Candidate profiles for House District 122

Christopher Kessler (I)

Age: 30

Education: B.A. Music, SUNY Oswego.

Occupation: Sales/energy auditor, reVision Heat (since 2012)

Recent work history: Weatherization technician, Horizon Residential Energy Services, South Portland (2012); Community organizer, Americans Elect (2011-2012); LIHEAP energy auditor, People's Regional Opportunity Program (2010-2011).

Elective Experience: None. Candidate for South Portland City Council (2009, finished second in three-way race with 31.2 percent)

Residency: Cottage Road, South Portland (five years).

Personal: Married (five years); one daughter.

Contact: phone: 956-0882; email: ckessler222@gmail.com; website: ChristopherKessler.com

Q: Why do you want to represent your district in the state Legislature?

A: I believe as a legislator I will be able to do more to raise awareness and create positive change in the areas that need it. I offer my service to those who want to vote for an open-minded, progressive, independent candidate.

Q: What do you think are the three most important issues facing Maine? (Of these, please identify at least one issue that is specific to your district.)

A: 1. Energy. Of the many issues facing our state, Maine's dependence on oil is one of the most pressing. Nearly 80 percent of our homes heat with oil, and with prices increasing with no end in sight, families and businesses in Maine are feeling the financial pressure. At the same time, federal support for programs such as the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), and rebates for efficiency and renewable energy upgrades have diminished greatly. This has left a large portion of our state still struggling to heat their homes and unable to escape their dependency on oil.

2. Education. Maine has the people and brainpower to give quality education to our citizens at all age levels. However, the educational standards we have today have resulted in a lack of opportunity for many to succeed in the real world. Our public school systems have produced math and reading proficiency rates of less than 40 percent and people are graduating from college with no experience and insurmountable student loan debt.

3. Welfare. I believe it is necessary to have a safety net that makes up for the economic inequality and lack of opportunity so many Mainers face. All Mainers should have adequate access to food, housing, healthcare and education. We can have a sustainable welfare system that is fiscally sound, responsible, and meets the needs of all Mainers who need help.

Q: As a legislator, what would you do, specifically, to address these concerns?

A: “On energy, it is time we stop depending on the federal government for help and start doing everything we can as a state to utilize our natural resources to provide heat and electricity to our homes, businesses and industry. I will do everything in my power to help Maine invest in weatherization and make the switch to wood, natural gas, wind, solar and tidal technology. As an energy professional who has worked in both the public and private sectors, I understand the dynamics of this challenge. We could save hundreds of millions of dollars a year, create good jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions for generations to come.

For education, there is no single solution, but solving our problems with education will require challenging the status quo and thinking outside the box. The model of education we have used for a century no longer applies to the reality we face today. It will require a collaborative effort from our schools, businesses, and most importantly, the family unit. Whether it be support for home-schooling, experience-focused education, or keeping students out of debt, I believe Maine can do better. I will support any effort to make these changes and move in a positive direction.

In welfare, I will fight to protect access to vital programs like MaineCare, food assistance, unemployment benefits and workers compensation.


Q: Do you support same-sex marriage? Why, or why not?

A: Yes. To deny same-sex couples the right to marry or to otherwise inhibit their personal freedom is wrong. No one should be discriminated against in any way because of their sexual orientation. This discrimination should not be tolerated or allowed any longer in this state or nation. I fully support my LGBT friends and neighbors, and will celebrate the day our marriage law is overturned.

Terry K. Morrison (D)

Age: 41

Education: Business major, Husson University (three years)

Occupation: General Manager, Inn at St. John, Portland (since 2009)

Recent work history: Manager, The Works Café, Portland (2000-2008)

Elective experience: State representative, District 122 (two terms: 2008, 2010)

Residency: Ocean Street, South Portland.

Personal: Single.

Contact: phone: 831-0828, website: www.terrymorrison.org

Q: Why do you want to represent your district in the state legislature?

A: “I have found my niche. Public service is my passion and I am running for a third term to the Maine House of Representatives to continue the work I have started.

In the next legislative session the state is facing a roughly $500,000,000 budget shortfall. I have the experience to fight for programs and issues that are of concern to my constituents. I also have a proven voting record. The great folks of District 122 have always been very supportive of the legislation I have sponsored because not only does it positively impact them but helps people all over the state.

Q: What do you think are the three most important issues facing Maine? (Of these, please identify at least one issue that is specific to your district.)


A: 1. Strengthen Maine’s economy. It’s time to put Maine’s economy on the top of our "to-do" list in the next legislative session. We need to build a sustainable economy and lower Maine’s unemployment rate. The emphasis should be on doing a better job selling our agricultural and Maine-made products to other states and overseas markets.

