I’m Stuart Tisdale
I’ve lived most of my life in Portland. Lately, I’ve been dismayed.
The clear lack of affordable housing, the odd paradox of a school system where enrollment is in
decline but budgets and the creation of non-teaching posts seems to keep going up, the sea-level
rise that floods the waterfront and encroaches on other city neighborhoods, the proliferation of
panhandling even as businesses across the city cannot find enough people to work, the move to
write the non-partisan city manager out of the city charter and replace it with a partisan political
mayoral office, these are just some of the problems we face.
I’ve seen enough to know that none of these problems is particularly long-lived. They all stem
from decisions we’ve made in the relatively recent past. We need to revisit some of those
decisions, reverse them even. Let’s build more affordable housing for moderate-income working
and professional people, especially families with children, to balance out the boom in luxury
condos. Let’s shrink the school budget in keeping with the declining enrollment, while remaining
mindful that the key to learning is always that the number of students in any particular classroom
needs to be small. Let’s be as tenacious in defending the environment as we would be in
protecting our grandchildren’s homes, because there is no Planet B; and let’s reserve the
waterfront primarily for maritime uses for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is that
those businesses will not be ruined when they get wet. Let’s stop luring a purely transient
population with the expectation of easily obtained benefits. Let’s not vote ideology into office but
keep the non-partisan city manager. Let’s ratchet down the stridency and listen to each other.
As I said, I’ve lived my life here. There’s hardly a street that doesn’t resonate for me with some
memory. But as a history teacher at Cheverus High School for eighteen years, I know that
history only moves in one direction. So, when I say we need to revisit decisions of the past, what I
mean is, we need to move forward in a careful, thoughtful, honest, pragmatic, non-ideological
manner that respects the rational middle.
That is the best to ensure we respect everybody.
For that, I ask your support on November 2nd.
Campaign Mission
We need strong leadership on the council to ensure a more balanced approach to community decision making. As councilor at-large I will stand up for all neighborhoods and city residents to see that our city government is working for our collective benefit.
- I want our students to emerge from our schools with the skills they need to pursue their passions. We have to support all tenets of The Portland Promise and that includes achievement. It is our responsibility to see that all of our children are prepared to take their place in the knowledge-based economy. To do any less than this is letting them down. And to accomplish this, we must invest in proven methods known to boost student achievement and to ensure that our teachers have the support and preparation they need to deliver those methods in the classroom.
- I want taxpayers to trust that the tax dollars they pay to Portland are being spent wisely and transparently - every tax dollar should be needed and every use should be known. And I want residents to know that they will not be hit with huge sudden increases because revaluations will be done more often, every 3-5 years, and would like to consider a Proposition 13-style amendment whereby the new tax rates only kick in when the property changes hands.
- I want residents to feel safe and to be safe walking in their neighborhoods and along the streets of our city and for visitors to want to come back again. I will work to invest in our walkable neighborhoods, to end the proliferation of panhandling, and to respectfully support the police and all of our first responders to uphold health, safety, and dignity for every individual in our community.
- I want our city to pursue creative solutions to our land use because how we use our land is paramount toward solving some of our most complex problems. As councilor at-large I will support collaboration with experts in our community to bring innovation to the people of Portland that can improve lives now and set the foundation for building better lives in the future.
- I oppose the plan for a one-size-fits-all homeless shelter in Portland because it goes against all of the best information available to effectively meet the varied needs of people experiencing homelessness. A big shelter will be expensive AND ineffective. Instead:
- I will work with existing agencies and institutions to improve and expand needed services in the short term.
- I will pursue long term solutions which alleviate the pressure on Portland by insisting on statewide sources for funding and the establishment of nine regional shelters across the state.
- Most importantly, I will advocate for collaboration among public, private and non-profit sectors in our own community to bring viable and creative ways to act locally to mitigate the circumstances which contribute to homelessness.
- I will champion an effort to move all municipal elections to November to strengthen voter participation and guard against exploitation of our elections through selective participation.
Portland is my hometown. This city council seat is not a rung on a ladder to some higher office for me, it’s about restoring confidence in Portland residents that good governance can change lives for the better. In an election cycle that will see turnover of three seats and the loss of decades of experience, I will be a strong leader for Portland on day one, poised and committed to serving all neighborhoods and all residents.
