Printer-friendly version Reader Comments

District 4: One wants to give voters the power to pick a mayor, but the others say it's too soon to take a position.

By TOM BELL, Staff Writer June 2, 2009

PORTLAND — Voters in District 4, which includes the Back Cove and Deering neighborhoods, must pick one of three candidates to represent them on the Charter Commission.

Candidate Steven Scharf is a strong proponent of giving voters the power to elect a mayor.

A frequent observer of City Council and School Committee meetings, Scharf said an elected mayor would give the city more direction than can be provided by the current system in which the council appoints the mayor.

The way it works now, he said, councilors take turns serving as mayor for a one-year term. Although mayors offer a visionary statement when they take office, they don't have enough time to carry out their vision, he said.

Scharf wants to go through the entire city charter and remove arcane language so people have a clear understanding of how city government is supposed to function. The charter needs to be redrafted, he said, so it fits "the 21st century and to make it understandable by folks."

Scharf's opponents, Janice Tevanian and John Spritz, both say they are have an open mind about whether the city needs an elected mayor.

Spritz, president of the Back Cove Neighborhood Association, said he is "agnostic" on the subject. "It seems to be a rush to judgment to be saying, 'I'm running for office to say I want an elected mayor,' " Spritz said.

He said he's skeptical that there are significant savings to be found by combining financial operations of the school system and municipal budgets.

"From my professional experience, the savings tend to be much smaller when you combine departments," he said. "It often looks like you will save a whole lot of cash. When you do the work, the savings are not as dramatic."

For Tevanian, the question is not whether the city needs an elected mayor. Rather, the issue is how powerful the mayor should be and where that power would come from.

"Any additional powers a mayor would have would come from somewhere – either the council or the city manager," she said. "The Charter Commission is the process for analyzing this. It is not appropriate for decisions to be made before the process begins."

She said she appreciates the experience and professionalism that a city manager can bring to local government. However, she said, it's possible that a city manager can coexist with an elected mayor or even a strong mayor.

Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at:

tbell@pressherald.com