MILLINOCKET, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage is a bully who might be violating state law by withholding from Millinocket about $216,000 in state aid, angry Town Council members said during a meeting on Thursday.
Councilors accused LePage of lying in an attempt to cower them into something they never agreed to: a multiyear partnership operating the Dolby landfill, which LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett said that town leaders agreed to and then opted out of.
“What the governor said through his spokeswoman is a lie. It is not an error. It is a lie,” Councilor Michael Madore said Thursday. “I find the man to be a bully. I find him to be someone who is used to getting his own way, and in this case … . We did not make any commitment to partner with them on the landfill.”
“The governor is robbing our children of their educational opportunities in this town just to operate a dump, a dump we do not own,” Madore added.
Bennett said Wednesday that LePage was allocating to East Millinocket and Millinocket $504,000 each in Sudden and Severe Impact funds, not the $720,000 Millinocket is entitled to, because Millinocket leaders broke an agreement to contribute $50,000 annually to the maintenance of the East Millinocket-based landfill.
Millinocket’s schools, to which most of the $504,000 allocation would go, will not suffer because of the $216,000 loss, Bennett said Wednesday.
LePage also thought town leaders overvalued the Millinocket mill, Bennett said. The mill’s valuation helps determine the size of the town’s Sudden and Severe Impact payment, which the state is legally required to allocate to municipalities that suffer sudden losses to their tax base.
The state’s agreement to assume ownership of the landfill last year was a key component of a New Hampshire investor’s purchase of the East Millinocket and Millinocket mills last fall, a deal the LePage administration brokered. The restart of the East Millinocket mill restored 216 jobs to the Katahdin region.
“Millinocket is not honoring that deal,” Bennett said Wednesday. “All parties agreed that they were going to pay for the costs associated with Dolby. Is it hardball? Yeah. Did they break a deal? Absolutely.”
State officials have “done everything in our power to keep our word. We expect the same from town officials,” Bennett added.
“I want people to understand how bogus this claim is,” Town Manager Eugene Conlogue said during Thursday’s meeting. He accused LePage of “putting out this erroneous venom as a way of avoiding paying what the town is due under the law.”
Bennett did not immediately respond to telephone messages and emails requesting comment on Thursday.
During the meeting, Conlogue released 24 pages of correspondence between state and town officials that he said proved that Millinocket only agreed to a one-time $50,000 payment toward the landfill. In none of the documents do town officials speak of a partnership.
Councilors challenged LePage to provide documentation showing that they agreed to continuously pay for landfill operations.
“What has been printed is a boldfaced lie,” Councilor John Raymond said of Bennett’s comments in Thursday’s Bangor Daily News.
If anyone broke the deal, councilors said, it was LePage. He ignored key components of the council’s Dec. 20 resolve to allocate $50,000 to the landfill. He opted not to endorse state Rep. Herbert Clark’s pending bill that would allocate $250,000 from state coffers to the landfill starting July 1.
LePage ignored Millinocket’s condition that the town be indemnified from any landfill liabilities. Town leaders agreed to drop LePage’s endorsement of Clark’s bill from their stipulations, but not the latter condition, Conlogue said.
In connecting the landfill to the Sudden and Severe Impact funding, LePage leaped beyond logic and injected himself in a debate the governor’s office doesn’t belong in, council Chairman Jonn Davis said.
Under state law, Sudden and Severe Impact funding comes through several state offices — including the state assessor, comptroller and Maine Department of Education — but not LePage, Conlogue said.
“He has no place in this,” Conlogue said, adding that the town’s attorney has said that he believes LePage is breaking state law.
Councilors agreed Thursday to have Clark, D-Millinocket, draft a bill seeking permission from the state Legislature for Millinocket to sue the LePage administration for the $216,000. Under state law, the Legislature must agree that municipalities have grounds to sue the state, Conlogue said.
They also voted 5-1 to table a motion to rescind a Dec. 20 vote to allocate the $50,000 to landfill operations to give LePage time to reconsider. The council will reconsider the matter at its next meeting on March 22.
Millinocket leaders have been getting an up close and personal introduction to the governor’s style all week, Davis said.
Apparently angry at a Davis letter mailed last week in which Davis sought the full $720,000 and defended the town’s valuation of the mill, LePage telephoned Conlogue on Tuesday and told him Millinocket must take the $504,000 payment or lose it, Conlogue said.
“He lit into me,” Conlogue said of the short conversation. “‘Good morning, Governor,’ was about the last coherent sentence I got in.”
LePage seemed to dare the town to sue the state and even threatened to pull his support for a plan to run a natural gas pipeline to the Katahdin region, an important part of the mills’ survival and LePage’s economic plans for the region, Conlogue said.
Bennett’s statements came the next day, and Millinocket received a check in a certified-mail envelope for $504,000 on Thursday. Town officials have locked the check in the town safe and will keep it there for now, Davis said.
Several councilors and residents said LePage’s threats undermine his claims to be pro-education and pro-business.
“This is child education money that was supposed to come here by law. I would hate to think that this is education versus a dump,” Councilor Gilda Stratton said. “That article in the paper really disgusted me. We have been trying to be above-board all along.”
Just look at the document. One can only assume that a multi year, multi party agreement would be in written form.
It would seem like there is a pretty simple way to prove who is telling the truth in this matter. Release and publish the agreement.
These folks are just now realizing the nature and truth of Mr. LePage’s sickness? People who can’t correctly judge the character of those they choose to do business with probably deserve to pay some kind of a penalty. This is going to be a harsh lesson for these folks. Sadly one doesn’t have to wonder how other businesses inside or outside of our State will judge the prospects of making deals with or negotiating with Mr. LePage. Unlike the average Maine citizen, this man simply can’t ever be trusted. Let’s hope for the best, but right now I’m thinking that more and more companies will be taking their cues from Kestrel Aircraft Company and moving potential jobs to better led States than risk dealing with someone who may not have ever told the truth about anything in his entire life.
How can you use the word “truth” and LePage in the same sentence? As far as companies that were even thinking of expanding or moving to Maine are concerned, that with this regime in Augusta is a “fairy tale”. Who in their right mind would make an investment in a State where the Governor seems to be at war with just about everyone. Our schools are no good, our workers have no skills, our kids are too stupid, he calls our Citizens welfare cheats and even idiots. He can’t keep people in his cabinet, it resembles a revolving door. He is playing town against town with this childish Certified Business Friendly Community garbage and now he is going to war with Millinocket. He makes promises and then breaks them almost as soon as they come out of his mouth. He promised us that he would appoint only the best and the brightest to his cabinet. All anyone has to do is to look at DHHS to know that was an outright lie. To call the management at DHHS incompetent would be giving them a compliment. He promised JOBS, JOBS, JOBS and so far the only thing that has happened as far as JOBS, JOBS, JOBS are concerned is that they have disappeared from Maine under his leadership. The people of Maine are good , honest and hardworking people and deserve better then this self-impressed boor who is currently residing in our public housing called The Blaine House.
Well Said! Maine is a Great State with Great People! So Sad that Maine’ s governor has very little respect and appreciation for the people he was elected to serve :(
“LePage and “Lie” seem to be used in the same sentence a lot. But I’m sure his supporters will adamantly defend him saying he’s right and the world is wrong.
Yes your right. there are 10,000 people in the parade and LePage thinks he’s the only one in step.
