Charlotte Gordon says her grandmother is her inspiration when it comes to politics while she sat down for an exclusive discussion with our Betty Smith. The Second Ward Portsmouth City Council Representative was appointed to her after Jo Ann Aeh resigned. Then she ran as a write-in candidate and was elected to the position. Gordon says she respects Aeh tremendously. “I knew right away the learning curve was steep but I was very interested in continuing that.”
Gordon says she grew up with a grandmother born in 1899 who told her a lot about the history of Suffragette movement. “There were women who suffered and died and were tortured and beaten to fight for our right to vote. She always made me promise to not just vote but to have an informed vote.”
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Gordon says she makes it a policy to listen to all sides of every issue. “Oftentimes there’s more than just two sides to a story. Most issues are multi-faceted.” Gordon says listening to all points of view can make the decision process more difficult but it’s worth it.”
But even though she’s a new kid on the block, Gordon is not laying low in Portsmouth City Council meetings. She’s ready to ask the hard questions on issues like unpaid back taxes. “We are a city on fiscal watch. It’s not just a matter of cutting, cutting, cutting. It’s a matter of exploring what other revenues are there?” She admits that she sometimes thinks out loud at council meetings and that sometimes gets her into trouble.
The councilwoman says she pressed hard on the tax issue because 59% of property taxes go to schools. “Those schools need every one of those dollars.” She admits that she realizes it can be hard to collect unpaid taxes. “But it seems like it’s a really exorbitant amount owed in back taxes. When there’s no enforcement there’s no incentive to follow the rules.”
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She says the goal is to boost revenue to get the city out of fiscal watch without raising taxes. She says the city is on the upswing financially and not it’s city council’s job to be ‘amazingly good stewards’ to keep things headed in the right direction. “I spend an inordinate amount of time going through budgets.”
She says City Manager Sam Sutherland has done an amazing job. “I take my hat off to him. What I really have enjoyed about the city council is this team feeling. We’re in this together.” She says the varied backgrounds and perspectives of council members help them bring good ideas to the table. “There’s not a lot of posturing. There’s no grandstanding. We’re all very sincere.”