A call for action | Alan Caron of GrowSmart Maine talks about the new Brookings Institution report his organization sponsored
When the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution released a report earlier this month outlining a plan to revive Maine's struggling economy, its recommendations became fodder for news reports and political candidates' press releases. And with good reason: The proposals are ambitious and controversial, suggesting the state invest nearly $400 million in regional planning, land preservation and job growth, all funded by deep cuts in government spending and at least one tax increase.
Getting Maine's increasingly divided Legislature to agree on proposals that are anathema to one party or the other is a long shot. But the report, "Charting Maine's future: An action plan for promoting sustainable prosperity and quality places," is a viable — and necessary — outline for lawmakers to follow, says Alan Caron, executive director of GrowSmart Maine, the Yarmouth nonprofit that commissioned the Brookings study. Maine's economy is at a crucial point, Caron says, with young people moving away and traditional industries like manufacturing and fishing in decline. For the state to bounce back, lawmakers will need to build an economy around Maine's unique assets: its landscape and small-town character.
The report, which cost $1 million to produce and required a year to complete, can be a guide, he says. "I'm not saying that [the details] wouldn't change along the way," Caron says, "but I think the essential argument — that we have to invest in the quality of this place because that's our competitive advantage — is a very important point to be made and I think it will produce results."
Finding widespread support in the Legislature will be tough, Caron admits, given that some of the recommendations, such as raising the lodging tax, consolidating school districts and funding multi-million dollar bonds, have been debated before and resulted in stalemate. But he's prepared to push the report's findings with help from Brookings, his staff, the report's funders and Maine citizens. "We expect a lot of action to be taken in the next four years," he says.
This won't be the first time that Caron has lobbied state government. A Waterville native, Caron has participated in several citizen initiatives, including one that prompted the state in 1995 to bring high-speed Internet access to its public schools and libraries, and another in 2002 that revived rail service between Boston and Portland.
Caron started GrowSmart Maine in 2004 to help curb suburban sprawl, which, as chair of the Freeport Planning Board, he saw was eroding Maine's small towns and stretching state tax dollars too thin. But sprawl, he realized, was only the symptom of a state in crisis.
So in early 2005, Caron persuaded the Brookings Institution to evaluate the state's economy and recommend ways to help it grow, and he raised the $1 million to cover the cost. More than a year later, after the Brookings team pored over data and conducted 45 meetings with officials, interest groups and citizens across the state, the study is complete — but Caron says it is only the first step.
Caron is sending copies to all elected officials, as well as to business leaders, libraries and schools. He and members of the Brookings team also recently conducted meetings in Waterville, Lewiston and Bangor to discuss the recommendations, and he's planned more in the coming months to build popular support.
For legislators to enact difficult changes like ones proposed in "Charting Maine's future," they'll need a push from their constituents, Caron says. But he's convinced Mainers will speak up. "This is our tradition," he says. "We're a town meeting kind of state, and people are used to shaping their future."
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