Ward 5 candidate
William “Bill”
McCann
Age: 62, Dover res. 62 yrs.
Occupation: retired state employee, environmental consultant
Public Experience: School Board, State Legislature, Conservation Comm.

Age: 62       

Occupation: Retired State Employee, Environmental Consultant

How long have you lived in Dover? 62 years

Have you served on any boards, councils or committees? School Board for a little over 20 non-consecutive years, State Legislature from 1986 to 1998, Current member of the Conservation Commission.

As Dover becomes a more desirable place to live, how can the city keep it an affordable place for low-income residents?  

What we need to do is be resourceful and a good example of that is the waterfront development. It’s taking a piece of land that produces no revenue and it’s going to bring in tax revenue without a lot of cost to the city. We need to conserve Dover in the sense that we don’t want to keep having development where the benefit only goes to the developer and not to the community. We need to look at what is being approved in the community and also look at the environmental impact it will have. It’s in our best interest to stabilize our growth. 

What have you accomplished for Dover that you are most proud of and what would you like to accomplish if you are elected?

I’ve been an elected official for more then 25 years. The thing that I worked hardest for was enabling legislation so that Dover could have impact fees on development. We need to make sure developers pay their fair share. We have to start doing more of a cost benefit analysis and that is why when I ran for the legislature.

What is an important environmental issue facing Dover?

There are several. Obviously the one that’s getting the most attention is Willand pond, but that is more of a symptom of a bigger problem. We need to be looking at protecting the aquifers that supply Dover’s wells. We need to preserve our natural resources and water is key. We don’t live here in a vacuum and we need to recognize that these resources have limits.

What is the most recent cultural or artistic event that you have attended in Dover?

The Friday night concerts at Henry Law Park.

What type of new businesses would you like to see come to Dover?

I would like to see small retail, like what they’re talking about for the waterfront, something that does provide reasonable jobs and low cost of living. I think we’ve kind of saturated the market for big businesses, like Liberty Mutual and Measured Progress. It goes back to how much open space do we want to give up for large office buildings and parking lots. With small retail, the demands for our space and resources aren’t as great. I’m not a member of the Open Lands Committee, but I am a member of the Conservation Commission and that’s what we need to do. I’ve lived here all my life and I don’t want to see it become one massive development. There are certain aspects of the community that we want to keep and I think we want to have our developments be reasonable and not be these mega-complexes. We need to be creative to bring in development that doesn’t stretch our resources.

Do you support a tax cap for Dover?   

I have concerns about the existing proposal on the ballot. Philosophically I don’t think there is anything wrong with a tax cap, but the one written is not tight enough. The proponents are expecting it to be the best thing since sliced bread and the opponents think it’s going to ruin the city. If its done right, I think that something in the middle is going to happen. There is a balancing point.

Dover has a growing art community. What can the city do to support arts and artists?