John “Jack” Blalock
Age: 55, yrs. in Portsmouth: 50
Occupation: Old Ferry Landing (owner)
Public Experience: chair of Zoning Board of Adjustment

-What can be done to provide affordable housing for working families and people with moderate incomes?

That’s a difficult question in Portsmouth, just because the price of our property has skyrocketed since I’ve lived here, which is a long time, and the average space to create affordable housing is very limited. So, it would have to be some sort of initiative using public and private resources to see where affordable income housing could be located. It is certainly necessary.

-What would you do to manage growth in the city’s Northern Tier?

The only way the city can manage the growth is through zoning ordinances. If the growth becomes too overwhelming, then altering the Master Plan or zoning ordinances to set limits would be necessary.

-What kind of new businesses would you like to see opening in Portsmouth?

Certainly, downtown we a grocery store and a pharmacy. Those are the two things I hear downtown residents say they don’t have. But, I think Portsmouth is pretty diverse at the time. We’re not depending on any one economic sector, so our businesses are diverse.

-What would you do to promote sustainable practices and green building in the city?

Each opportunity for a public building, you’d have to look at weighing the cost of the green building and making sure that it can sustain for the future so that we’re not robbing the resources from our future generations. We have to balance the costs and maintain building that is friendly for the economy and the environment.

-What was the last cultural or artistic event you attended in Portsmouth?

That’s easy, the Telluride by the Sea film festival.

-It was largely the artistic community that made Portsmouth a popular destination, but now most artists will tell you that they cannot afford to live or work here. Have we killed the goose that laid the golden egg?

It’s hard to say we’ve killed it. Certainly, the arts have made Portsmouth an interesting community, and I think the more successful artists are the ones that still remain. But, that’s where we have to be careful. We have to take every measure we can so that everyone, artists and residents alike, can afford to live here.