And I bet it’s situations like this that prompted LePage to want all his “working papers” to be secret and not open to public access. Then it couldn’t be proven he was lying until it was way too late. What a crooked bugger.
So well-stated. Thank you!
Exactly! Thanks for speaking for the majority of this state and calling a spade a spade!
His comments reflect the views of the liberals of Maine but certainly not the majority. The majority of Maine people still believe in personal responsibility and tackling and solving our problems. We do not call the governor a liar or spew our hate for any public official like StillRelaxin and 4mermainer. In fact, through 8 years of the failed Baldacci administration, I criticized him frequently but never got as personal as the liberals on these boards do. Their disrespect of the governor and his position is embarrassing.
Ummmm, LePage has made a mockery of the term leadership. You have to earn respect. It is not given just because you hold an office. People only become disgusted when over and over again they find themselves embarrassed by the antics in Augusta . The only things the rest of the US applauds us for is what the people do to reverse this administration’s foibles. It is not just a matter of disagreeing with his political agenda. It is more about how he behaves in his role as Governor. Yes, he deserves to be mocked. And, I am one who does not countenance disrespectful behavior lightly.
He gets what he deserves. You can respect the office without respecting the man. He has repeatedly shown himself to be a liar and a bully. He threatens and abuses his power, what can people say about him? Baldacci seemed sneaky and deceitful but never attacked individuals and groups like Lepage. He’s unbelievably crass. I feel sorry for his staff, especially Adrienne Bennett. She must feel like a fool having to defend this man.
I would be willing to bet that the leaders of Millinocket said whatever it took to get the mill up and running, and now they are going to back down on their agreement…just saying..
EMBARRASSING? What is embarrassing is our governor…no need for me to reiterate the thousands of blemishes that man has already ABSORBED and CAUSED DUE TO HIS OWN WORDS AND ACTIONS. Do you realize the reputation he’s built for himself over the short time he’s been in office? If you haven’t realized this, then wow…I would say ‘wake up and smell the skunk.’
Obviously you have scant contact with the majority of honest Mainers. If you did you would be more exposed to the Truth about LePage and his extreme right wing agenda for hard working people of Maine..these same people are being sold out by LePage and his corporate over lords. BTW are you a LePage Minion or just brainwashed by Faux News?
The Penguin could murder someone and you’d call it a good thing.
No matter which side you support–and there’s probably blame to be place on both sides–this is embarassing for Maine.
Lying is no big deal. Bill Clinton already proved that. People just throw that word out there for shock value. Name one politician that doesn’t lie. Sorry I can’t hear you over the crickets.
So all folks occasionally tell lies, thus you find it acceptable. In reference to your attempt to DEFLECT this story/conversation elsewhere (Bill) I’ll just say that fibbing about have “relations” with a woman other than one’s wife (Which I don’t mean to condone at all) doesn’t even come close to lying to business people for one’s own advantage (i.e. I’d still gladly do business with Bill, but would tell Mr. LePage to kiss my …. and find a sucker elsewhere). If you can’t see the difference here then I fear that the crickets you’re hearing may actually be inside your head?
Again, name one politician who hasn’t lied to gain a financial reward. All you did was beat around the bush. I see the difference. With you it depends if they are democrats or republicans.
Beat around the “Bush” that’s funny. You’re right, again “I” did not try to deflect this story away from Mr. LePage’s lies by bringing up the MASSIVE ones costing hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars by other politicians. That’s what we’re supposed to do here, stay on topic.
THE topic is you can’t always believe what the BDN always tells you.
I get all my important news from the Maine Heritage Policy Center!
If people feel uncomfortable with the topic, they instinctively throw sand in everybody’s eyes. Best thing to do is ignore the sand throwers.
Did you ever think for one moment that you would find yourself on these poster boards defending the truth? When did being honest become a bad thing? I guess ideology trumps everything as far as the tea party crowd is concerned…..even the truth. How sad is that.
You posted that LePage is a lair. I asked you to name one that doesn’t. The word for the day is LAIR. I think I’m still on topic.
You’re throwing up a RED HERRING in a failing attempt to deflect the issue and thus protect LePage.
This has absolutely nothing to do with Republican or Democrat… lying is lying. It’s WRONG, it’s UGLY, and it always matters.
Only a pathological liar would defend lying or make light of telling lies, i.e., it’s okay because everyone does it… Only a pathological liar would take the position that lying doesn’t matter. To a pathological liar it’s a way of life and without their lies they would be ABSOLUTELY nothing. Pathological liars always defend lying.
In my opinion, LePage, regardless of his party or his job title is a classic example of a pathological liar. It’s sad… I think the man has told so many lies for so long that he, as a person, does not exist anymore. I think he IS the lies he tells and no, everyone is NOT like that and it is NOT acceptable.
Show me the document that shows he lied. You choose to believe the Millinocket councilor because you already hate LePage and their statement fuels that fire.
The council released 24 pages of documents supporting their claims. Where’s LePage’s documents – no where to be found.
I looked at the printed bdn this morning and they didn’t have LIAR in the headline. I wonder why?
Funny you use the word bush in your post. Brings George W to mind.
Ok, wait a minute now. Yes this is off subject, but as far as Clinton goes, lying to a grand jury, and looking directly into the camera and lying to millions of Americans does not amount to “fibbing”. How anyone in this country can ever be prosecuted for perjury ever again is beyond me. How can you hate LePage yet be fine with trailer park trash like the Clintons?
Stop throwing sand in everyone’s eyes, please.
Al least Bill Clinton wasn’t looking for sex in the men’s room at the airport, or trying topick up male pages.
or flying on Susseman’s plane to the Virgin Islands
And if your name is Chris Christie and you’re the governor of NJ you can take a helicopter to your son’s little league game and try and bill it to the taxpayers.
or if your name is Michelle Obama, you can fly yourself around the world on shopping sprees, sticking the tab to the taxpayers
So we should just accept it when a politician tells a lie that involves thousands of people and hundreds of thousands of dollars of public money?
You’ve got to love the way conservatives always mention Bill Clinton’s hanky panky’s every time they get caught with their pants down.
yet if you say anything about Bush they claim it’s ‘old news’ and doesn’t matter.
No big deal? Lying is no big deal? Only a pathological liar would say something like that!!!! No matter who does it or how often they do it, it’s WRONG and lying IS a big deal. HONESTY still matters even if it’s gone out of style for some folks.
So why do you keep voting them in?
What are you talking about? Where do you get this ridiculous crap from about me voting LePage into office? Oh, I see – that screen name of yours explains a lot! It’s not about anything I said or didn’t say – you got this crap out of your own head because you didn’t bother to read or pay attention to what’s written simply because you think you already… knowitall! I’ll consider the source when I consider the comment.
Cheating on your wife is not the same as cheating citizens of the state that elected you. Clinton’s bj had no effect on my purse except for the 40 million the Republicans wasted trying to impeach him.
So, it’s o.k. to lie about some things?
Let’s not forget about Richard Nixon in Watergate, OR Ronald Reagan in Iran Contra, OR Newt Gingrich with Fannie Mae, and the thing is, they all did it relating one issue. This governor does it when necessary to get his own friggin way! He does it often.
Fascist such as you and LePage need to go back to Marden’s, I hear that they are having a 2 for 1 sale on honesty and integrity, go grab some ….quick!
