Maine Center for Economic Policy executive director and founder Christopher “Kit” St. John announced Thursday that he would retire from the think-tank at the end of the year.
St. John and other advocates founded the organization in 1994 “to ensure that the interests of low- and moderate-income families would be represented in budget debates,” according to an MECEP statement. Over the years, MECEP has emerged as a particularly vocal opponent of multiple efforts to pass a so-called taxpayers bill of rights, or TABOR.
“During my tenure, MECEP has relied on high quality research and analysis and coalition building to influence policy outcomes in ways seen and unseen,” St. John said. “I am very proud of the contributions MECEP has made to expanding health care coverage, to defeating arbitrary limits of state and local spending in three ballot initiatives, to keeping Maine’s tax system among the least regressive of all states, and to advancing important proposals for sustainable development and livable wage jobs, especially in the less prosperous parts of Maine.”
St. John said he would “hand the reins to younger imaginations.”
“I’ve been at this kind of work for 34 years, first at Pine Tree Legal, than at the Maine Center for Economic Policy,” St. John told the Bangor Daily News Thursday. “It’s demanding and I’ve enjoyed it — but I’m looking forward to a different pace.”
St. John, 65, said he and his wife of 28 years, Eunice, recently moved from Gardiner to Brunswick. He said he’s looking forward to spending more time with friends and nonwork activities, adding that he’s a teacher and practitioner of meditation, and hoped to do more of that.
St. John said the work MECEP has done has been part of a larger coalition of forces working in Maine. He said he’s proud of the work the group did on expanding health coverage in Maine, defeating TABOR proposals and in making the concept of “livable wages” more widely understood and accepted in Maine. And, said St. John, the work his group has done to support sustainable development has been key.
“We do presently in Maine have an extraordinary physical, natural environment, and an extraordinary culture and sense of community — those have to work together,” said St. John. “We will not succeed in continuing to preserve our environment unless we have livelihoods, but we also will not have livelihoods unless we preserve our natural environments.”
The MECEP board of directors said it will conduct a nationwide search for a new executive director.
“For nearly two decades Kit St. John has been MECEP’s voice in the corridors of power, a tireless presence in good times and bad,” said Steve Ward, former Maine Public Advocate and MECEP board chair. “Now, MECEP will go forward under the leadership of its board and — in time — a new executive director.”
The statement put out Thursday included comments from officials ranging from U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud to former governors John Baldacci and Angus King.
“Although we didn’t always agree on issues, Kit based his arguments on data and sound analysis,” said King. “I have always respected him and enjoyed our spirited discussions.”