Age (on Election Day): 63

Party affiliation: Democrat

Occupation: Window cleaner

Community organizations:

Mahoosuc Land Trust

Hobbies, activities etc.:

Advertisement

Gardening, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, reading and learning.

Family status: Married

Years in Legislature: 0

Clean Election candidate? Yes

Committee assignments wanted:

Education; Judiciary; Taxation

Advertisement

What is the most pressing problem in your district and what do you plan to do about it?

To fund public education at the 55 percent level the citizens have twice voted for. This will help lower the property tax burden citizens are faced to properly fund their school systems.

Gov. Paul LePage wants to eliminate the state income tax. Do you support that? If not, why not?

No. Eliminating income tax lowers revenue approximately $1.4 billion. Increasing sales tax on goods and services would not cover the lost revenue. In 2012, proposed legislation to lower income tax to 4 percent would have cut revenues by $600 million. Approximately 75 percent would have gone to the top 20 percent of taxpayers.

Are you willing to support raising the fuel tax to fix Maine roads? If not, why not?

Yes. Raise the fuel tax and reestablish its automatic adjustment for inflation. Gov. LePage proposed and the 125th Legislature enacted fuel tax cuts repealing the automatic inflation adjustment of the tax. Inflation continues to eat away at the fuel tax every year, and our roads and bridges continue to deteriorate.

Advertisement

The relationship between the governor and the Legislature has deteriorated over the past six years. What can the Legislature do to improve that relationship?

Finding common ground with the governor, working through individual differences and reaching an agreement regarding the issues will allow us to move forward.

What methods do you support to reduce opiate addiction in Maine?

We are in need of more training for medical professionals. Outpatient treatment centers need to be accepted and created or more incarceration and hospitalization will occur. It costs up to $50,000 to incarcerate and less then $5,000 for outpatient treatment.

How are you voting on the referendum questions?

Question 1: Yes
Question 2: Yes
Question 3: No
Question 4: Yes
Question 5: Yes


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.