Thank you. You have helped prove my point. Even you can’t name one politician that doesn’t lie. I don’t care which party they belong to. That’s why all of them need to be kicked to the curb and bring back honesty and integrity to our government. Again, when you can’t strengthen your argument you resort to name calling. You are part of the problem.
probably not, but I can tell you that all of the above that I have mentioned didn’t do so repeatedly, and continually. How many times has this Governor does so, in just the 14 or so months he has been in office.
I called you that because YOU are always calling me a liberal and a communist! How does it taste? Snack on that for awhile…….
Now you are a lair, I’ve never called you a communist. A socialist liberal yes.
“Lying is no big deal” Wow with an attitude like that I can see why you are a LePage supporter. Just in case no one has told you, lying is a form of dishonesty. I didn’t like it when Clinton did it, I don’t like it when other politicians do it and I most certainly wouldn’t have put up with any of my children doing it. You keep on making excuses for your hero Mr. LePage and his lies.
When was the last time someone was charged with perjury? Also no one has named one politician that doesn’t lie. I proved my point. If lying is such a big deal why do you keep voting for them?
Sickness?
I can see it,
Lepage is like the cheating Spouse who accuses the other of infidelity!
but, this is not a private business. We are talking about a municipality here. The town of Millinocket is being bullied by the Governor. They have no choice but to do “business” as you call it with state government. The problem here is that LePage seems to think he can manage the state government the same way he negotiated for fire sale items for Mardens. It’s just not the same.
perhaps Millinocket wishes the Governors office had done nothing to help get the mills running again.
In any case, this is a huge event, a town accusing a governor of lying and bullying. Wow!
Yeah imagine that. It is one thing when you, stillrelaxin or I point out that he has a major problem telling the truth but when a town does it oh my.
“IF” and that is a big “IF” LePage is lying and bullying, He would fit right in
with the people of Millinocket…
Poor Skipper, Patten not treating you well enough?
I agree Lepage and Madore were made for each other!
Discriminate much? I’ve met several people from Millinocket. They were polite and friendly. Same experience with people from Patten, if that’s where you’re from. Every community has its bad apples.
its comments like that in which you bring on the hatred from anyone from Millinocket. Accept some responsibility, someone bad mouths your family, friend or town you stick up for them. Sounds like you ran your mouth to the wrong person at sometime and got what you had coming now you hold a grudge. Time for you to grow up a little bit.
Really? how so?
Probably not as huge as you would like to inflate it.
And when it is shown that he has violated a state law, arrest the SOB on the spot.
All the documents the Town of Millinocket has are public documents and are available. Unless the Governor’s office has diffrent correspondence than what I am looking at.
Exactly…
It sounds like Millinocket has done just that, now lets see what LePage has for documentation. My bet is nothing additional. Threats, lies and bullying tactics. I hope it is determined he broke State law and he is impeached, or even better criminally indicted and impeached.
Wanted to go so bad just to watch them squirm and lie I bet those chairs were squeeking good up there on the council! Just watch the old tapes … they knew exactly what they agreed to and could care less that they changed their minds!
love to see the recording of this agreement. I believe it was aired on the local cable channel. I also think that Conologue dosen’t do anything without paperwork so let’s see it !
He passed all the paper work out last evening.
Well, since your so well versed, then the Gov. office has differnt paper work then what they passed out last night. If, and anything they agreed to is in writing. I can tell you that there was no squirming last evening. Do not forget the other article East may pay the $50,000. this year, but no where does it state they will pay next year?
Why don’t you worry about your own town? That’s right they don’t want you and your negative comments!! Everyone in the area are pretty tired of you and your negativity!! I think it might be time for you to pack up and move back to Ohio!! And take your little dog too!!
Didn’t I read in a post, that you were from Millinocket originally, or lived there once? Why do you hate a whole town and all it’s people? It’s a serious question. I’m not from there and don’t live there, but I am curious.
I would have to say, something happened and she moved to East. Now she feels the need to lie about most everything in this area including things about people. She is just a very negative person that feels that someone owes her something. Its a common trend lately, i’ve spend more time in the past 3 weeks researching her claims and showing her that she is wrong, the facts speak and her opinions are one sided. That would be the reason for so many people disputing her claims.
Cracks me up that Lepage is playing it like this.
The state took over the landfills and then realized they didn’t have a way to run them so the state tried to guilt the towns into running it.
The towns don’t have the money. What the he!! does the state think!
Too bad Lepage and friends in Augusta, you guys voted to take care of the landfills, should have done your homework before doing that.
The towns don’t owe the state anything. If the state didn’t want the landfill, they didn’t have to assume ownership.
Simple as that.
So, is there any reason why the state can’t simply close the landfill? As a Maine taxpayer, it wouldn’t be any skin off my butt if the milltowns were left to stew in their own…toxic waste.
The state owns the liability and if they are to close it they will have to do it in accordance with all federal environmental laws.
If only it were that simple. The problem is that it isn’t just any old landfill. This particular landfill has been the dumping ground for all kinds of various chemicals that were associated with the manufacture of paper. It will probably be ruled as a toxic waste site and will end up costing the State of Maine , you, me and the rest of Maine’s Citizens, tens of millions of dollars to clean up. Last spring Paul Richard LePage in order to look good and get the East Millinocket Mill back into production which resulted in less then 300 jobs bought the landfill from the previous owner of both the Millinocket and East Millinocket mills. So it will not only be skin off your butt and mine as well but also money out of our wallets as well.
The Paper Companies should pay to clean it up and maintain it. It is their dump
They are job creators what are you talking about? They eend more tax breaks then maybe they will create another job
The truth, Creating Jobs does not justify disregarding responsibility for pollution of your living environment and not taking ownership of the entire process of making paper which includes disposal of waste material and chemicals in a safe and healthy manner. The 300 people who it was suggested are working are probably being used and abused and quite possibly so is the Maine EcoSystem and BioDiversity. Yeah, I know the jobs are important. And the workers are good people. But many companies are BAD CORPORATE CITIZENS. And Many Governments are on the take and provide amnesty for the baddies. If you own a Mill You own the garbage you create. It is part of the cost of doing business. I am sure someone would make me pay to dispose of hazardous materials. This is not a popularity contest. The guy who gets the most easter eggs wins the hunt. Happy Spring!
To late they are off the hook. The state of Maine assumed the liability for operating and clean up costs. Who else would buy into that little blivet.
Not anymore, it WAS their dump! Thanks Governor!
It used to be their dump. Now it belongs to the Citizens of the State of Maine thanks to Paul Richard LePage and his tea party republican bobble heads in the Maine Legislature.
how’s those train tracks going?
Aaahhhhh…the plot thickens…
So publish your signed agreement and your budget.
The governor’s paperwork is probably designated as “working papers” since he has a bill in to allow him to keep that kind of paperwork secret.
If you find the mural maybe the working papers are their to.
This was a misguided but well meaning attempt to bring help to a coven of millbilly cargo cultists. It recalls the old saw about going on a fools errand and returning with a fools reward. This backbiting squabble between the inept and the absurd is not without a certain grim humor. But there’s nothing funny about the open ended liability the taxpayers of the whole state seem to be saddled with for an indeterminate amount of time. And for an increasingly problematical benefit, for grasping, short sighted recipients, who seem hell bent on squandering any opportunities that may come their way.
You have to love the way even Northern mill towns become hotbeds of either idiots or commies should they have the temerity to point out that the Governor who thinks he was elected Emperor Has No Clothes. Now, if a LIBERAL called the good citizens of Millinocket “a coven of millbilly cargo cultists” can you imagine the TEApublican response?
