September 12, 2022 (Monday)

Dear Friends, 

With Labor Day behind us, and Election Day (November 8th) just around the corner, I wanted to reach out to share some information, and to let you know that I'll be offering my thoughts and opinions on the Citizen Initiatives and Charter Commission recommendations in the coming days and weeks as we all prepare to vote.

As you will learn in greater detail, below, I do not plan to seek re-election in November 2023. I believe this is important to share now, because while I have taken a public position against the adoption of the proposed new Governance Structure (Question 2 on the ballot), I want you all to know that I take this position not because of my own future-plans, or a self interested approach to the outcome. I do so because I don't believe the proposed change is right for Portland, Maine. This said, I am fully committed to serving the remainder of my term, in service to our City's Charter and to our community.

Here's the email I sent to my City Council colleagues today:

"In the interest of no surprises and communication, I am reaching out to share some information. 

In advance of sharing my thoughts and opinions on the Citizen Initiatives and Charter Commission recommendations broadly, it is important to me to state up front and clearly to you all, and to our community, that my positions on upcoming ballot initiatives are not steeped in an interest to seek reelection.

I wanted to make sure that you all, my colleagues, know first that I will be letting our community know that I will not be seeking re-election in Nov. 2023.

While these past nearly three years have been unrelentingly challenging because of so many unforeseeable factors, I have worked to be as steady as I can be; focused on the voter-approved stated responsibilities of the position of Mayor. 
I have been, and remain fully committed to my role and responsibilities, and to our shared work as public servants.
I am also committed to our work with, and support for, City of Portland professional staff who come to work every day to implement City of Portland policies, and respond to the many needs of the community we all serve. "

As we all make our way through the next eight weeks, I look forward to sharing, learning, and preparing to have our say on the November 8th ballot. I will stay focused on the issues, the questions, factual information as well as "possible and probable impacts".

I'll be using email - which is tied to a personal email account, not my .gov email account.
I have asked for an opinion from Corporation Counsel regarding engagement in the election process which will serve as an important guide for me, and my colleagues. ("Campaign activities by elected and appointed officials", memo dated August 16, 2022, posted to my Mayor Page on the city's website).
I plan to use social media (albeit with very mixed feelings!). While I understand and appreciate the information sharing value of social, I don't regard it highly as a constructive environment for dialogue. I'll be using it as the former, not the latter.

With five Citizen Initiated Ordinance Amendments and Eight Recommendations to amend our City's Charter, this is a very significant point in time. Thank you for doing all you can to inform yourself while you consider the proposals.

Very Sincerely,

Kate Snyder

PS - As always, please feel free to share/forward this email.