Steven Boucher
THREE-YEAR TERM, BAR HARBOR TOWN COUNCIL
Hello! My name is Steve Boucher and I am real estate broker at Acadia Cornerstone Real Estate based here in Bar Harbor, where I reside with my fiancée, Amanda, and my seven-year-old son, Kieran, who is in first grade at Connor’s Emerson. I’m a proud father, cancer survivor and dog lover, we share our home with our two “enthusiastic” pups, Monty and Milo.
Originally from Seal Harbor and Northeast Harbor, I have developed a deep connection to the local community over the years. With over 12 years of experience in real estate, I have owned and managed several rental properties while also working in sales. From this work I have gained an extensive knowledge of local land use rules and applications as well as the wants and needs regarding housing within the local community.
Beyond my real estate career, a passion of mine is local volunteerism. I currently serve on the boards of the MDI/YMCA and the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce. In the past, I have held leadership positions as president of the Bar Harbor (MDI) Rotary Club (also still an active member), vice president of Kids Corner, vice president of the 1932 Criterion Theatre, and vice president of The Bar Harbor Kids Book Festival. I would like to hope that my contributions to these organizations are a testament to helping better my community and provide an example of civil stewardship for my son.
In addition to my volunteer work, I am currently in my second term serving on the Bar Harbor Warrant Committee, where I am an active member of our protections subcommittee.
A lover of all things outdoors, I treasure time in Acadia National Park, where I enjoy biking and hiking with my family whenever possible.
THE QUESTIONS:
Why are you running?
I am eager to continue my journey of service to our community because I believe this is a unique place that requires thoughtful balance as we shape the future of our town. I have always reminded myself that if I choose to stay and raise my family here, I must invest in and contribute to our community to the best of my ability.
On a personal level, as I mentioned in my biography, I aspire to be a role model for my son. I want to create a legacy of stewardship and foster an environment in our town that he can be proud of as he grows.
There are a lot of issues currently that people talk about in Bar Harbor. But, if you had one local issue that matters to you more than any other, what would it be and why?
If there is anything that I could wave a magic wand and fix, it would be the communication that takes place between the town and our voters. I think a lot of our troubles stem from how polarized our community is and the concerns about making sure that everyone receives exactly what they want from the town and that’s just not a viable or realistic approach.
We need to respect our differences and find a way to meet each other halfway on all of the current issues. There is no perfect deal for either side. Concessions need to be made and understood by everyone so that we have a community where people feel heard. There needs to be a balance.
I realize this is easier said than done. But if we can work towards a little less “us vs. them” and focus more on “together” and the middle ground, then we can have a clearer path towards equitable solutions.
What is something you love about Bar Harbor that people might not notice enough?
I love our diversity here. The town is such a melting pot of society. We have the seasoned local fishermen and tradespeople that have worked and been here all their lives, people from higher institutes of education like the COA, The Jackson Lab, and MDI Biological Laboratory. We also have folks from Acadia National Park and many local artisans and business owners. There are so many different walks of life and experiences that we can learn and draw from. Outside of being next to a national park, I truly believe our community itself makes us most unique!
What skills do you bring to the table that you think only you can bring?
Negotiations. I spend much of my time negotiating and advocating for clients as part of my job. As I mentioned above, I think we should start to draw on the idea that we can’t necessarily have it all and take a more balanced type of approach where all parties walk away feeling heard.
If you could make one change to Bar Harbor tomorrow, what would it be?
I love our town as is! I think we’ll always need some nip and tuck as we move through the years. But I’m not sure there is much I would want to change overall. There are some infrastructure items like some of our side streets I would like to see improved, but not one particular big change at this moment. How about winter? Can we make winter shorter for our town?
What is your stance on short-term rentals, specifically now that VR2s are capped and decreasing while VR1s are on the rise? Do you have general thoughts about any potential ways to increase affordable housing in the area?