I guess LePage will have a fit over this bit of bad press. It sure doesn’t make him look like a guy with a seccond term in his future.
Oh, I very much hope he has a second term in his future…behind bars.
Impressive. Most impressive. Obi-Wan has taught you well. You have
controlled your fear. Now, release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy LePage young Aldin1.
No! I shall not go down that road! I wouldn’t want to learn that…(shudder) he (or even you) is my father. NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good comeback, made my morning.
OH he’ll turn this around…throw a little fit, yell at some people, twist the story around, make something up, probably ‘doctor up’ some documents or something like that.. No way he’ll take any responsibility in wrong doing…and yes, I am assuming he’s in the wrong; but some of you people can’t wrap your brains around that…it’s called brain-washed.
I remember when LePage was pushing for the state to take over this landfill. I, as well as many others, knew it was a horrible agreement. I want to see a copy of the agreement signed by LePage and the town councils.
i’m sick of people from Millinocket expecting a hand out. The taxpayers in the rest of the state don’t want to pay for your landfil! I’d rather my tax dollars go towards buying out residents homes and bulldozing them so they can move somewhere that actually has a future.
Hey Jack, you are entitled to your opinion as you see fit but i would like to dispute some of what you say. The hand out you claim is actually under state law, if you have a problem with them using the law and getting what they can complain about the state not the town receiving what they are allowed to get. Second, the people of Millinocket, and the landfill are two seperate things. Seems where you are well aware of the Katahdin Region you would know that the landfill is not located in Millinocket, it is in East Millinocket, the landfill was never owned or operated by the town of Millinocket. The mill in Millinocket is not running and is not using the landfill at this current time. You complain about the town as if they have done something wrong, its your state government that has done wrong.
Food stamps, Mainecare, welfare, housing assistance, methadone treatment including free transportation to the clinic – are all covered under state law. Comments in this paper frequently refer to those things as ‘handouts’ and imply that they are negative. I don’t believe that recurrent unemployment payments, corporate tax gifts and toxic dump purchases are any different. It’s all coming from the same bank account. Ours.
And just a side note – nobody outside of the Katahdin area recognizes or cares about any differences that may exist between East, West, North or South Millinocket – they’re all the same to 97% of Mainers. You folks really need to get past that hang up (which has by the way been the subject of books – was it the Zooks that insisted on eating their bread with the butter side down?
We, know, We know, you have repeated it how many times.
unemployment tax is paid by the employer on each employee. Its actually something that you dont get unless you put in the time. Not everyone is allowed to collect.
You can bet the town of Millinocket wanted the state to buy it though.
is it a crime to hope that someone would buy something so you dont have to pay for it? I dont think so.
Bud I told you when you were railing against Roxanne Quimby that your PR was a big problem for you.
See ?
Trying separate Millinoket from East Millinoket in the deal to open the mill(s) makes no sense.
How could it not be THE deal if East paid their portion ?
But you are separating Millinoket from rest Maine’s sentiments , though
Hey listen bub, i didnt rail against Roxanne Quimby first of all, i railed against the idea of a person donating land to an organization who is hurting, donating land to the goverment that cant even pay their bills as it is. Now if you want to twist the word and read it as you wish but don’t be saying I meant something with my words when i didn’t. You can keep your clouded views and believe what you want but the facts remains that a National Park is paid for by the government that cant even afford what they have for bills now. Get that through your head!!! I had responded to someone who was saying he is tired of people of Millinocket wanting a handout and the state doesn’t want to pay for their landfill. I corrected this man by stating the landfill is in fact not in Millinocket nor is it owned by Millinocket. For some reason you have a problem with following along with the conversation. East Millinocket also got the same money as Millinocket, you dont complain about them. You probably didn’t read the article in the Lincoln News either as the town leaders in East were angered by the public works director for not plowing the road to the landfill. Their severe and sudden impact money was tied with an agreement to keep the landfill road plowed, they didn’t do so and could of lost their money. Wheres your complaint about them not holding up their deal? Wheres the article in the BDN stating that East Millinocket didnt hold up their end of the deal? No where does it say that East has committed to 50k a year for operation cost. East hasn’t totally held up their end and that’s facts but Millinocket hasn’t held up their end on hear say. Just wait, once Nick has read the Lincoln News he will write an article about East not holding up their end and you will see that its not a one town problem. Its the whole region which you refuse to notice.
There was a miscommunication between the public works director, who got information from someone else, he didn’t do his job, got in trouble, the road is plowed, it was plowed within a day of the storm and life went on. Millinocket may not own the dump but they sure did contribute to it when the mill was in full swing. They wouldn’t have sold the mills with out this landfill deal. So complain all you want and see where it gets you. The community has some hope for the future it wouldn’t have had without the state taking over the dump. Is that so hard to understand that Millinocket has benefited greatly from this ‘deal’? Why do you think the town agreed to it originally?
just like your name, i wish you knew! What does Millinocket have currently that is different from what it’s had over the last 4+ years? The mill isn’t running, people aren’t working here. I’ve heard from the people of East over the past 6 years, “our mill is running, hows yours doing?” Great, your mill is running for the same reason why when the talks about consolidation comes up we say come to Millinocket, the facility is in better working condition without millions of dollars for fixing. Now yes over the years we have put garbage into the landfill as you have too. We have offered up 50k, we haven’t back down from paying what we had committed to, Mr. LePage has refused to accept the money because its not what he claims (undocumented still) the town agreed to. Read the BDN articles back in December, reported by the same person you believe in this article that Millinocket agreed to pay 50k for a one-time payment while East didnt want to make their offer public.
Sorry Jack, but it was never Millinocket’s landfill, it was privately owned by a papermaking company. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, now YOU are part owner!
your wrong, it was owned by GREAT NORTHERN PAPER in East Millinocket & MILLINOCKET, then passed down thru the different buyers, Millinocket is just trying to cut the cord or responsibility, as usual.
Cut the cord? Where does it state that East is going to do more than Millinocket. Both have committed to 50k the first year and East where it is located in your town, would plow and police it. That only makes sense, why would you send public works or police from Millinocket to do the work for East??
Your mill never put its crap there ?
If you don’t think it is your dump, take back your trash.
so we are also owners of the Orrington trash facility? Our trash goes there as well.
It is not a handout, it is the law. It is not, nor was it the towns land fill it was the companies. And as stated below it is not in Millinocket
the landfill DOES NOT belong to Millinocket…it was purchased by the State (ie Lepage) as a way for him to “create jobs” by keeping the mills open…so we got 17 million shelled out for the dump and now will have to pay umpteen million to clean it up as the former owners obligation to make it environmmentally sound ended when Lepage signed the contract! For all of this we got approximately 216 jobs. this governor is a school yard bully and baffoon.
I know the state bought it, and now the towns expect the state to pay all the costs to operate it, just so they could keep their dying towns alive a few more years. I, for one, am sick of it. These towns have outlived their purpose and now they expect everyone else to keep them on life support.
That is your one sided opinion. Your mad at a town instead of the problem. LePage used the purchase to show that he could do something the previous governor couldn’t and that was find a buyer for the mills. No one from Millinocket or East voted for the State to purchase the landfill it was your people in charge on the state level. The state purchased something and now they want the town to pay for it. You need to realize that its not the Katahdin Regions fault, look at your governor, representatives and senator’s for making the purchase. Your placing the blame in the wrong area, its Augusta, not the Katahdin Region pal.
and you guys had your had out begging LePage and the other idiots in Augusta to bail you out of your mess
again is it a crime to ask for help? Is it a crime to seek assistance? You are failing to see the problem, its the STATE GOVERNMENT who is to blame. We cant spend any state money without the state giving it to us. I feel your continued attempts to bash the area is mislead and misdirected.