2. Healthcare. Serving on the Insurance and Financial Services Committee has allowed me to learn about the insurance market in Maine. One thing that stands out is that there are too many Mainers living without insurance or who are under insured. It’s my belief that healthcare is a right, not a privilege and will do all I can to give Mainers a level playing field for quality coverage and cost.

3. Education. I look at improving education from many different angles.

Q: As a legislator, what would you do, specifically, to address these concerns?

A: If elected to a third term, I would put together a bipartisan group of business leaders from all over the state, bringing Democrats, Republicans, small and corporate businesses together to find out what works, what doesn’t, and what tools they need to make doing business in Maine less burdensome.

On healthcare, I’d work to implement parts of the Affordable Care Act. Under the new law, states have the freedom to develop a healthcare exchange. The exchange is a marketplace to shop for a quality plan that best fits everyone’s price range. We were unsuccessful in passing the exchange bill in the last legislature, but now that the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the ACA, I would bring it back and tailor it to Mainers' specific needs.  

On education, I believe early childhood development is key to preparing students for a successful learning experience. We should put more of an emphasis on early childhood development programs. The focus should also be on encouraging more of our high school graduates to move on to post-secondary education. Many of Maine’s graduates are discouraged by the cost of college and not having the programs that interest them available. I want to focus on making college more affordable and offer programs that are practical. I would like to see an increase in our high school graduates not only going on to college in Maine but staying here after they graduate.”




Q: Do you support same-sex marriage? Why, or why not?

A: I am in full support of same-sex marriage. It is my belief that love makes a family and there are all kinds of different families. Gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights as straight couples. Prior to running for office the first time I volunteered for Equality Maine and am very proud to have their endorsement this year. During my first term in office I was a co-sponsor of the Marriage Bill. It was unfortunate that the law was not sustained during the last referendum, but I am confident that it will pass this year. It’s about time.

Thomas G. Sarbanis II (R)

Age: 31

Education: University of Maine Orono

Occupation: C.N.A., Mercy Hospital, Portland (since 2009); EMT, Cape Elizabeth Fire and Rescue (since 2011)

Elective Experience: None

Residency: Pine Street, South Portland (four years)

Personal: Married, two children

Contact: hone: 899-1224

Q: Why do you want to represent your district in the state legislature?

A: I am a restorationist and I believe we can have a better Maine if we reinstate the foundational principals which encourage a free and productive society. These are: The rule of law, an economy which is free and open, and a respect for individual liberty. I know with the right leadership that our state can be a shining example to the rest of the country, that it is possible to have a strong economy, lower taxes and a burgeoning middle class offering upward mobility to the poor. For these reasons I am committed to the people of Maine to be an advocate for their economic and personal freedoms. I trust in our Maine people that they will continue to be hard working good people who are capable of self government and living in peace with each other while exercising their rights responsibly. This is the Maine I envision and this is the Maine I will fight for.

Q: What do you think are the three most important issues facing Maine? (Of these, please identify at least one issue that is specific to your district.)


A: 1. Nullifying the National Defense Authorization Act and protecting Maine’s citizens’ due process rights under the state Constitution. 2. Reforming state fiscal policy to encourage the operation of free markets to meet the demands of the Maine economy. 3. Requiring foods sold in Maine to disclose genetically modified ingredients.

Q: As a legislator, what would you do, specifically, to address these concerns?

A: No answer provided by the candidate




Q: Do you support same-sex marriage? Why, or why not?

A: No answer provided by the candidate

City, SMCC promise solutions to traffic snarl

SOUTH PORTLAND — In 2002, New York developer John Cacoulidis proposed building twin 640-foot towers on land he owns in South Portland behind Bug Light Park and connecting them to Portland by a cable car that would run across the harbor.

A decade later, traffic congestion on Broadway between Cottage Road and the Southern Maine Community College campus has become so bad that one local resident at an Oct. 18 meeting called to discuss the matter actually proposed reaching out to Cacoulidis to revive the scheme.

The motion was a joke, but the daily flow of cars to and from SMCC is no laughing matter to residents of South Portland’s Willard and Ferry Village neighborhoods, about 65 of whom turned out to the meeting, filling the dining hall of the college’s culinary arts building.

The city has partnered with the Portland Area Comprehensive Regional Transportation System (PACTS) to draft at $12,000 Transportation Demand Management Plan aimed at cutting commuter traffic to SMCC. That study is due next spring. In the meantime, college President Ron Cantor has promised to launch a immediate public awareness campaign to slow speeds and reduce incidents of districted driving.

“It’s is a racetrack to a college degree,” said Broadway resident Pam Thomas of her road. “We’re all for the college, don’t get me wrong, but we’ve all had to adjust our schedules to accommodate the students.”

