Robert J. O'Brien

Robert’s professional background spans public policy, urban planning, and economic development. He has worked in a municipal planning office, consulted on a municipal comprehensive plan, staffed a statewide chapter of the National Main Street Center, and directed community development efforts on broadband, housing, and economic redevelopment in towns that lost an industrial anchor. Robert was most recently a senior economic development manager at a regional economic development district, where he convened federal, state, local, and corporate representatives around the prospective redevelopment of a defunct paper mill.

Robert holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Maine System, and has held elected office three times, once for the school board and twice for separate charter commissions. He currently serves on his city’s historic preservation board, overseeing applications for both commercial and residential construction in sensitive districts. Robert is lobbying to expand the state historic tax credits in Maine to small commercial properties and residences.