How many people from the area called to tell them to take over the landfill? There were posts all over the internet and at stores asking people to call to support the state taking over the landfill.
Im not sure how many, if any called the state. Not sure how many posted all over the internet. What i can assure you is that wasn’t just Millinocket residents, it was residents from all over the area which seems people are forgetting. Tagging Millinocket as the problem when the state government voted to purchase the landfill. You got to hold each party responsible for their actions, the state has every bit of responsibility to the residents of Maine to do what is fiscally responsible. Just because someone wants you to buy a house, then you do, when you go bankrupt its not the other persons fault, its yours because you are responsible for your actions. In your theory its the people of the area who is to blame.
they don’t expect the towns to pay ALL the operating costs!
Boy am I in a tough spot here. I fully understand that the Governor lies, cheats, steals, manipulates and misrepresents facts (that’s well established). I have absolutely no confidence in him and I think he’s unable to do the job that he has.
I also have no confidence in the ‘leadership’ that exists in Millinocket. Those leaders appear stuck on the idea of representing Millinocket people as victims, who are reliant on others to bail them out. They seem to have imagined that the mills would be forever open, over-estimated their usefulness and value, convinced themselves that they would earn big salaries, like their parents, with no higher education or marketable skills, that people from away would stay away and that they are entitled to unfettered access to land they don’t own and can’t afford.
Recently, some of them have committed themselves to kill the idea of a National Park, because they can’t see the opportunities that it might offer. They may fear the ‘people from away’ that it might bring. They may somehow think they are entitled to bailouts by other taxpayers, because they have become so dependent on those bailouts (Mainecare, unemployment, corporate welfare, job retraining, loan forgiveness, Good Shepard, etc.).
I’m ready to let the Governor and the people of Katahdin sink or swim. My only condition is that we need to stop paying for lifeguards.
There are so few facts presented here it is impossible to begin to form an opinion. This story is all he said/she said. I hear there are 24 pages of documents, and televised council recordings…anyone gonna bother to check that out? It seems lately we only get thorough reporting up here when media from Boston or Miami come up.
Contact the Town Managers office and I am sure he will send you a set. I’ll suggest to the town manager that he scan them and put them on the Town of Millinocket’s website.
The “leadership” in Millinocket is all about entitlement along with most of its elder townspeople!
Why do you hate Millinocket so much? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a positive post about that town from you. I’ve been through there a few times. The area looks kind of depressed, but the people that I saw were nice and polite. Really, just curious.
Idiots don’t have to have a reason as the believe they are correct. He doesn’t like the area because we don’t believe what he believes, its really that simple. He wants a national park, we don’t, we want to keep our industry and he doesn’t. Instead of stating his case and keeping it civil he must suffer from previous bullying or little man syndrome as he appears to feel the need to name call and bash the area.
What industry are you trying to keep? The one that has been closed for 4 years.
Correct me I am wrong here, Industry is defined as a specific branch of manufacturing and trade. It may have in fact been closed down but its still an industry that we would like to keep, its now the area was built. Your hatred towards Millinocket most likely stemming from your youth is not needed today to make things work. You been reading the news lately, manufacturing jobs are opening back up, we have a facility open, running, with an owner investing their own money and we should just can it?
stanley is a complete fool
Well said…
You still haven’t grasp the idea that a National Park is an added cost the UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, the same one that is in more debt then probably any other organization in the world. You are the first one on here bitching about hand outs and the cost of money being sent to the Katahdin Region but yet you see no problem with allowing someone to donate their land to the government to run and fund. I guess from what i have learned from reading your nonsense over the past few weeks is that you have no problem with the federal government spending money in the Katahdin Region on something that you obviously want but you hate that the State of Maine spends money to keep some jobs that you dont want.
Your not from this area and probably not even from this state, do you even know the average age of the work force in the mills today? Do you think that the younger generation is sticking around waiting to get hired with the mill? People are moving on and moving away, everyday, to go live in your city with all the crimes, drugs, and minimum wage jobs. Do the math, well i’ll do it for you so you don’t misrepresent the numbers. 216 employees are working today because of the states involvement. Thats 216 people who were once on unemployment, which they are entitled to from previous employers paying, not free handouts. I believe the state of Maine caps unemployment at $300 a week, i could be wrong but we’ll use that. Now 216 people at $300 per week, how much is that going to the Katahdin Region for unemployment? Thats right $64,800 a week and im not even including the people who are working for companies in the mill that aren’t included with the 216 figure. So with that being said, the mill has been running since October sometime but lets call it November 1st, that makes it 2o weeks that people have been back to work. The cost savings to unemployment from people working instead of collecting is a hair under 1.3 million so far. The landfill is said to cost the State 46.5 m over 30 years. That is a cost of 1.55 m a year. So you have a cost to the state of 1.55m a year and a savings on unemployment of 1.3 m in 5 months. I’m not seeing your logic here. The state is spending 1.55m a year to allow people to work for a living and not collect unemployment. You pay 1.55m to save 3.1m. In the end you have saved money on one account while spending in another account. I personally don’t see anything wrong with spending 1.55m to save 1.55m from the unemployment account.
When will Lepage be explaining why he used $17 million of state money to buy the closed Dolby landfill from a Canadian investment bank in the first place? It is illegal under Maine law for the state to take on liabilities bigger than $2 million without a referendum.
LePage has a lot of family in Canada and may even still be a Canadian citizen himself.
Probably time to do a complete audit and follow the money …
The governor is “…robbing our children of their educational opportunities”? Oh, brother. What an hysterical piece of pablum coming from a Millinocket town councilor.
I say, Great! Close the schools in Millinocket and merge with East Millinocket. There is no economic activity that any of these guys can dream up that merits keeping 2 separate school administrative districts running side by side.
No, the logical thing to do would be to close the East Millinocket Schools and Merge with Millinocket.
Millinocket can shut down their school systems an come to East Millinocket
East can’t handle Millinockets pupils and beside they have to put at least 3.2 million in repairs to the H.S.
I’m so tired of hearing Millinocket whine and cry. They have shot themselves in the foot repeatedly by taxing the crap out of the mills to the point they leave town…then boohoo about that. Maybe Millinocket should stick to just being a dump?
Taxes ran the mills out of town huh? Where did you get those facts? You forgetting that a company came in, sold equipment, stole from the employee’s pensions and ran back to Canada? Oh ya, I’m sure facts don’t matter so we’ll go with the opinion of taxes running the mills away.
MILLINOCKET… off the “OPEN for BUSINESS” sign list!!
And certainly not getting “business friendly” certified either
Right now the mirrors are being polished and adjusted…..the smoke machine has been tested and is at the ready……….. polygraph, what are those?…..sounds like neither side could get past the control questions!
The state of Maine is not open for business try again in 3 years
When this was going on the BDN even reported that Milliknocket had agreed to it. Go back and read the old articles
The voted to make a payment. They made that one.
Find anything that says they agree to more payments after that one and get back to us.
They didnt make it, This article said they are going withold it.
and the news said LePage refused to accept it! We have to news agency claiming different things, oh know who do we believe now? Oh ya Mr. Medway4me because he knows all.
