Cape Elizabeth Town Manager Matt Sturgis and Tax Assessor Clinton Swett discuss the revaluation process in Cape Elizabeth, Maine and answer common questions.
Tom Bell
Housing Summit – Do Not Use
In this final Episode of the Greater Portland Kennebunkport created a nonprofit housing trust that housed six families in less than a year, with more affordable homes on the way. Larissa Crocket, Executive Director of the Kennebunkport Heritage Housing Trust, and Kennebunkport Town Manager Laurie Smith discuss the challenges of the housing initiative and what made it successful. Then, Erin Zwirko, Planning and Development Director in Yarmouth, Maine, talks about how the town used form-based...
Housing Summit – Episode 5 – Jun 3 2024
Avesta Housing President & CEO Rebecca Hatfield leads a panel discussion about successful strategies to build more housing, with Westbrook City Administrator Jerre Bryant, Portland Mayor Mark Dion, Biddeford Mayor Marty Grohman, Bridgton Community Development Director Tori Hill and, Yarmouth Planning and Development Director Erin Zwirko. Next, on the final segment of the Greater Portland Council on Government Housing Summit, we hear about the town of Kennebunkport who created a nonprofit...
Housing Summit – Episode 4 – May 27 2024
Jeff Levine talks about the history of U.S. housing policy, the use of zoning to enforce racial segregation, and the impact of suburban zoning in Greater Portland on limiting the supply of multi-family housing and increasing housing costs. Then, Greg Payne, Senior Advisor, Housing Policy, Governor’s Office of Policy, Innovation and the Future, discusses the 2023 State of Maine Housing Production Needs Study.
Housing Summit – Episode 3 – May 20 2024
Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce President Quincy Hentzel, United Way of Southern Maine President Liz Cotter Schlax, and CEO of the Natural Resources Council of Maine Rebeccah Sanders discuss the economic, environmental and social equity issues related to the need for more housing.
Housing Summit – Episode 2 – May 13 2024
President of the Greater Portland Council of Government Jarrod Maxfield, Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce President Quincy Hentzel, United Way of Southern Maine President Liz Cotter Schlax, and CEO of the Natural Resources Council of Maine Rebeccah Sanders discuss the economic, environmental and social equity issues related to the need for more housing.
Housing Summit – Episode 1 – May 6 2024
Opening remarks at the Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) held on Mar 26 2024 at Ocean Gateway, Portland, Maine. The entire meeting was edited into a collection of six episodes to be aired separately.
Let’s Connect – Overcoming Employment Barriers – Mar 8 2024
Tae Chong (Maine State Chamber of Commerce, Director of Multicultural Markets and Strategies), Quincy Hentzel (Executive Director of Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce) and Melissa Hue (Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity for the City of Portland), discuss how to help people overcome employment barriers and strengthen the region's economic resilience.
Let’s Connect – Municipal Wastewater – Feb 29 2024
Emily Prescott, Planning Director of Saco, and Howard Carter, Director of the city’s Water Resource Recovery Department, discuss how waste water systems play a pivotal role in developing sustainable infrastructures within the community.
Let’s Connect – West & Bryant – Feb 19 2024
Portland City Manager Danielle West and Westbrook City Administrator Jerre Bryant discuss the challenge of meeting the aspirations of residents an elected leaders in the budget process.
Let’s Connect – town managers – Feb 8 2024
Yarmouth's Town Manager Nat Tupper and Cumberland Town Manager Bill Shane talk with host Kristina Egan about the joys and challenges of being a town manager in Maine. Both men are retiring this winter after long careers in public service.
Let’s Connect – dredge project – Feb 1 2024
Dan Healey, Chair of the Board of Harbor Commissioners for Portland Harbor, Tom Dobbins, the commission’s former chair, and Bill Needleman, the Waterfront Coordinator for the City of Portland, discuss a major project to dredge along the private and public piers in Portland Harbor.
Let’s Connect – Kate Snyder – Jan 10 2024
Kate Snyder talks with Belinda Ray about her recent term as mayor – the high points, the challenges, and what it’s been like to serve in municipal government in today’s increasingly polarized environment.
Let’s Connect – Piping Plovers – Dec 27 2023
Andrew Fersch and Laura Minich Zitske talk with host Tom Bell about Piping Plovers and efforts to protect their habitat in Maine. Andrew is the author of the children’s book, “The Piping Plover,” about the endangered seabirds that live at Higgins Beach in Scarborough. The book is illustrated by Bruce Hutchison of Cape Elizabeth. Laura is a wildlife ecologist and Coastal Birds Project Director at Maine Audubon.
Let’s Connect – E-bikes – Nov 22 2023
Cashel Stewart, Sustainable Transportation Coordinator at the City of South Portland, and Jim Tasse, Assistant Director of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, talk about E-bikes. How do they work? What are the regulations? Are they safe? How can E-bikes help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save the planet?
Let’s Connect – Public Transportation Goes Electric – Nov 16 2023
Transit agencies in our region are electrifying their fleets. Learn the reasons why, with Hank Berg, general manager of Casco Bay Lines, Chad Heid, Executive Director at Biddeford Saco Old Orchard Beach Transit, Rodney Carpenter, the bus agency’s deputy director, and Jonathan Gagne, Sustainability Program Coordinator at the Greater Portland Council of Governments.
Let’s Connect – Mayoral Interviews – Oct 25 2023
Kristina Eagan interviews Portland mayoral candidates Pious Ali, Andrew Zarro and Justin Costa
Let’s Connect – Mayoral Interviews – Oct 10 2023
Interviews with two candidates for Mayor of Portland, Dylan Pugh and Mark Dion.
Let’s Connect – Interracial Friendships – Sept 13 2023
Chris Lyon, Shana Cook Mueller, and Krystal Williams share what it means to be in a multiracial friendship.
Let’s Connect – Bridging the Partisan Divider – Sept 13 2023
Sen. Jill Duson (D-Portland) and Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford) discuss their efforts to work across the aisle in the Maine Legislature.
Let’s Connect – Climate Show – Aug 16 2023
Dave Reidmiller, the Director of the Climate Center at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, talks about the impact of global warming on the Gulf of Maine. Reidmiller has worked for both the Obama and Trump administration on federal climate policy. Now, he works with Maine’s most vulnerable communities to ensure they are prepared for climate change.
Let’s Connect – Trail Network – Aug 4 2023
Allison Burson, National Greenway Director at East Coast Greenway, Rob Lavoie, Gorham Town Councilor, and former Maine state senator Dick Woodbury discuss the importance trails and what efforts are underway to expand the trail network.
Let’s Connect – Bringing Rapid Transit to Greater Portland
Transportation planner Andrew Clark talks with Teagan Betori and Kristina Egan about plans to bring rapid transit to Greater Portland. This is a recording of the July 20, 2023 show on WMPG, Let's Connect Greater Portland.
Let’s Connect – Victoria Pelletier
A conversation with Portland Councilor Victoria Pelletier and Casco Selectwoman Mary Fernandez. Portland City Councilor Victoria Pelletier and Casco Selectwoman Mary Fernandez discuss the realities of serving as Black women in local office and how they are paving the path for other women of color in Maine.