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Another leading man
Before lawmakers return for today’s special session, we need to clear up some confusion. There are two minority leaders in the Maine House of Representatives.
Fredette fulfilled the role of House minority leader for his party since 2012. We’ve come to refer to him as “House Minority Leader Ken Fredette” since his caucus — which now includes 70 House Republicans — picked him for that role.
But another House member now lays claim to the title of “House minority leader.” It’s not a challenge to Fredette. It’s a call for affirmation from the House’s only voting member of the Green Independent Party. Rep. Ralph Chapman of Brooksville quit the Maine Democratic Party in 2017 and later enrolled as a Green. He now identifies as “Minority Leader, Green Independent Party” on stationery that, appropriately, lists that title in green font.
Rep. Henry Bear is also registered as Green Independent, but as a tribal representative, he is a non-voting member of the Legislature.
Term limits prevent Chapman from seeking re-election, so today’s session and an ensuing veto day will likely be his last chances to demonstrate his leadership skills on the floor of the House. Here’s his soundtrack. — Robert Long ...
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The Portland School District is launching a major review of facilities that may propose school closures or redistricting as a way to reduce costs, after the latest bruising school budget season...
“This past year, we made decisions to shorten the school year and to make cuts to some of our programs. Those are decisions we may not have had to make had we done this work,” school board Chairwoman Anna Trevorrow said at a recent workshop about the proposal. “That’s an unfortunate position to be in.” ...
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Redistricting, school closure and program changes could be among the possibilities considered in a major facilities assessment.
The Portland Board of Public Education agreed in principle Tuesday night that island schools and non-school facilities such as those for food service and administration should be included in a major facilities assessment intended to find ways for the financially struggling district to save money...
Chairwoman Anna Trevorrow agreed that finding ways to save money was the driving force behind the study.
“The reason we are doing this work is so we know where cost savings can be achieved if necessary,” she said. “I know ‘rightsizing’ (is) sort of a hot-button word and there are sensitivities, but I don’t think there should be any illusions about this work. These are not the best-case scenarios; they are realities of what we are faced with financially.” ...
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STANDISH — The Town Council appointed an interim town manager this week, nearly two months after firing its previous manager.
Councilors voted 6-0 on Sept. 11 to appoint former Bath City Manager Bill Giroux as interim manager while the town continues its search for a permanent replacement to Kris Tucker, who was fired without cause in late July...
Councilor Peter Starostecki, the lone vote against Tucker’s termination, called the firing “a total snow job” the next day...
Startostecki also left that closed meeting early, and expressed frustration about the extent that council business is conducted in executive session...
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Jim Fossel: A vote on power project may revive Greens
The proposed transmission corridor through Maine could allow the environmentalist party to take the lead on a major new referendum.
There was a time when the Maine Green Independent Party was a major force in this state.
Though they never managed to win a major elective office like governor or member of Congress, their candidates regularly had a significant impact on those races. Jonathan Carter, who later ran for governor twice and secured official party status for the Greens, may have significantly altered the political history of Maine – and the nation – by running for Congress in 1992. Although he came nowhere near winning, he did secure nearly 9 percent of the vote, which may have tilted the scale in favor of the Republican incumbent, Olympia Snowe, over repeat challenger Pat McGowan.
If McGowan had won, the 1994 open-seat Senate race when incumbent George Mitchell retired might have been much more competitive.
The Maine Greens have also had an outsized impact on the national Green Party movement in the United States – which should be no surprise, as they were the first state Green Party in the nation. Though Maine Greens have never fielded a presidential candidate, Pat LaMarche was the party’s vice-presidential nominee in 2004, even if the ticket was outshone by Green-turned-independent Ralph Nader.
Unfortunately for the Greens, LaMarche’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign was the last time the party managed to get a candidate on the ballot for a major race. Since then, they’ve mostly made headlines as the largest opposition party in Portland, with a few state legislators here and there over the years.
Much of that early energy in the Maine Greens came from their willingness to use referendums to take on the state’s biggest industries. The state’s bottle law was first enacted as a citizen initiative, and we have Bigelow Mountain Preserve instead of a ski area thanks to a referendum. In other campaigns, environmental activists were less successful: They weren’t able to shut down Maine Yankee (at least, not directly); they could only delay the widening of the Maine Turnpike; and Carter’s efforts to enact a ban on clearcutting forests failed.
AdvertisementRegardless of whether they won or lost, they were able to get a whole host of proposals on the ballot that legislators in Augusta – from both parties – would have preferred to ignore completely. Most ballot measures haven’t been focused on environmental policy recently – instead, taxing and spending, civil rights and cultural issues have taken center stage.
The supporters of those referendums, though, owe much of their success to Maine Greens, who led the way in bringing issues to the ballot in earlier decades.
Another major environmental issue may be coming to the forefront of Maine politics soon, though: the battle over Central Maine Power’s proposed transmission corridor.
CMP’s project – which would involve construction of new transmission lines through Maine to help send hydroelectric power from Quebec to Massachusetts – is still in the planning stages, so don’t look for a vote on it this November. Nevertheless, it’s already become the focus of organized political campaigns from both sides – you’ve probably seen the signs popping up around the state.
It’s easy to imagine the issue appearing on the ballot at some point, however. No matter which way regulators end up deciding, opponents or proponents could decide to short-circuit that process by taking the issue directly to the people, as others have in the past. That explains why both sides are already spending money politicking, hoping to shape public opinion long before the proposal is up for a vote.
If it does end up in voters’ hands, there would be both peril and opportunity for Greens. In years past, fighting a major project from CMP might have seemed quixotic: The company not only wielded enormous influence in Augusta but also was popular with the public.
Lately, though, their star has begun to dim: Recent controversies, from storm response to billing errors, have hurt their image.
CMP has been emphasizing that the project will transport clean energy, so they may be trying to appeal to environmental activists.
Much of the opposition to the plan seems to be funded by power generators, but environmental advocacy groups and environmentally oriented companies – like, respectively, the Natural Resources Council of Maine and Patagonia – have joined with them.
This issue doesn’t have a clear-cut delineation between environmental groups and corporate interests, so it may be more challenging for Maine Greens ideologically. Still, it does offer them a chance to lead on an issue that will probably be debated for years to come, so it will be interesting to see how they get involved.
Jim Fossel, a conservative activist from Gardiner, worked for Sen. Susan Collins.
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