He refused the offer, That leads me to believe there was another agreement in place, they never sent the 50,000 one time or any time. Read paragraph 23 it says the council voted to rescind the 50,000 offer and will reconsider it on the 22nd. After they give Lepage time to reconsider. But I could be wrong.
And James I may bash Millinocket occasionally in fun, I don’t bash you personally or even think12.
No, the article says they are not going to make MORE payments. They made the first one and that is all they say they agreed to. They have released correspondence backing up their claim.
Balls in the guv’s court.
Dana I’m sorry to disappoint you but Nick writes what he wants to hear. He has no credibility in this area as most of his claims are not factual based. Im not sure which article you say says that Millinocket agreed to it but i for one don’t take anything from the BDN as 100% factual. more like 70%fact and 30% their personal opinion.
Millinocket doesnt have a town council. They have a three ring circus of a town government being run by five star clowns. Arent they being sued by the school board?
Bullying is a big issue in schools these days, i say make Lepage the posterboy for anti-bullying. That mug of his would be scary enough. Hmm and where will Mrs. Bennetts next job be, i hope she doesnt go back to reporting the news, who knows what info she will provide us!
Send her back to Bangor Hydro
This isn’t a news story. It’s a public forum for the town council to rant, rage, and attempt to bully the governor into giving them money. Do reporters never bother to check facts anymore?
You don’t think the BDN would do their homework did you. They are taking lessons from the Pingree Press Herald. They are becoming just like what the Pingree Press Herald is a Liberal Tabloid Rag that is an extension of the Maine Democrat Party.
Your buddy LeBuffoon is a walking joke. A pathetic fool unfit for office. And then you whine about the local press. Want some cheese to go with that whine?
Not LeBuffoon it’s LeBoboon send him back to Mardens as a bagger that’s the only job he’s qualified to do.
Marden’s does not want him back.
Even they have standards and that piece of used merchandise is just waaaaaay too damaged.
Well us Mainers would love to give you back Joe Brennan, Ken Curtis, Angus King, Baldacci and the Democrats in Augusta who destroyed Maine Liberal Mitchell, Emily Cain, Hannah Pinhead, John Martin, Cynthia Dill, Troy Jackson, Peggy Rotundo. You folks can have them back they have destroyed Mainer’s way of life for 50 years with their awful economic policies, social agenda , and Nanny State.
I always appreciate it when a post tries so incredibly hard to change the subject. It just emphasizes that there is no valid or meaningful answer to the issue under discussion —– THANK YOU for validating my points!
The only walking joke I see is Democrats & Democrats who claim to be Independents (Angus King, Eliot Cutler). Tell me what has one Democrat or Democrat-Independent in Maine or Washington that has come from Maine ever done for the working folks or for the average business person. Absolutely nothing but take people’s or businesses hard earned money and give it those who are too lazy to earn it themselves.
Call the Koch brothers and get them to fund a conservative tabloid rag as an extension of the Maine Republican Party. Oh, but wait the Kochs already ‘own’ Maine Heritage Policy Center and they are already doing that!
Just like Donnie Sussman Pingree’s Multi Billionaire Wall Street Hedgefund Husband who took massive bailouts from Obama owns the Pingree Press Herald, Pingree Journal and Pingree Sentinel. What’s your point . Move on. org, George Soros, Bill Burton , Jimmy Hoffa & Teamsters Union, Richard Trumpka and his union, Leo Gerard and the steel workers union and Environmentalists have all bought the Democrats with our tax dollars thanks to Liberals in Washington and Maine. That is ok to you folks because you would rather see us continue to spiral downward like Maine did under Democrat control for decades.
oppose to the article from the governor the day before with his rant, rage and attempt to bully Millinocket to pay more for a landfill not located in their own town nor is anything from their town being dumped in the landfill. I guess i don’t see the difference in the articles, both are wrong but yet did the same thing.
You’re certainly correct that the dump isn’t in Millinocket. And if “nothing” from the Millinocket mills is being dumped there, then there isn’t a problem. The state was stupid enough to buy it, and will have to swallow the cost of shutting it down. BUT, as I understood it, one of the reasons for the state buying the dump was so that the Millinocket mill would have somewhere to dump its waste. Without that, how are you going to run a paper mill?
Why should this expense be on the backs of the taxpayers of either East Millinocket or Millinocket? Why should it be on the backs of the taxpayers of Maine? It was the paper companies that made the mess, and Cate Street capital wanted the mills but didn’t want the clean-up liability for the dump, which had been part of the package.
Both towns were eager to see Cate Street start up the mill (happy times are here again!!), and LePage wanted to be seen as the hero who cut through the red tape and made it possible for Private Capital to save the day.
However this ends, LePage is going to look like an idiot. What a surprise. And Millinocket is going to continue to decline. Cate Street may run the paper mill , as long as it doesn’t cost them much, and as long as no union starts asking for better conditions, benefits, etc. But basically Cate Street is in the biomass energy business, and in time my guess is that the only things left in Millinocket will be the wood yard, the boilers, and a couple of empty mill buildings which the towns will be welcome to have for back taxes. Cate Street will hire non-union workers at low wages to produce woodchips for the boilers, and maybe for sale out of state.
They might also continue to make pulp for export, like the mill in Woodland used to do, and ship it overseas to countries that have modern paper mills. Think Korea, China, maybe Finland.
The sad fact is that the Millinocket paper machines are not modern, and they’re not located near the demand for paper, which is declining anyway.
Note to all of us: We’re having this discussion via computer. No trees have been turned into paper to support this argument about the future of the paper industry.
If my guess about Cate Street’s plans for Millinocket is correct, their payroll for their Millinocket operation will be a small fraction of what used to be spent in the union paper mill days. That will translate into a smaller, poorer town. This has happened all over the country. Look at Detroit, or Pittsburgh.
It appears the town has documentation which clearly disputes what LePage is calling an ongoing funding deal being broken by the town. But moreover, it is one more example of LeBuffoon’s endless laundry list of “I don’t know how to govern.” incidents. He is an arrogant bully at every turn who still thinks he’d running Marden’s. He is a walking embarassment. It just never ends with this fool. His approach is what sinks him. Come November, you won’t see many Republican campaigning anywhere near this guy. They will avoid him like the plague except perhaps in the most extreme notches of TeaNutLand. And any R running for national level office will be pinned to him with superglue, like Kevin Raye who has been LePage’s little water boy in Augusta along with Schneider and Summers. These guys are going to get pounded out of sight some November.
Maybe those reporters should call you to get the truer facts.
She’s hiding; trying to spin this one is going to be hard: ”
Bennett did not immediately respond to telephone messages and emails requesting comment on Thursday.”
The simple fact it is Law.
I would believe the liars to be the town officials as they are the ones that report to the town people. How about producing the agreement to the public and lets see who is truthful.
All the correspondence is available at the town office.
In the letter from DECD says, “we were asked to provide a letter that clarified what had been asked for and ageed druing that meeting.” The first part deals with police, and plowing, which East offered to do. In the last task, it states “Finanancial assistance to support these other tasks remains an opportunity for the two communities to help with the state with. The annual costsfor thes services are esitmated to be approx. $170,000., which Millinocket offered by order #280-2011 to pay 50,000 for the current fiscal year (one time). Indemnification of responsibility that may arise in connection witht he Dolby Landfill. Which the Governor refused. East Millinocket besides plowing and policing offered 50,000, which may have or may have not been paid, for this fiscal year. I do not have any paperwork concenring East, but their is nothing stating they will continue paying $50,000 each year. I know someone from East will correct me, if I have this wrong.
