Ned Raynolds - City Council

Ned's City Council Profile on Seacoastonline.com

Interview with Ned on seacoastonline.com

Information provided by Ned Raynolds

When I was fortunate enough to move my family to Portsmouth in January of 2001, I could tell right away that this city was a special place - it's more like a small town, where you meet friends while walking downtown or in the grocery store, but it has the character and sophistication of a big city. I've lived in Portland Maine, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Boston, and traveled pretty widely, and I couldn't be happier that my children are going to be able to grow up right here on the beautiful Seacoast of New Hampshire.

I've been interested in politics and public policy since the 10th grade, and after moving around quite a bit for active duty tours in the Coast Guard, graduate school, and starting my "second career," I was practically compelled to run for office in the place I knew I'd be raising my kids. I always speak of "serving" on City Council because that's what it means to me - contributing my energy, intellect, ideas, communications skills, and positive outlook to helping make Portsmouth "the best possible place to live and work for everyone" - which was why I was a participant in and a big supporter of the "Portsmouth Listens" process that developed our new Master Plan.

I'm an idealist, and although I grew up in age of great cynicism about government, I never bought into it. Government is not a necessary evil or the source of our problems; it is, as Abraham Lincoln said, "of the people, by the people, and for the people" and we are responsible for ourselves. Government at all levels is simply the means through which we pool our resources and work together to create the kind of community, state, and nation we want to live in. (Another of my favorite quotes is from Ben Franklin: "Democracy is the worst form of government - except for all the others.") When you realize the wisdom of that wry observation, there's really no choice but to commit to communicating openly and respectfully with each other, learning to think together to solve complex problems, and taking responsbility for the results.

Growth & Development (achieving the vision of our Master Plan):
While owners of private land and buildings in the City have the right to build on or redevelop them - as allowed by zoning – that doesn't mean the City has no power over what gets built, or how it looks. We have plenty, through the Planning Board, City permitting (including Site Review), and Historic District Commission processes - as well as what is allowed (or denied) by our Zoning Board of Appeals. We just need to ensure it's being applied effectively, and if our powers need to be enhanced, we can do that. Vague calls to "slow down" the pace of development are an inadequate response to our concerns.

If reelected to the City Council, I'll propose that the Council have one or more work sessions with those bodies, to review and discuss our Master Plan, and discuss our collective understanding of how well equipped (through our zoning ordinances) we are to ensure that new/re-development projects contribute to its goals.

Budget & Taxes:
Building and passing the annual City Budget, which determines the tax rate and thus the amount of property tax each residential and business property owner must contribute to running our City, is among the most important of the Council's responsibilities. In 2007, Portsmouth is an extremely well-run City with a good school system, many amenities, a much-improved infrastructure, and many government services - that is, services provided to or at least available to all, paid for by all. Everything costs money. It is certainly the Council's job to see that - under the management of our excellent City Manager - public resources are used efficiently and effectively. During the past two terms we’ve made strong progress toward a transition to "outcome-based budgeting," focusing our analysis and discussion during the annual budget-building process on the performance and results achieved by each City department - and allocating limited resources among those most important to residents.

Sustainability:
The inspiring natural beauty and healthy environment of the Seacoast are a big part of what make it such a special place to live, and we take these resources for granted at our peril. In fact, nowhere is it more true than in New Hampshire that (to borrow a phrase from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), "the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment." Sustainability means ensuring that economic and social progress are achieved in harmony with, rather than at the expense of, the environment. In practice, it means maximizing energy efficiency and transitioning to use of renewable energy, minimizing waste through source reduction and extensive recycling (and use of recycled products), "greening" our buildings, and improving our transportation systems to make bicycling and walking viable alternatives to the automobile.

Maintaining Portsmouth's Special Character:
Unique, locally owned businesses are an integral part of the character of our downtown and an important part of the entire city's economy. While the City can't give these businesses property tax discounts (per the State Constitution) or control the rents their landlords charge, we should strive to ensure that City ordinances and fees don't make it any tougher than it already is for them to succeed in a world of franchises and Internet shopping.

Education:
I'm a product of public schools (in West Springfield, MA), and I have three children (a toddler, first grader and third grader), all of whom will go to Portsmouth public schools. I'm as strong a believer in - and supporter of - public education as you'll ever find. But supporting public education has to mean more than just spending a lot of money on it. We have to demand that our elected School Committee and School Administrators work at measuring, documenting, and reporting to the community how they're doing, how our students are doing - their successes, where they can improve, and how they're going to do it. Portsmouth currently ranks near the top in the state of NH on spending per student - but our student achievement is closer to average. I also know there's far more to measuring educational success than test scores. I'm looking for our School Committee, and the conversation between the School Committee, Administrators, and parents, to move toward how we are judging and measuring our success, tracking our progress from year to year, and shifting effort and targeting resources (including new resources) to ensure continuous improvement.

Workforce Housing:
I believe our greatest challenge with respect to workforce housing is reconciling our OWN We currently have requirements for minimum street frontage, maximum % of lot coverage, lot line setbacks, required parking spaces, etc., that strongly discourage smaller, multiple dwellings or multifamily dwellings. We need to change both what is required and allowed, and creatively design some incentives for developers to build smaller, more affordable and/or multi-family units.

Transportation:
During my time on the Council, I have been its leading advocate for making Portsmouth a more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly city. As small as Portsmouth is, it ought to be a mecca of cycling and walking as legitimate means of transportation; I will insist that our next Capital Improvement Plan include striped bicycle lanes on major City arteries so that cycling is officially recognized and given safe space on the roads, and continues to improve sidewalks and the configuration of intersections to make pedestrians feel safe. And again, we must get creative with zoning ordinances - for example, developers of office space should be incented to provide covered, secure bicycle parking and a locker room with showers for employees, by allowing a reduction in parking space requirements. I’ll ask the City to explore the prospect of Zipcar (an Internet-operated, neighborhood-based, by-the-hour car rental business) serving Portsmouth, to enable renters in our most dense neighborhoods to forego car ownership.