“My wife has almost been hit when crossing Broadway with a stroller several times,” said Preble Street resident Charlie Baldwin. “Traffic on Broadway has pretty much ruined that side of the neighborhood for us. We can’t cross it and get to the Green Belt [Trail] without risking our lives.”

“We’re all scared,” Surfsite Road resident Katie Harrison told city and college officials on hand for the listening session. “We have elderly and toddlers on our street. But I’m also scared for the students. I’d hate to have you have to call a student’s parents and say, ‘By the way, your student was just killed in a traffic accident.’

“Let’s not wait until that happens,” said Harrison.

Although complaints of 10-minute waits to get onto Broadway from area driveways and side streets may sound like hyperbole, City Planner Tex Haeuser acknowledged the problem is real. A December 2009 traffic study conducted by Sebago Technics showed a 6-10 percent spike since 2003 in traffic at the Broadway intersection with Sawyer Street, depending on the time of day. At that time, at least 832 vehicles, and as many as 1,127, passed the site every hour between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.

“It’s true that, without a traffic light to break up traffic flow, it can be difficult to get onto Broadway in that area,” said Haeuser.

However, a traffic light is not in the offing. While traffic flow on the east end of Broadway can exceed 245 percent of the volume needed to trigger signal installation based on state criteria, Sebago found side street traffic volume got no closer than 49 percent of what’s needed warrant a new traffic light.

“This is not a local decision,” Sebago’s vice president of transportation services, Stephen Sawyer, told frustrated homeowners.

“The city of South Portland cannot decide at the City Council to put a signal in,” he said. “You have to get it approved by the state traffic engineer and the state traffic engineer will not sign off on a signal at that location with the volumes you have. It’s pure and simple.”

In fact, Sawyer said, traffic flow on the side streets actually dropped between studies conducted in 2003 and 2009, even as enrollment at SMCC nearly tripled. But that explanation did not fly with Willard resident Rob Sellin.

“My observation is that decreased traffic on Sawyer Street obviously is because of increased traffic on Broadway,” he said. “People are going up to Mussey and High streets and any which way to avoid that intersection.

“So, to use those numbers to say, ‘We can’t out a light there,’ is bogus,” said Sellin.

“Don’t just flat-out take it off the table,” said another local resident, Natalie West.

Still, Sawyer insisted there was virtually no chance of a light to calm traffic. Instead, he said, a more likely long-term solution might be installation of a rotary. Other ideas bandied about, at least more seriously than the Cacoulidis cable car, included a water taxi to the SMCC dock and construction of satellite parking lots in Portland, with direct shuttle bus service to campus.

Signs and increased enforcement were proposed as short-term solutions, although Police Chief Ed Googins said his department does not have sufficient manpower to dedicate an officer to campus-area traffic control.

Cantor said he plans to take additional unilateral steps to help ease traffic congestion. In many ways, he said, the school is a victim of its own success. Enrollment has grown from 3,505 in the fall of 2003 to 7,565 now. For the most recent year, he said, 5,600 student were taking at least one class at the South Portland campus. The new Brunswick campus will absorb some of that, he said, but some of the problem may be resolved simply by shuffling class times, from the 8 a.m. start that conflicts with area businesses and public schools to as early as 7 a.m.

 “We believe that even a 15- or 20-minute change in scheduling from the peak hours, when people are also commuting to work and area schools can make a big difference,” said Cantor.

The school does offer students free transportation on city buses, a $87,000 annual cost paid for out of student parking fees. The primary purpose is to help clear congestion at campus parking lots, but the program does have an ancillary benefit of taking about 220 cars per day off Broadway. The program is showing increased usage, up 13.4 percent to 90,894 bus trips for the 2011-2012 school year.

The problem, said Cantor, is that his hands are tied in many ways that prevent him from undertaking capital projects that might alleviate commuter congestion on campus.

“The reality is that we cannot raise tuition, our students can't afford it, while the state is giving us $1 million less than it did in 2006,” said Cantor.

However, Cantor noted that enrollment at SMCC has leveled off, from 14 percent annual spike to 4 percent last year and just 1 percent for this semester.

“The good news is that we are not going to see the problem continue to get worse, although it is obviously still a problem and we want to do everything we can,” he said.

PACTS planner Carl Eppich said the upcoming study, to include an advisory committee set to be formed in the coming weeks, will look at ways to reduce “single-occupancy vehicles.” Of particular concern, he said, is how to encourage students to favor the city’s bus service over the admittedly more convenient and timely option of driving one's own car.

The demand study, for which South Portland will contribute $2,400, will be a “three-pronged approach,” said Eppich, to include committee review of available options, an in-depth, time-demand study of public transit schedules and formation of a marketing campaign.

