Public Service
First elected in 2003 to the Portsmouth City Council, Marchand served on the City Council from 2003–2005 and was re-elected in 2005. He received the highest numbers of votes in this election, making him Mayor of Portsmouth. Since then, he has been a leader on increasing accountability in government and restraining tax increases. He reformed the city's budget process into an "outcome-based" model, emphasizing transparency, public input, and results-based policy-making to deliver the city's goals quickly and efficiently.
Under Mayor Marchand, the City of Portsmouth has become a national leader in 21st century green energy policy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving energy, and saving taxpayers money.
With Save Our Shipyard, Steve fought to save the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard from the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005.
Marchand was the co-chair of City Year's 2007 national convention.
On November 16, 2010, Marchand held a No Labels gathering of over 100 people at his home.
Read more about this topic: Steve Marchand
Famous quotes related to public service:
“Many older wealthy families have learned to instill a sense of public service in their offspring. But newly affluent middle-class parents have not acquired this skill. We are using our children as symbols of leisure-class standing without building in safeguards against an overweening sense of entitlement—a sense of entitlement that may incline some young people more toward the good life than toward the hard work that, for most of us, makes the good life possible.”
—David Elkind (20th century)