
John McDaid
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22-year career in corporate project management and communications technology
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12 years teaching college communications and media at Roger Williams University, NYU, and elsewhere
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B.A., The New School; M.F.A., Salve Regina University; doctoral work in media ecology at NYU under Neil Postman
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Portsmouth service: two Charter Review Committees, Conservation Commission, School District Technology Committee
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Award-winning science fiction author; first novel noted by Robert Coover in the New York Times
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Working journalist: credentialed coverage of two Democratic National Conventions and the UN Climate Summit; reviews Rhode Island theater for BroadwayWorld.com
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Spouse: Karen; son: Jack (PHS '18)
Why I am running
I'm a third-generation Portsmouth resident — my grandparents bought our cottage in Island Park in 1925, and Karen and I raised our son Jack here. For nearly three decades I've given back to the town I love by volunteering on a variety of committees. I've watched the current Council struggle — dithering on decisions that needed clear thinking, revisiting votes that should have stayed settled. Portsmouth deserves better. I want to bring what I've learned from a 20-year career in corporate project management and my current role in academia to help re-align the Council with the people it serves.
