Mainebiz Deputy Editor Renee Cordes sat down with the the mayor of Maine’s largest city in his office at City Hall for a 45-minute interview that covered a lot of ground.
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From tackling downtown vacancies and safety concerns to the ongoing debate over a proposed concert hall, Portland Mayor Mark Dion has arguably one of the toughest municipal jobs in Maine. Mainebiz sat down with the former sheriff in his office at City Hall for a 45-minute interview that covered a lot of ground.
Mainebiz: Can the city do anything to attract potential tenants to the large space on Congress Street formerly occupied by Renys?
Mark Dion: The city is limited in what it can do, because economic development looks at the Congress Square as a parcel in and of itself. There’s also a persistent issue about the unhoused, drug use and the adverse perceptions that come from that. For a Realtor, it’s a tough call [but] I don’t think it’s as bad as people think. We made progress in the last six months in clarifying what’s appropriate in the Congress Street corridor, but I could see where they’re going to get questions from possible tenants.
MB: The new ‘art installations’ in empty storefronts are basically posters. How is that solving the vacancy problem?
MD: I didn’t vote for that — though at the time we were told they would be more tangible and more significant than a poster and that that would somehow lend itself to an alternative consideration as potential tenant. I don’t think that’s the case. The most difficult challenge is resolving the sense of diminished public safety in the neighborhood and chronic deterioration of the space. The Portland Downtown district with its Ambassador program has done yeoman’s work in recapturing and reinstituting spaces that we can feel better about. That environment is conducive to potential tenants making a decision about entering a space or not — posters for sure don’t do it. One of the programs we did initiate, which doesn’t get a lot of publicity, is that we provide low-interest loans for rehabilitating storefronts. Those send a very concrete signal about the value of the space.
MB: Given the resistance to the proposed live music venue, how do you keep that developer — or others — from bypassing Portland for Westbrook?
MD: The business community, when looking at municipal government, needs to view a body that provides consistent and predictable policy decisions. And I think the music hall question at its core was our ability or lack of ability to respond to the idea that the applicant had in fact satisfied all existing standards, policy and ordinance. And the question for the Council, and the majority rejected this premise, is that we’re not in the business of deciding who we like and who we don’t like. We should be agnostic on that question. I told some of the proponents of what would become the majority decision, it shouldn’t matter to us if it’s a McDonald’s or a Burger King or a Costco; it’s whether or not the applicant can satisfy the expectations expressed in the standards, and the music hall proponents have done that. And they’ve taken steps even further to try to create an environment of being a good corporate citizen with their proposed initiatives around reducing the cost of parking as well as providing ongoing funding of related arts activities in the city as a way to say we can spread among all of us some of the positive consequences of the hall being in the city.
MB: What message does the situation send to other developers?
MD: If I was a developer, it’s got to create some anxious math in my mind. The amount of time, energy and funds that are necessary to take an idea from concept all the way through the planning process, get an approval and then wonder if the Council’s going to change the expectations mid-stream or claw back what had been understood to have been granted by right has a significant chilling effect. A developer would pause and consider whether or not their vison could be realized more reliably in an adjoining community.
MB: In Bayside, what do you see as the best use for the empty Midtown properties?
MD: The more mixed the better. When I look at Bayside, I see Deering Center writ larger. I want mixed economic tenants, first-floor retail, community space and green space that matters.
MB: You’ve talked creating spaces for people to create things. What do you mean?
MD: There’s nothing wrong with saying we are a white-collar service center, but our sustainability as a city requires that some things are made here. That’s why I’ve argued for the new frontier for that activity to be the harbor. I believe in the blue economy and that there’s lot of creativity arising to meet the challenge of manufacturing, processing and cultivation.
MB: Is there room for these activities?
MD: The Gulf of Maine is pretty big. [Laughs.]
MB: What about on land?
MD: I think there’s some room. Technology has shrunk the footprint of the machinery you need. I want big ideas — I’m not worried about how big the machine. And I want people to look at the Gulf of Maine as a resource that we can manage and preserve to give Portland the economic growth it once had.
MB: Could you ever envision a data center in Portland?
MD: There’s not going to be an initiative from City Hall, that’ll be an initiative from the private sector. Some Councilors are already concerned about it, that they’ll probably put a moratorium on it — they’re anxious given the debate at the federal and state level.
MB: Where do you stand on Portland’s Inclusionary Zoning fee?
MD: I’ve been consistent to say we should significantly reduce it. By relaxing the IZ constraint, my hope is that it’ll spur construction units that will be amenable to the interests of moderate income and family income. I grew up in an apartment building, so I didn’t know what the big deal was about having your own home.
MB: What was that like, growing up in Lewiston?
MD: In an apartment house, every family was watching out for other families. We all knew the rhythms of our lives in a way that when you lived in a detached structure you don’t necessarily experience. Neither one is right or wrong, but they both add to the quality of the community. That’s why I’d like to see a reduction in the IZ zone quotient.
MB: Would you ever consider taking an office in state or federal government?
MD: I’m just doing the job I have right now.
MB: Portland is often critized for being unfriendly to business. What’s your response?
MD: My job is to assure people if they’re willing to take a risk in the city of Portland, I’m willing to minimize that risk to the best of my ability and to advocate on their behalf before the Council.
MB: What’s your final message about Portland as a place to do business?
MD: I’m about as pro-business a mayor as you’re going to get, because I think that’s the lifeblood that makes everything else work. If you go to a struggling community, what’s absent? Any visible business sector, because businesspeople sink roots. They’re not just doing their business – they’re participating in community ventures and organizations. They invest sweat equity and soul. How could you possibly not want to help people that want to do that work?