Whatever the result, many area residents feel the issue is rapidly approaching a point of no return.

“We need to reduce the amount of traffic coming to this campus,” said Scott Thomas. “It’s an unsustainable situation right now and somebody’s going to get really hurt.”

Debate to rain down on sprinklers

A South Portland ordinance change would require systems in all new buildings, including residences

SOUTH PORTLAND — After almost two years of preparation, rules mandating the installation of residential sprinkler systems could end up in front of South Portland city councilors for a first vote as soon as Dec. 10.

In what Fire Chief Kevin Guimond  called a “complete repeal and replace” of the city’s fire protection and prevention ordinance, any new construction in South Portland would require installation of a sprinkler system. Although existing homes are exempt, any renovation that increases a building’s living space by 50 percent would likewise trigger installation.

Sprinkler systems already are required in South Portland wherever a home is located more than 500 feet from a hydrant.

At an Oct. 10 workshop, the City Council appeared ready to back the requirement. The only significant debate on the issue was on whether the city should encourage compliance by waiving building permit fees in homes requiring sprinklers.

“If the cost for this comes out of a homeowner's wallet, we’re all for it, but if it comes out of our wallet, we hesitate,” said Councilor Jerry Jalbert, who pushed the incentive idea. “I think that says a lot about how we act as a community sometimes. If we really believe in this, we as the city of South Portland should put our money where our mouth is, because if people wanted to so this, they’d be doing it already voluntarily.”

“We might lose $150, but we get someone who puts in a sprinkler system,” said Councilor Rosemarie De Angelis. “This to me is a real small thing we can give to encourage them to do something that could be a real benefit."

However, Councilor Alan Livingston suggested that anyone installing a sprinkler system would save at least the cost of a building permit in reduced home insurance premiums.

According to Guimond, a sprinkler requirement would bring the city in line with national fire codes. Similar rules already are in place in Portland, Scarborough and Gorham, while Westbrook has recently vacillated, first putting in place sprinkler rules then adding a number of exemptions.

For Guimond, the issue is strictly one of safety. A “flashover” – the time it takes for a room to become fully engulfed on flame once a fire starts – can occur in as little as six minutes, he said. However, it takes firefighters 10 minutes, on average, to arrive on scene, following the initial call to 911.

“If you’re in a flashover, you’re not going to survive that,” said Guimond, adding that sprinklers, which can kick in as little as two minutes after a fire starts, would be required “any place you lay your head” in a home.

“Survivability is 95 percent if a sprinkler system is there and working,” added Deputy Chief Miles Haskell.

According to Haskell, 78 percent of fires and 80 percent of fire-related deaths occur in residential structures, which are targeted in the new ordinance.

“That usually happens when people are sleeping, or defenseless,” said Haskell.

However, neither Guimond nor any member of the council could recall the last time someone died in a house fire in South Portland.

“But it could happened tomorrow,” said Mayor Patti Smith.

“It’s a policy decision of how much risk do you want to accept day in and day out in this city,” Guimond told the council. “We cannot pay to have a firefighter sitting in everyone’s home tonight, so we have smoke detectors. We try to balance that risk and now technology has changed.”

According to Guimond, installation of a sprinkler system under the proposed ordinance (which would allow plastic PEX pipes) would range from $1.25 to $1.50 per square foot, or roughly $3,000 to $5,000 added to the cost of the new, average-sized house in South Portland.

“We have to be honest, people are spending more on sprinkler systems for their lawn then they’d spend for sprinklers in their house,” said Guimond.

“I’m in favor of going forward with these protections,” said Smith. “I don’t think it’s a big hit to the wallet and I don’t hear that development has slowed down in the communities that have enacted it.”

But not everyone agrees, including some who build homes for a living. Larry Duell owns Father & Son Builders in Lebanon and sits as president of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Maine, a group that has fought making sprinklers part of the statewide building code.

“So far, only two states, California and Maryland, have mandated that,” he said in June, when the sprinkler mandate first appeared before the council. “The other 48 states have repealed it out of the [national] code. That tells you, basically, that no one in the country wants it.

“Our biggest concern is the affordability issue,” said Duell. By his estimate, sprinkler systems cost between $4,000 and $8,000 – adding about 3 percent to the cost of a $200,000 “entry-level home.”

“That takes affordability for the purchase of a house away from many Mainers,” said Duell. “It knocks a lot of people right out of the housing market, especially with the tight credit market right now.”

Duell said he gives his customers the option of adding a sprinkler system and, to date, “not one person has ever taken it.”

The reason, he said, is that hard-wired smoke detectors – which are required under the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code – are “99 percent effective.”