Craig R. Green
One of four competing for two PI Council seats
Age: 41
Hometown: Presque Isle
Political Party: Republican
What other political offices have you held? If none, what other offices, honors or titles have you earned? No political office. I was named the 2004 Presque Isle Citizen of the Year, a Presque Isle Rotary Paul Harris Fellow in 2008 and was appointed to the Presque Isle Sewer board by the City Council and have served for just over 10 years.
What is your career background? I have a bachelor’s degree in Business Management, and have continuously operated a small property business for 28 years, but my career has been in insurance planning and I have worked for New York Life for 17 years.
What made you decide to run for this office? Three major themes are the reasons I have chosen to seek the position of city councilor: First, the total change of the City Council about three years ago and with it a new city manager has eliminated the historical perspectives of management and has caused the direction of the city to change.
Change seems to be the buzzword used by so many politicians today and while change can be good or even necessary, it needs to be tempered with judgment and with input from citizens.
We have a wide array of talented citizens in our community and we must get them involved to solve some of the challenges that face us. The current style of management that is much more top down needs to be revisited. As a city we are slowly losing two of our most valuable assets, the good will of our employees and the trust of the citizens. The employees are concerned for their jobs and have experienced cuts, while at the same time our upper management of the city has grown.
The very employees who have worked for years, and some for decades in their jobs, have not been consulted as to how to gain efficiencies in the departments where they are experts. In our past, managers and councils had the citizens behind them, because they worked hand in hand to plan, build consensus and then implement major initiatives.
This builds trust from the citizens and helps the community to buy into project and initiatives. Secondly, unintended consequences of budget decisions are one of my greatest concerns and I intend to focus on them. Keeping the budget and property taxes level seems to be the major focus of the current Council.
Although I understand we are in very tough economic times, some of the items that have been discussed like eliminating positions at the Fire Dept. will have other consequences, one of which will raise your property insurance costs. Our savings by demoting police officers was miniscule, but we have caused concern in the department for future cuts. It costs many thousands to train an officer, if only one leaves due to this uncertainty, we will end up paying much more to train new officers than we gained from the budget cut. The illegal drug problem in Presque Isle has been escalating on the streets and in our schools.
We need our police to be well-trained and supported to do a very important job protecting our families. Although, our officers are doing their best with what they have available for resources, we must not allow our community to slip backwards in protection. Third, we need to expand the utilization of our assets. The fact that we are a hub community and are located centrally to the population of Aroostook and much of western New Brunswick, we have the opportunity to hold regional events and programs.
I want to see a concerted effort to bring in shows and events that can be held at the Forum and at other facilities in the community, including UMPI, NMCC and at our parks and in the downtown. Regional events can bring many dollars in revenue to our city. The promoters of the concert series in Bangor have proved that it is possible to do this. We need our best creative minds to work on just such ideas.
The volunteerism in our city is nothing short of incredible, as The Maine Winter Sports Center, Special Olympics and other activities can attest to that fact, so I ask you my friends and fellow Presque Isle residents to put your minds to work on events and programs you have attended in other communities that we can do here. These events can fill our hotels and restaurants and bring sales to our retail stores, and as a result we will have more and better jobs. I want to see a team approach to help build our community.
What do you see as the most important issue facing Aroostook County? As a councilor I would view the county as secondary concern, and the citizens of Presque Isle as my priority. I do, however, understand the importance of working with our neighboring communities, but at the end of the day, it will be those items that benefit our citizens that are my top priority. To mention a few Aroostook County items that we should be partners on, would be the creation of jobs in Central Aroostook communities and the regional handling of our solid waste stream.
What do you see as your primary goal, if elected? I think my primary goal would be to bring my listening skills and my plain dealing style to the council setting, while working with the City Manager to enact policies that more closely align with the citizens’ views.
In the past year there has been much dissatisfaction with the proposed redesigning of Main Street, demotion of police officers, proposed elimination of fire department staff, demotion of city department managers while hiring more upper level support staff, and changing us to a trash program that has increased costs to businesses and individuals. In speaking to my fellow citizens, I know that these are of concern to you.
Because of the lack of explanation, many citizens testifying to the council have felt their concerns were not properly valued. I fully understand that as citizens we have the right and the duty to question the council at any point in the process.
As a city councilor for Presque Isle, I will pledge to listen to you, value your opinion and be polite. At the end of the day if we don’t agree, I will do my best to explain my position. No one can agree 100 percent of the time, but we must work together in order to move forward and that is my pledge to you.
