Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows at MMA's 87th Annual Convention

10/13/23 • 14 min

Potholes & Politics: Local Maine Issues from A to Z

This week we are highlighting one of the conversations from MMA's 87th Annual Convention held at the Augusta Civic Center, October 4 & 5, 2023.
This year's convention theme was "Lead, Motivate, Communicate" and featured dynamic speakers like Leila Brammer, Director of Outreach and Instructional Development of the Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse, University of Chicago on "Civic Leadership and the Imperative of Effective Communication" and Yellow Light Breen, President & CEO, Maine Development Foundation on "Leading for Economic Innovation and Prosperity", and an uplifting reminder of why we serve local government and how to not despair in these unprecedented times with a presentation from Ron Holifield, Chief Executive Officer, Strategic Government Resources and former City Manager, "It’s Not About Me, It’s Not About Now". An elections update session was one of many offered and provided by Julie Flynn, Deputy Secretary of State, Maine Secretary of State. In this episode we chat with Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows about security issues facing Maine's town and city clerks this election season on the convention floor.
The audio quality is not the best, and for this we apologize but the message is still important and one we think is worth a listen.

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Pumpkinfest Latte's and Maine Law Enforcement Accreditation (MLEAP) Programs

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While it seems like we may have been on vacation, the intersession work has been in full swing and Legislative Committees including Judiciary and Housing are back at it next week!
This episode we dive into the Maine Law Enforcement Accreditation Program managed by Dirigo Safety and speak with one chief in the tail end of the accreditation process; Jason Warlick of Damariscotta Police Department on the benefits of being a certified MLEAP agency.
After talking about the process, we touch on what it is like to be Chief in a tiny (population wise) town in Maine with major big city issues, and one of the largest most popular community festivals in the nation: Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta.
For more information about the MLEAP program, reach out to Shawn O'Leary at [email protected] and to apply for the Law Enforcement Grant program through MMA email [email protected]. As always you can email the show at [email protected]. Don't forget to rate us and subscribe and follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @memun_advocacy.

Next Episode

Measuring Municipal Mill Rates 101 - Shining the Light on Maine's Tax Assessors

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The sensationalized headlines around heated municipal meetings targeting municipal tax assessment changes, and property reevaluation haven't offered much in the way of educating the public around the root causes of Mill Rate and property tax bill increases.
So Potholes & Politics is taking a deeper dive. Trust us...this is 58 minutes you won't want to miss. (Hint: It ain't because of those "greedy" volunteer municipal select boards and councils.)
This episode is the first installment of many that could be renamed a new series called: "Why did my property taxes go up?" with Kerry Leichtman, Camden and Rockport's Tax Assessor."Mill" is derived from the Latin word "millesimum", meaning thousandth. As used in property tax, 1 mill is equal to $1 in property tax levied per $1,000 of a property's assessed value.
Kerry explains what is happening with municipal tax assessment, why reevaluations are necessary, and how your tax bill is tied to the massive influx of property hungry and cash flush buyers.
Bonus: There is at least one really bad "Dad Joke" in this episode!