Portland city councilor won't seek reelection

Portland city councilor won't seek reelection

Portland City Councilor Dan Skolnik announced this afternoon his decision not to seek re-election. Skolnik announced in a press release he would not run because he could not devote himself to the job.

HISTORY:

Portland, Maine Moving in on Gun Rights
Court's gun ruling has both sides pondering effect

Dan Skolnik, the chairman of the city's public safety committee, acknowledged that gun rights advocates scored a big win Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment right to bear arms extends to city and state ordinances as well as federal laws.

"Gun rights advocates won a victory today against government overreaching. And advocates of gun restrictions know better how to proceed in that cause," said Skolnik, a Portland City Councilor and chairman of the council's public safety committee, reacting to the 5-4 ruling, the first of its kind to fully extend Second Amendment rights to cities and states.

But Skolnik was not backing away from efforts to curtail open carrying of weapons in Portland, saying he planned to meet with the police chief and other officials about what to do next.

READ MORE

Maine CWP Training said:

Portland city councilor won't seek reelection

Portland City Councilor Dan Skolnik announced this afternoon his decision not to seek re-election. Skolnik announced in a press release he would not run because he could not devote himself to the job.

HISTORY:

Portland, Maine Moving in on Gun Rights
Court's gun ruling has both sides pondering effect

Dan Skolnik, the chairman of the city's public safety committee, acknowledged that gun rights advocates scored a big win Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment right to bear arms extends to city and state ordinances as well as federal laws.

"Gun rights advocates won a victory today against government overreaching. And advocates of gun restrictions know better how to proceed in that cause," said Skolnik, a Portland City Councilor and chairman of the council's public safety committee, reacting to the 5-4 ruling, the first of its kind to fully extend Second Amendment rights to cities and states.

But Skolnik was not backing away from efforts to curtail open carrying of weapons in Portland, saying he planned to meet with the police chief and other officials about what to do next.

READ MORE

Click to expand...

One word for Skolnik and the police chief to remember when they meet looking for a way to curtain OC - PREEMPTION!

well, one less anti-gun out of the picture!

That guy is a worm, best thing for the city of portland.

damienrr said:

That guy is a worm, best thing for the city of portland.

Click to expand...

remembered pasword?

This is definitely a win for The Maine Open Carry Association. He was our most outspoken critic and by the looks of it, it cost him his job.

The Simpsons police chief

Hopefully chief Wiggam will resign!

He may be stepping down from entering himself as a re-election candidate, but I doubt we've heard the last of him.

Not seeking another term, Skolnik eyes agenda

By Curtis Robinson
Editor
curtis@portlanddailysun.me

Even dedicated city observers have not heard councilor Dan Skolnik's plan for a new City Hall technology directive, likely including transparency initiatives like webcasting committee meetings, but that's not because he's become suddenly shy.

He was just saving that as a likely "second term priority."

But when the son of Maine political icon, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Libby Mitchell decided to run for Skolnik's District 3 seat, coupled with another strong candidate, Skolnik explains he did some time-management thinking and nixed a re-election effort.

A lawyer, he expects two civil trial in the coming months and has just launched a fan memorabilia website, where he serves as CEO.

"It really forced me to reassess," said Skolnik in an interview this week. "I think that I could have won, but that opponent would have been tapped into a much larger operation that would have been formidable. It made the race much more difficult, and it called for a deeper time commitment."

Will Mitchell is making his first run for elected office, but his mother is the first woman to be both speaker of Maine House of Representatives and President of the state senate. If she wins in November, she will complete the gender trifecta, becoming the state's first female governor.

Skolnik said in talking to supporters and even some not-so-much supporters, he "saw what was right in front of my face" and decided not to seek re-election. He will complete his first term in December, and is moving up issues that might have remained on the back burner had he sought a second term.

But he's not forgotten that the clock is also ticking on some high-profile issues.
Skolnik says he will "quickly" ask for a city resolution calling upon Augusta to pass gun-control enabling legislation. In turn, he hopes to overcome current policy that allows "open carry" of firearms in most Maine locations. "We'll have to nail down details," he said, adding that gun control in Portland enjoys significant council support.

City police and firefighter compensation is also on the Skolnik agenda. He says serving as chairman of the city's public safety committee has made him keenly aware of the impacts that municipal budget cutbacks have had on first responders, leaving him worried. "We're not prepared" for likely crime increases, he said, and dealing with funding is important to getting ready.

He also listed other fairly well-known issues for short-term progress, like the ongoing effort to create a Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial (design finalists are expected to be chosen in September or October) and the Dougherty Field renovation.

But the biggest change in his policy agenda may come with technology, and he expects some push-back.

"There are some forces involved that don't want to open the gates on that issue," he said, adding that "gatekeepers" of information may not want to make that easily accessible.

Skolnik sees a day when virtually every city meeting is available on the Internet in real time, then archived into a searchable archive. To speed that process, he said, he will ask the city council for a set of firm directives to accomplish transparency projects.

He noted that he's not exactly pushed that idea because "I was thinking of it as a second-term priority."

READ MORE

Dupe

Maine CWP Training said:

Not seeking another term, Skolnik eyes agenda

By Curtis Robinson
Editor
curtis@portlanddailysun.me

But he's not forgotten that the clock is also ticking on some high-profile issues.
Skolnik says he will "quickly" ask for a city resolution calling upon Augusta to pass gun-control enabling legislation. In turn, he hopes to overcome current policy that allows "open carry" of firearms in most Maine locations. "We'll have to nail down details," he said, adding that gun control in Portland enjoys significant council support.

City police and firefighter compensation is also on the Skolnik agenda. He says serving as chairman of the city's public safety committee has made him keenly aware of the impacts that municipal budget cutbacks have had on first responders, leaving him worried. "We're not prepared" for likely crime increases, he said, and dealing with funding is important to getting ready.

READ MORE

Click to expand...

It seems that even he realizes that taking people's guns away will lead to increases in crime. LOL

boyscout399 said:

It seems that even he realizes that taking people's guns away will lead to increases in crime. LOL

Click to expand...

Of course he does. But none of this has anything to do with facts or reason. It's just about pushing his irrational fear-mongering agenda. Guns are evil, don't you see, and if we just make them all illegal then all those scary criminals will turn them right over to the PD and we can all make yummy smores over the furnaces while they melt them down into metal to build playgrounds.

Sorry, my sarcasm gland kicked into high gear.

ep0k said:

Of course he does. But none of this has anything to do with facts or reason. It's just about pushing his irrational fear-mongering agenda. Guns are evil, don't you see, and if we just make them all illegal then all those scary criminals will turn them right over to the PD and we can all make yummy smores over the furnaces while they melt them down into metal to build playgrounds.

Sorry, my sarcasm gland kicked into high gear.

Click to expand...

Take two .45ACPs and call me in the morning if you do not feel better.

Grapeshot said:

Take two .45ACPs and call me in the morning if you do not feel better.

Click to expand...

Been considering getting a .45, actually. Working with my old Bersa .380 compact from my CC days and sometimes I get caliber envy.

Originally Posted by Grapeshot
Take two .45ACPs and call me in the morning if you do not feel better.

Click to expand...

ep0k said:

Been considering getting a .45, actually. Working with my old Bersa .380 compact from my CC days and sometimes I get caliber envy.

Click to expand...

There are great preventative medicine - see Rx by Dr. Browning.

boyscout399 said:

It seems that even he realizes that taking people's guns away will lead to increases in crime. LOL

Click to expand...

These are the people running our towns, cities, states and country! Scares the hell out of me. God help us all.