MAINE MORNING STAR • October 3, 2024
Mainers are contending with the impacts of climate change, housing shortages and population growth. Gov. Janet Mills announced on Thursday a new official who will be tasked with unlocking future opportunities to support local communities in addressing these complex challenges. Mills selected Samantha Horn, an expert in land use and natural resource policy and planning, to serve as director of a new office called the Maine Office of Community Affairs, funding for which was included in the supplemental budget passed this spring. Horn currently runs her own consulting business and has worked in natural resource policy and planning for three decades, including as director of science for The Nature Conservancy in Maine and as a division manager for the Maine Land Use Planning Commission.