“He lit into me,” Conlogue said of the short conversation. “‘Good morning, Governor,’ was about the last coherent sentence I got in.”
Next time just answer the phone “Hey Paul, what time should I pencil you in to swing by and kiss my butt?”
You voted for him…You got him…Now don’t listen to B.S. next election!!!
I DIDN’T VOTE FOR HIM!!!
Signed documents, public statements by the governor and people in his administration, minutes of some meeting so we know it was actually official business seem to be missing here. East Millinocket isn’t backing their story up either. No brainer.
East hasn’t said very much. The fact remains East offered 50,000 for this year. I did nto see they would say for future years? Also the plowing of the road. So, yes it is a no brainer.
Also having the East Millinocket Police patroling it 24hrs a day! Don’t forget that!
You are right take a ride up the road. I do not take away from what the East Millinocket Police do, but in relationship to the whole cost it is miniscule.
Though you did not answer if East will pay the $50,000. every year?
you mean the same police that sit at the station most of their midnight shift, sit and infront of the station in the car running watching traffic go by. Those same officers right? Dont think its hard to take a ride up the road. And by the way, nothing is policed 24hr a day.
Hey brucefl56, according to the Lincoln News this week East wasn’t even plowing the road so how could they be doing policing without the plowing. Sounds like not holding up any part of their deal and Millinocket is getting blasted for paying what they committed to paying. Wierd
That’s his middle name.(Liar).
Can a governor be impeached?
In any case, this is a huge event, a town accusing a governor of lying and bullying! Wow.
What’s huge about this , you democrats have been doing this since the election !
Here’s an idea Mr. Bully LePage, Millinocket is entitled to 720,000 in funds but you will only allow 504,000. That leaves you with 216,000 and you take that money and use it to fund the landfill. You also take another 216,000 from East Millinocket to fund the landfill for another year. There’s your money and both sides can stop pointing the finger at the other.
Why take money from East Millinocket? They agreed to provide certain services to the state, gave the state town owned land and stood by their agreement. Millinocket gave the Gov lip service, said they would do it, when the deal went through they changed their mind because they got what they wanted.
The dump might not be in Millinocket but a lot of the crap in there came from the Millinocket mill. Without the dump the mill would have closed decades ago. So maybe the state should dig up Millinockets garbage and drop it off down town. I think the best place for it would be the old Newberry’s lot. Let them take care of their own trash.
Millinocket was advising people to call the state and say they supported the state take over of the dump. Without that take over there would have been no hope for the sale of the mills. It was corporate welfare, nothing more.
Again Millinocket offered to give them the same amount. East has said nothing beyond the 50,000 this year. I would like to see an agreement where East promised the State they would pay it each year. I do not think there is any such agreement.
So….the BDN doing another hit piece on the administration, go figure. Nobody considers that Conlogue and his antics have further driven the area down over the last 10 years? Hello? Hello? The same group that will say and do anything to look good? Let’s see where the chips fall….You may not like the governor and his admisinstration, but they are getting things done and getting the state on track. Yes, they are….no more spending and funding with borrowed money which was the modus operandi for the last 40 years. If in fact it comes to pass that indeed there is more to the story, and agreements were made and brken, I hope the governor pulls the entire amount, not just 216,000. If not, well, let’s get the whole story….when old Eugene goes on the offensive, it’s usually a defensive move.
The first thing that it is state law, the Gov. can not withhold it. Who said I did not like the Gov.? I have to go by what I see written down, not what Gene or the Gov. says. The check has already been written for the 504,000. I am sure East has already cashed it.
I know very well what the Council can do, and Gene. I know all too well, what the councils word means, which for some of them still on it means nothing. Again, I am going by what I see written on paper between the towns and the state. This was and is not a multi-year agreement, unless the State has another document that has not been seen.
One last thing, what would you do if the Gov. has lied and withheld monies against State Law?
East agreed to provide these services indefinitely/as long as needed. Like I said before East Millinocket also signed over quite a bit of land they owned around the landfill.
Well then you know something that has not been published yet, according to the article it said “Clint Linscott, chairman of East Millinocket’s Board of Selectmen, declined to comment Thursday on whether his town’s leaders believed they were making a multiyear agreement to manage Dolby. Unlike Millinocket’s leaders, East Millinocket officials never have disclosed their terms for helping the state manage the landfill.” So what you say, does not appear factual, unless you are a selectman and know something they don’t?
Is it possible they turned the land over so they would no longer be responsible for the land? What real value did the land around the land fill serve to the town of East? Not like your going to develop it into housing lots or business development. It would be interesting how Millinocket would be able to donate land to the state in regards with the landfill as there is about a mile between the land fill and the town of Millinocket. I guess im the only one not seeing how comparing your land gift is something Millinocket should do but isnt. I’m not saying you didnt give up some land but why wont East make this public, what are they hiding? If you gave up land, make it public, shut people up. So far im only hearing it from you and unless your a selectman I’m not sure who or what to believe.
Why take money from East? Well for starters, they people bitching want us to pay for the damn thing so why not split the cost? Oh wait, you probably don’t like paying the same about, you want Millinocket to pay more. Okay, so let me get this straight. From my knowledge your services to the landfill was to police and plow the road correct? Im not aware of anything else, so if you arent plowing the road there is no way for you to police it. How does that holding up your end of the deal? You gave land to the state, what land was that? The state purchased the landfill, it was not given away for free. We have given the same amount of money that East has. What is the crime with supporting the sale to get jobs back?
They missed a storm. It is plowed now and we GAVE, as in FREE, a lot of land that the town of East Millinocket owned to the state. The land surrounds the landfill and is between our town dump and the landfill. I have no clue what Millinocket’s end of the bargain is, whether it is more or less then what the state approved from East Millinocket.
Why doesn’t East Millinocket come clean, they have made it seem that they are hiding something. Haven’t seen the article where it states what they were offering but Millinocket disclosed there one time payment of $50k. I guess if East would of disclosed their offer people would know instead of wondering. Just seems they were hiding something.
When are Maine citizens going to get the message that this Governor is for only one thing. Himself!!! His way or the highway is what he has brought to the Governor’s mansion and he and his cronies say this is not bullying. Well call it what you may, but he consistantly whines and pouts when he doesn’t get his way, than he starts cutting off funding as the only way to make Maine citizens feel the wrath of his my way or the highway….Yup! we elected him, that he owns us……Naw! say it isn’t so……..
Why are people so down on the Governor? Wasn’t he well qualified for this job by running Mardens all those years? Didn’t his workers just love getting that minimum wage? Maybe he can buy a close out, firedamaged landfill and sell it to Millinocket for half-price. (I voted for Mitchell, silly me).
Wow, and this is a shock to some, that LePage is capable of lying, cheating and stealing….duh…the man reeks immorality and he seriously needs anger management…..Plus, he brokered this deal…wonder who would really benefit from that..a buddy probably…We have a Lobbyist for a Governor….no, we have a madman…
Next time the voters of Maine go to the polls I trust they research the canidates more closely.How did this dimwit that ran a surplus store get elected????? Maybe next time you can vote for the manager of a convenience store to run the state. What were you thinking ??????
