Potholes & Politics: Local Maine Issues from A to Z

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Last year, LD 290, An Act To Stabilize Property Taxes for Individuals 65 Years of Age or Older Who Own a Homestead for at Least 10 Years, was enacted with little discussion and a host of very expensive unintended consequences.
This year, the law was amended to address those consequences and bring property tax relief where it was most needed. However, it will now be up to municipal officials to address the fall out of public misunderstandings as one law sunsets and two more programs expand.
In this episode, we talk with leading municipal policy architect and boss extraordinaire, Kate Dufour, Director of Advocacy and Communications at MMA who explains: "How we got here, from there" on property tax relief programs.
The Advocacy team briefly chats about the woes of this past session and hope for the future and Lambo talks about where in Maine she is off to next.

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Housing and Homelessness in Maine is primarily discussed through the lens of Maine's largest cities. This episode Potholes and Politics features three local government leaders, Aroostook County Administrator, Ryan Pelletier, Madawaska Town Manager, Gary Picard and Presque Isle City Manager, Martin Puckett discussing the housing crisis, and growth in homelessness in Maine's largest county, and the collaborative way local government leaders are responding.
In this episode we also say goodbye to co-host Neal Goldberg, and hello to new co-host Rebecca (Becky) Lambert who will join Rebecca Graham for our future episodes. Additionally, we layout the way the podcast will increase in frequency as we pivot to pumping out important municipally impacting bills as they are proposed in the 131st Legislative Session.
Episode Break Down:
1:30 - Ryan Pelletier, Gary Picard & Martin Puckett discuss homelessness and workforce issue in the county.
17:00 - Martin Puckett discusses the collaborative way Presque Isle is engaging with Northern Maine Community College's unused college dorms to attract individuals who need housing, provide workforce development in the heart of the industrial center where employees are needed.
19:30 - Gary Picard talks about the future housing needs of Madawaska and the looming "Silver Tsunami" and how workforce housing is an issue for labor needs.
24:00 - Ryan Pelletier talks about how the County is using ARPA funds to address the looming crisis of a growing population of unhoused in a shelter system that is over capacity and in conjunction with all municipalities.
28:00 - Ryan, Martin and Gary talk about emergency heating needs, and how to manage keeping people warm in the oldest housing stock.
30:30 - Gary Picard talks about the changes in Madawaska before, after and during the pandemic.
35:30 - Martin Puckett discusses the problem with codes and address emergent issues.
40:00 - We start Neal Goldberg's long "goodbye" and talk about the changes to the podcast during the legislative session.
Don't forget to like us and subscribe to stay up to date on the latest municipally relevant legislation being proposed in Augusta! Email us at [email protected].

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The Regional Meetings Podcast Episode:
At the taping of this podcast MMA's Advocacy Team had conducted 10 regional meetings with municipal and county officials around the state to discuss pressures on local government, possible solutions and meet with candidates for State office to understand better the needs of local government.
From Presque Isle to Alfred, some issues are the same with a significant difference in the ability for local government to address them. It is abundantly clear that not all communities have access to regional planning resources, grant writers, or even full time staff but are using what few tools they have to try to answer the biggest challenges facing local government.
What can legislators do better to understand capacity? Can they work more closely with local government to provide tools not rules and achieve their goals?
One thing is certain, all legislators need local government to deliver on their most desired policies and many legislators need to understand that efforts with a view from York County have more available resources than Franklin or Aroostook County but are no less important to those communities and the people they serve.
Hopefully, these local conversations will generate a lot more local voices providing comments on policy in Augusta!
The conversations and interactions between local and state government leaders are more important than ever and we appreciate the time you took to make these recent conversations meaningful. Whether it’s tax policy, education funding, mandates or public safety, local contributions only strengthen the discussions and help to inform the decisions being made in Augusta.

In the following months, MMA’s Legislative Policy Committee (LPC) and Advocacy Team will be shaping the association’s legislative platform. Your local LPC members are a valuable resource for both giving and receiving information. Count on them when you need information about a bill the LPC has up for debate, or if you have information about how a measure will impact your community.

Find the full list of LPC members HERE

Learn more about MMA’s 5-Member Advocacy Team HERE

Additional resources can be found at the Advocacy & Communications tab on MMA’s website. There you can access past editions of the Maine Town & City magazine, read the latest issues of the Legislative Bulletin, or stream the latest episode of the Potholes & Politics podcast. If you would like to receive an electronic version of the Legislative Bulletin, Maine Town & City magazine or subscribe to the monthly e-newsletter please contact MMA’s Personify database team at: [email protected] .

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The Urgency of Building Resilient Communities
Hannah Pingree, Director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future and co-chair of the Maine Climate Council, talks about the urgent importance of community action, planning and investments to build resilience to impacts of climate change following the devastating winter storms of December 2023 and January 2024. In response to these storms, Governor Mills proposed and authorized the largest recovery support package in Maine history -- $60 million for working waterfronts, business recovery, and public infrastructure projects -- and launched an expert Infrastructure Rebuilding and Recovery Commission to help develop Maine’s first long-term plan for safeguarding Maine communities and people from climate effects like extreme storms, flooding, and storm surge. Hannah will talk about the need for state, regional and local partnerships to address this challenge and efforts underway through her office to support lasting investments in Maine communities, such as through her office’s landmark Community Resilience Partnership program, which in two years has grown to include more than 225 Maine cities, towns, and tribal governments.

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As we prepare for Holocaust Remembrance Day, Maine Municipal Association, Maine Chiefs of Police Association, and several other stakeholders had the opportunity to receive an important history lesson in context from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C.. In this episode, Rebecca Graham sits down with Noel March who facilitated bringing a special law enforcement program out of D.C. to Maine through the Maine Community Policing Institute and the Maine Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was able to take part of The Museum's Law, Justice, and the Holocaust Program on the road to Maine, one of only two places outside Washington D.C. who have benefitted from the learning opportunity.
The signature program, Law Enforcement and Society: Lessons of the Holocaust (LEAS), is presented in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League. Established in 1999 at the request of DC Metropolitan Police Department, the program is suitable for recruit, in-service, and command professionals in law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels. To date, this innovative program has reached more than 150,000 officers from the US and 80 countries worldwide.
The internationally recognized date for Holocaust Remembrance Day corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In 2023, that day is Tuesday, April 18.