Former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives John Richardson talks politics on TideSmart Talk with Stevoe.<\/p><\/div>\n
John Richardson has represented Maine for more than a decade in a number of\u00a0critical roles. During his eight years in the House of Representatives, Richardson
\nsecured bonds for economic development and led the effort to pass a $12 million\u00a0bond to stimulate affordable housing in\u00a0southern\u00a0and mid-coast Maine, and he\u00a0also led the effort to create a Patient Bill of Rights.<\/p>\n
In 2002, Richardson was elected House Majority Leader, where he was the\u00a0spokesperson for the House Democratic caucus. Richardson was elected\u00a0Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2005, where he led efforts to eliminate a $1 billion budget deficit and reform the Business Equipment Tax\u00a0Reimbursement law to help small businesses and encourage job creation.<\/p>\n
During his time in the House of Representatives, Richardson earned a reputation
\nas a consensus builder, helping to end a long stretch of partisan budget battles.<\/p>\n
In 2007, Richardson was named Commissioner of the Department of Economic
\nand Community Development. In his two and a half years as commissioner, he
\nfought to stimulate economic growth by cutting red tape and improving
\ncommunication between organizations that drive Maine\u2019s economic development.
\nAs commissioner, Richardson bolstered community development, Maine tourism
\nand international trade.<\/p>\n
Richardson ran for governor in 2010, and says he relished the experience of connecting with Mainers during his campaign.<\/p>\n
“The most gratifying thing for me was the ability to get out and see all of Maine and talk to…people and understand exactly what Maine people wanted me to do if I were elected,” the Brunswick resident says.<\/p>\n
Richardson also talks about his family history of public service, the Maine work ethic, qualities of effective leadership and a secret weapon on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Show 7 features two Maine thought-leaders with an eye towards the future of the state. Phil Coupe, co-founder of ReVision Energy joins TideSmart Talk with Stevoe to speak to what he has done for Maine and New Hampshire’s energy future by developing solar electricity systems for homes, businesses, schools and non-profits. In the second hour, Stevoe is joined by former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives John Richardson. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tidesmartradio.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tidesmartradio.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tidesmartradio.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tidesmartradio.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tidesmartradio.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tidesmartradio.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tidesmartradio.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tidesmartradio.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tidesmartradio.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}