The incumbents are James Cloutier, who is a real estate lawyer; and Jill Duson, who is director of the state Bureau of Rehabilitation Services at the Maine Department of Labor.
One of their challengers is John Anton, a former Planning Board member who is president of the Northern New England Housing Investment Fund, a firm that raises private investment capital and underwrites equity investments in affordable-housing developments in Maine and New Hampshire.
The other challenger is Mark Reilly, a letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service who has run for the council in the past.
The two top vote-getters will win the seats.
The nine-member council has four at-large seats and five district seats.
JOHN ANTON
AGE: 42
ADDRESS: 63 Spruce St.
PERSONAL: Married, two children
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree, Yale University; master’s degree in city and regional planning, University of North Carolina
OCCUPATION: President, Northern New England Housing Investment Fund, Portland
POLITICAL/CIVIC EXPERIENCE: Member, Planning Board, 2004-2006, and Maine Affordable Rental Housing Coalition, 2000-present; Portland Housing Authority commissioner, 2002-2005; director, Genesis Community Loan Fund, 2001-2004, and National Association of State and Local Equity Funds, 2000-present
ON THE ISSUES: Anton said he would work to change the way the city does business by emphasizing open, fair and predictable decision-making. He believes school funding should be the city’s highest financial priority while it seeks administrative efficiencies. He said he supports transportation planning to promote walking, bicycling and public transit. To address the housing shortage and build the tax base, he wants to increase the city’s housing supply for middle- and working-class people. He said he would promote energy-efficient city policies to save money and protect the environment.
JAMES CLOUTIER
AGE: 53
ADDRESS: 13 Fleetwood St.
PERSONAL: Married, two children
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree, University of Southern Maine; law degree, University of Maine School of Law
OCCUPATION: Real estate lawyer
POLITICAL/CIVIC EXPERIENCE: City Council, 1998-present; chairman, council’s community development committee, 2004- present; member, four waterfront task forces; Executive Committee member and past chairman, RWS/ecoMaine
ON THE ISSUES: Cloutier noted the progress the city has made in recent years in redeveloping Bayside and the eastern waterfront and increasing Portland’s property valuation of $7.5 billion, with $800 million in projects planned or under construction. He said his work as head of the community development committee would help him evaluate future proposals and make sure the city benefits with improved public facilities, a broader tax base and new jobs. He said his knowledge of education and budget management would help increase school accountability and transparency under the state’s new consolidation law.
JILL DUSON
AGE: 53
ADDRESS: 101 Pennell Ave.
PERSONAL: Divorced, two children, one grandchild
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio; law degree, University of Pennsylvania School of Law; executive education program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
OCCUPATION: Director, Bureau of Rehabilitation Services, Maine Department of Labor
POLITICAL/CIVIC EXPERIENCE: City Council, 2002-present; School Committee, 1999-2001; board member, Institute for Civic Leadership, Portland Community Chamber, Opportunity Maine; delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1992, 2000 and 2004; presidential elector, 2004 Maine Electoral College
ON THE ISSUES: Duson said personal experience with poverty and prejudice fuels her support for affordable housing, economic development, environmental protection,...
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