As far as I’m concerned, short-term rentals seemed to be fairly managed going forward with regulations in place for the future. However, I feel there has not been any compelling data that I’ve seen that has shown capping VR2s has provided more affordable housing, but the people have spoken. It’s unfortunate because I believe there were opportunities to leverage this in a way to actually create affordable housing. For instance, incentivizing builders to build multi-units by allowing say for example one VR2 for every four units they build. But again, the people have made their feelings known and we are moving forward.
As far as increasing affordable housing, we need to build it. How we do that is obviously more nuanced and there are many amazing citizens that have been gathering recently to work toward this.
I think the town is on the right trajectory currently by starting to consider increasing density in the village areas. Other specifics could be but not limited to, increasing building heights, decreasing the square-foot-per-family requirements, minimum road frontage … etc.
There are also forty zones in this town which seems a bit cumbersome for our size. We definitely have not made it easy in the past to provide affordable housing but I do understand plans are being worked on to alleviate this and I look forward to the opportunity to be part of that process.
With the hospital’s recent announcement of its closure of its maternity wing, what are your thoughts about healthcare and any links to the town’s role (if any) in ensuring that services continue?
This obviously is unfortunate all around. The maternity unit to me is a vital part of this community. In my opinion it’s a badge of honor to say you were born here and to no longer have that opportunity for new families is disappointing to say the least. However, having worked with many organizations with budgets, I do understand that sometimes you have to make tough decisions.
At the end of the day, the hospital is a private organization and is mostly outside the purview of the council. The council has a lot on its plate already without trying to control things that it can’t. We as citizens though, need to be loud and continue to make ourselves heard by hospital officials if we want things changed.
Do you think Bar Harbor is a thriving community? How would you define that?
I do think we are thriving. Despite all of the major issues the town has wrangled with over the last few years, Bar Harbor still remains one of the most desirable areas in the country. As far as defining that, I would start with looking at how we are doing economically and socially, as both are symbiotic to our culture. Having a balance of both is healthy. Infrastructure wise, we have Main Street and the new school project ongoing, business and accommodations numbers are steady. Most of our non-profits appear to be thriving; the library is expanding, YMCA use and membership is up, just as a few examples. Overall, people still desire to be part of this community.
I think that sometimes people see the headlines regarding the hot button issues (cruise ships/moratoriums … etc.) and feel a little out of control. These types of issues have always been there and always will; they are just now amplified because of social media and people being able to comment in real time. I try to look past that and look at the tangible results when gauging how well we are doing.
This year the town stands to give almost $500,000 to two nonprofit entities (the Jesup and the YMCA). Do you agree with the current application process for nonprofits? If not, what would you change? Is there anything you would change about the budget process itself?
Having served on the warrant committee through several budget years, I find the application process to be thorough and concise. Between the council and the warrant members there is a plenty of oversight as to how any funds are allocated.
Bar Harbor’s been recently talking about solid waste issues. Do you have thoughts about changes to that?
I know that I’m not for adding any extra out of pocket costs to our taxpayers. I think our best bet would be to establish a comprehensive recycling program. Possibly we could draw from community resources like the COA to help create said program. The amount of food waste in the summer alone being recycled could create a huge relief towards the tonnage we end up disposing of.
How would you try to create more trust and transparency between people and the town?
It’s two sided. People have to should feel heard and included, but people also need to be accountable and want to be part of the process. How as a council do we do our part and try to engage citizens and have them feel like they have an equal share? I actually think the current council has done well in this area.
You need to provide spaces for citizens to be heard which I feel like there are many forums and citizens led working groups. The amount of outreach and literature for the new comp plan has been commendable. I do think working closer with open data initiatives may help. This would include making it easier for citizens to access real time data and demographics about the town. They can also increase awareness using social media especially as we try to engage our younger generation of citizens. There are a lot of folks that I run into that missed attending or listening to meetings because they were not aware when they took place. I realize this is listed publicly in the paper and on our website but more and more people everyday are using social media to stay updated on news in real time.