Last week, the local activist and Maine law graduate Marpheen Chann announced his grassroots effort to run for Portland's City Council, representing District 5 (Deering Center, North Deering, Riverton), a seat currently occupied by David Brenerman. He's running against Kim Cook, who runs a government relations firm, and Craig Dorais, a patent attorney. As a first generation Asian-American and member of the LGBTQ community with real-world experience, Chann says he's uniquely poised to tackle some to the social issues the city faces. A big goal for him is to be a different kind of public servant, one that engages in difficult conversations, and actually listens to the plight of voters across the political spectrum.
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