Gloucester City Council Candidates Answer GCACC Government Affairs Council Questions
The Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce strives to educate and inform the community surrounding our local elections. The Chamber recently invited each Gloucester City Council candidate to submit responses to the following questions developed by our Government Affairs Council.
Below are the five questions asked:
- Please share your vision on how you would work to preserve and further the revitalization of Gloucester’s downtown and villages (including Magnolia, Lanesville, and Rocky Neck). Specifically:
- How would you combat the rise in vacant storefronts and what creative ideas do you have for the city to support the local business community
- Please share your vision to make Gloucester more welcoming and accessible for residents and visitors to support and encourage shopping and dining locally.
- We live in an increasingly divisive and polarizing time, often focusing on our differences and barriers to getting initiatives through. How will you work together with your fellow City Councilors to get initiatives passed. Please include specific examples.
- Gloucester’s economy is reliant on traditional fishing and maritime economy, arts, tourism, and culture as well as a growing bio-life sciences economy. How can the city, and you as your role in City Council, support the balance of traditional industries in our city as well as welcome and develop new business. Please provide specific examples
- Many businesses in our community struggle to attract and retain workers because there simply isn’t enough affordable housing available nearby. What specific steps would you take to encourage the creation of more workforce housing options—particularly approaches that update or rethink current local rules to make it easier to build the kinds of housing our workers need?
- Gloucester’s business base as a share of the overall tax base has significantly decreased over the last 25 years. With the majority representing small independent businesses incurring the burden of the current system, would you support eliminating the differential tax rate imposed on businesses?
Please click the links below to view candidate responses within each race. If a link is not present, the candidate did not submit a response.
At Large
- Tony Gross – incumbent Download Responses
- Jason Grow – incumbent
- Hannah Kennedy Download Responses
- Patti-Ann Page Download Responses
- Baranaby Prendergast Download Responses
- Shawn McQueeny Download Responses
Ward 1
- Scott Memhard – incumbent
- Tracy O’Neil
Ward 2
- Dylan Benson – incumbent Download Responses
- Donald Tgettis
Ward 3
- Marjorie Grace – incumbent Download Responses
- Joe Orlando
