked to model legislation that’s already in legal language.
I will be honest. I don’t know if there’s much that a municipal government can do to protect our people from a federal government gone mad. Doesn’t mean I can’t try.
Just on a personal level: thank you for all the regional and state elected officials who have reached out to me to ask how I was doing and see if I needed anything.
I can never think of anything but it’s felt really good to be asked. Maine is a good place. Thank you for everyone who fights to keep out evil, and keep Maine good.
I’m sure I’m missing so many people, I’m sorry, my brain is pretty washed right now. And again, thanks to everyone who showed up. Keep doing that.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR | David Kurtz is an attorney and was elected in November 2025 to represent Ward 5, the city’s downtown core, on the Biddeford City Council.
He may be contacted at david.kurtz@biddefordmaine.org
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