December 15, 2021 

Hello Portlanders,

This will be a briefer-than-usual email as the days are extra busy right now! (And as always, please feel free to forward this email - and to anyone who would like to be added to this distribution please send me a request at: [email protected].)

Some Updates:

Great news: on Monday, December 13th, Cumberland County Commissioners voted to approve $3M from county ARPA funds in response to the City of Portland’s request for support for the Homeless Services Center. 

Last week, on Monday, December 6th, three new Councilors joined the City Council. Bios and contact info here, and I hear photos are coming soon!

This week, on Monday, December 13th, the Council held our Annual Goal Setting Workshop. As directed by our City's Charter, the Mayor is responsible to “convene and lead an annual workshop session of the city council to discuss and identify the city’s goals and priorities in order to provide guidance for the city manager and to inform the public. The city manager shall attend this workshop session, and a summary of the session shall be made available to the public.” Monday’s session was productive and collaborative, and the 2022 Goals will be considered and acted on by the Council at a future meeting. 

Next Monday, December 20th, we will have a regular Council Meeting. Prior to the meeting, I will deliver the State of the City Address at 4:30pm during a Special Meeting of the Council. As always, agendas and Zoom links can be found here. 

In October, I met with PBS Newshour reporter, Chris Booker. He was doing a follow-up story on local economies and the many impacts of Covid-19. His story about Portland: Busy shops, fewer workers: Portland grapples with post-pandemic reality, is here. Here’s the intro paragraph to the coverage: “Last year, Portland, Maine, was struggling to prepare for an economic winter of uncertainty. A push of late fall warmth had given downtown restaurants and businesses a boost following a dreadful summer. One year later, the story has changed entirely - the economy is booming, but businesses can't find workers and supply chain shortages are making it difficult for retailers to keep their shelves filled. Christopher Booker reports.” 

Federal Update
Congress is nearing the finish line on the Build Back Better Act, which would make historic investments in child care, pre-K, climate resilience, and clean energy. I encourage you to read Portland resident and former Senate President Justin Alfond's editorial in the Bangor Daily News this week on how this crucially important bill could be made even better - by adding a Billionaires Income Tax to it. This would ensure the very wealthiest Americans are being asked to pull their weight and contribute their fair share to our future.

This month’s Mayor Zoom Meeting (No formal agenda. Come one, come all) will be on Tuesday, December 21st at 3:00pm
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84685722960?pwd=aEpyZEpEa1ozZXMyODdMTlBicWlCdz09
(For anyone new to my email list - I host a monthly “Mayor Zoom” meeting. This is a relaxed, drop-in meeting with no agenda. I’m interested in hearing what’s on your mind. And, I’m happy to answer questions to the best of my ability. This has proven to be a good way to share information, ideas, and concerns. If you can’t make this meeting, please know there will be another next month - always during the last week of the month, but on different days of the week, and at different times of day - in hopes of reaching as many people as possible as the months go.)

My best to you and yours during this Holiday Season,

Kate Merchant Snyder
 

Please see below for general information regarding access to City Updates, and City Council work:

City Council Meetings: 
The Portland City Council meets the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month. In the case of a Monday holiday, we typically meet the next Wednesday. In the case of school vacation weeks, we typically push the meeting by a week. Agendas and Info, go here.

The next City Council meeting is Monday, December 20th.

Council Workshops: Please Check in here to see all upcoming meetings.

Council Committees: Do not meet in December. 

City News & Updates: Sent every Friday afternoon straight to you. Email or Text. 

If you’re generally curious about City updates and news - please click here to subscribe to the ‘City News’ group. You can also go to that page to click on the latest weekly update - and look back through the news, too. The weekly compile has everything from Council decisions to construction updates to news about things happening around town. It’s a fantastic, concise, easy to read resource.