Merton “Skip” Mobbs
Age: 68, yrs. in Portsmouth: 68
Occupation: retired; former master instructor for the Air Force; bartender; assistant manager at K-Mart
Public Experience: service officer for the American Legion in Portsmouth

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

To take the normal working person and keep them in mind when they keep passing different legislation. These people have come to Portsmouth and worked to build it up, and, for the most part, they’ve been moved right out. They’ve raised the rents so high that they’ve had to go to different areas to live, and I never agreed with that at all. They destroyed the housing at Pease, and that was much better housing than what they had at the Wentworth Acres at the time. I never understood why they destroyed that housing out there.

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

Take the cars away from the people and take public transportation. Islington and Lafayette should not have people out there with their cars aimed at pedestrians. Adding public transportation would be the only option, the only thing I can see that would work.

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

I’d like to see more businesses for the children. When I was a kid in Portsmouth, we had a YMCA right in town. We had an active community center. We had an active CYO (Catholic Youth Organization). They have nothing now.

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

I’m not too familiar with green buildings. I know the library is a green building, but I’m really not that familiar with it.

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

Probably the plays down at Prescott Park. I took my grandson to The Music Hall to see that TV show there a couple years ago. It’s difficult for me to go to things like that anyway, because a couple of years ago they snatched one of my legs, and it’s very difficult to get into a lot of these places. They’re not handicap accessible. It’s disgusting, as far as I’m concerned.

-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?

Probably. That’s true. Portsmouth has produced a lot of actors and actresses. Ilene Woods was the voice of Cinderella. Every kid knows Cinderella, and she was from Portsmouth. I think that’s fantastic. She was allowed to grow here and become what she was and sing on the radio, and she got plucked and sent to Hollywood. She’s back here now. She’s in her 80s. She’s led a good life. She was from Portsmouth. She got her training here. That’s an isolated case, but there are things that I remember about the talents that we’ve had in Portsmouth. I don’t remember anybody lately.