SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011
Snowe removal? Tea party hopes so
VOL. 3 NO. 8
PORTLAND, ME
PORTLAND’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
699-5801
FREE
Gray matter s
See Bob Higgins’ column on page 4
Gray ends 41-year career at City Hall BY CASEY CONLEY THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
Anyone who has followed city politics over the last decade probably knows Joe Gray as Portland’s city manager, but longtime residents might remember him for reshaping much of the city’s West End almost 40 years ago. Gray, now 66, was fresh out of graduate school when he took a job with the city’s planning office in 1969. One of his first assignments was with Model Cities, an urban redevelopment program funded as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society.” Gray recalls leading a campaign to buy property on Brackett and Clark streets and helping relocate the residents to make way for the Reiche School and community center. He was also instrumental in the Danforth Heights housing development and for converting several former schools into housing. If things had gone according to plan, those projects might have been the extent of his local legacy. Gray, who grew up in Rhode Island, says he never intended to stay in Portland for his entire career. But instead of leaving for a bigger city, Gray met a girl, got married, and settled down. Gray spent more than 30 years in the planning office, where he helped draft planing documents for the city’s downtown, Bayside, and parts of the waterfront. He became city manager in 2001. In that capacity, Gray wrote
Rockin’ with Jose Ayerve See Mark Curdo, page 4
The Port City Chronicle returns See Heidi Wendel’s continuing saga on page 5
Homemade Valentine Goodies • Hand-rolled chocolate truffles • Assorted cupkakes • Chocolate brownie hearts smothered in chocolate ganache • Peanut butter bon-bons • Assorted cakes and treats
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Departing city manager, Joe Gray, speaks to the public at Portland City Hall Friday. (MATT DODGE PHOTO)
New report documents Peaks secession case BY CURTIS ROBINSON THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
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see GRAY page 19
A new Peaks Island Council cost of living report, scheduled for release Monday, will call for a property tax freeze for islanders and eventual formation of a town separate from municipal Portland, The Daily Sun has learned. The island council, an elected advisory board, created the “Peaks Island Cost of Living Task Force” last year and the group’s report is dated December 2010. The document is expected to boost
secession efforts, but one person familiar with the report predicted that its credibility will come under attack because the council is seen as pro-secession. “Will it change anyone’s mind?” the person said Friday, under condition they not be identified by name because it was unclear when the report would be distributed. “Not if they really want to remain part of Portland, but for the undecided it might be really important.” see PEAKS page 9
Peaks Island is viewed from an approaching ferry. (FILE PHOTO)