Hoping to build on the ballot wins of the 2020 People First Portland campaign that passed rent control, green housing standards and a $15 minimum wage, the Maine Democratic Socialists of America are now collecting signatures for a new slate of referenda aimed at making Maine’s largest city more accessible to working Portlanders.
Maine DSA has taken out papers in Portland for four ballot initiatives. They include raising the minimum wage in the city to $18 an hour, strengthening tenant protections and regulating short-term rentals and cruise ships.
“These referenda are a bid to make the city that we love and reside in livable: not only for business owners, not only for landlords, developers, and seasonal residents, not only for the 1%, not only for tourists,” wrote the volunteer leaders of the new “Campaign for a Livable Portland” in a June 2 post on Maine DSA’s Pine & Roses news site.
The campaign springs from a lack of action by the Portland City Council, the organizers say, on the rising cost of living in the city due to inflation and soaring home prices.
“We haven’t seen a ton of action from the council in terms of workers rights, or housing, or tenant rights, or the environment,” said Wes Pelletier, one of the organizers for the Livable Portland campaign. “It’s important for us to hold that line and make sure that Portland is pushing forward on these things, rather than just sitting around and allowing the status quo.”
An $18 minimum wage
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