How did Mainers elect Baldacci, Angus King, Joe Brennan as Govs, Mumbles Michaud, Chellie Pingree in Congress and Democrats such as Hannah Pinhead, Emily Cain, Cynthia Dill, Justin Alfond, Peggy Rotundo, John Martin in the legislature. None of these folks have ever had a private sector job , all of them have lived off of the taxpayer all their lives.
Gee the governor is a bully and a liar and takes away from children….. nothing new there.
Truth be told , a million dollar swimming pool in a town of about 4500 people takes away from children. A half million dollar walking trail in homage to a fork lift operator turned congressman takes away from children. These things are priorities in a town surrounded by woods trails and lakes. Time for a reality check for the poor natives of Millinocket.
The was paid mostly from the Federal and State Governement. They had to use it or loose it. I would of preferred they loos it. Truth be told it is State Law on that money.
Well, he found a whole town of children.
lepage is right
Gee, you must enjoy being in the extreme minority. LePage is a buffoon, and a blind person could see that.
I am not really seeing that. And based on “likes” lots of other people aren’t either.
care to bet on his re election? he is a lying toad, thats been proven several times, once by a national BUSINESS magazine
Who is he running against? Rosa? Eliot? Libby got another run in her? Bill Clinton is a lying toad but the liberals still get wood when you mention his name…
you equate a lie over a subject that should have been between bill , hilary and monica with this lying toad of a governor. face it , lepage is a loser and the ones that try to defend him are even bigger losers
That because under Clinton, gas prices where $.90 – 1.24 gal, no war, economy wasn’t in the tank. I’m independent but still respect the time under Clinton when i was able to afford to fill up my vehicle more than once a week. Haven’t been able to do that since Bush took office or under Obama.
never did like that town. and now never will.
Personally, I’m sick of supporting Millinocket. The town should have been allowed to dry up and blow away the same as all other one-industry towns have. They have been treated like, and behave behave like a spoiled child. They lived “high on the hog” for so long, with fancy boats, snowmobiles, four-wheelers, suvs, lake-side camps, great union wages, etc. , while the rest of us up in Aroostook either busted our butts or moved to where the jobs were. Time to quit feeding the ungrateful who think filling their schools with unsuspecting Chinese is a solution to supporting their schools.
Oh gee, so sorry that some people actually made a decent living working hard in those mills round the clock for generations. Maybe you’d have been happier if they all worked for seven bucks an hour in LeBuffoon’s Marden’s store. Here we go again with the right wing worshipping at the feet of ultra greedy corporatist millionaires while bashing middle class workers. I have always wondered just what the right wing has against working Americans. It seems to be a kind of a sickness. Well, come November working America, the people who build this state and nation, are going to send a calling card to the GOP TeaNut millionaire worshippers. It is going to be a great big pink slip. Bye Bye GOP TeaNuts. Go play with Donald Bad Hair Trump and Mittens RoMONEY and Rush Limpmind The Woman Hater. Have fun. Because your days in government are over.
personally , I’m sick of people that are so jealous of some one who happens to have a job that pays a decent wage and have benefits.
Sorry to disappoint but I’m not jealous. I left “The County” and made a life that included far better than the “decent wage and benefits” you speak of. The welfare recipients and cry-babies in Millinocket could do the same if they were smart instead of begging from the rest of us to support them. Bashing the Governor as so many of you choose to do is so so so stupid.
Hundreds of people from Millinocket have gone to find work around the state, some travel every week and some have moved like you did. Now tell us the real reason you are dumping on the good people from Millinocket…
And herein lies most of the problems apparent in this “discussion”. Envy, plain and simple.
For years the mills in Millinocket provided a better-than-average income for the residents of those towns nearby, income that was spent on goods and services NOT connected with the mill but rather helped support all business and people as far south as Bangor. And many people who didn’t work at the mills were very envious of the workers there.
Now these mill towns have fallen on hard times and those same people who were envious of that “mill income” that trickled down to their own jobs can’t wait to kick the people from Millinocket and East.
Whether you like the situation or not, the workers at GNP and it’s subsequent owners did nothing wrong, did nothing that any of us wouldn’t do. They went to work every day and got a wage that the company could afford to pay them at that time. Since the economy started dictating that these mills were no longer viable under the conditions that existed at that time the employees have taken wage cut after wage cut and benefit cut after benefit cut in an attempt to keep the mills running, maintain their families, their jobs, and their community.
Now not only have they been “sold out” by greedy buyer after greedy buyer whose only goal was to bleed the GNP system dry with no regard to the employees, they also have to deal with those same people who’ve envied them for years and, again, can’t wait to kick them.
And now, in the final straw, Governor (and I use that word loosely because he obviously knows nothing about “governing”) LePage has “misrepresented” an agreement he made in an effort to bully them yet farther.
A lot of people should be hanging their heads about the way the people of Millinocket and East have been treated, and LePage should be at he head of the line of people doing it.
Very well said and 100% correct!!! Thank you HeaganMtn…
Now we know what the people of Millinocket think of the “Waterville Miracle”! lol. Poor Paul would rather climb a tree and tell a lie than he would stand on the ground and speak the truth. It is ingrained in his nature to be deceitful and dishonest.
This seems like such an easy thing to prove one way or another. The fact that it is being “fought” in the press makes me think that the State is wrong here, and tried to change the deal to their benefit using public opinion is a weapon. Whom ever is lying shoud have to pay all court costs if that happens. I suggest releasing the contract to the press and let them use their lawyers to go through it for free! lol.
very sensible… that’s probably what will happen in the end.
Give em’ Hell Lepage!
Lying LePage… One Term governor…..!!!!
Look If the Agreement was the same between East Millinocket and Millinocket and the East held up their end of the agreement and made their payment, why does Millinocket have a problem??
Exactly! We don’t hear about East complaining..Do we?
I am wondering if Lepage is the man that he said he was when he was elected. His wife lied and got caught and he is just getting caught doing the same by the sounds of things.To work in Augusta and hold a seat you need to have two faces. Look at the mess Bruce is in down in Georgetown. That must be the reason that he is not running for US Senate. But then again he may do a great job.Learning that lying is way to go.
Millinocket, the town that thinks it is entitled to high paying jobs just because they are Millinocket, VS The Big Lying Bully. I love it….I won’t need to watch the soaps for a while….
This is why local control fails, it is reactive and nonproductive. This should be handled at the state level.
State level? Those in Augusta can’t figure out how to drain water from their boots, holding them upside down!!
{“The governor is robbing our children of their educational opportunities in this town just to operate a dump, a dump we do not own,” Madore added.}
Did you really think he would stop bullying children just because Halloweeen was over?
Had enough of our Tea Party Governor?
Nope! He’s just the man for the job. I’m personally sick of wimpy libs and tree hugging saps from Mass.
i’m sick of wimpy cons.. hows that shoe fit?
Funny how $216000 is just about what Lepage is paying the daughter he hired to work in his office.
The town manager and his misfit councilors are not qualified or capable of creating a vision for the future of Millinocket. They have stood by and watched as their jobs headed out of state and out of the country and never came up with a single idea of how to create economic viability for citizens they supposedly represent. It is hilarious that so many hours are wasted in useless meetings fighting over crumbs. The state of Maine, the weakest state in the U.S., is a laughing stock all around the country. Millinocket should get off life support and die a natural death. Do not resuscitate.
There are plenty of states going through the rust-belt decline. The shipyards and steelmills of Baltimore are gone, the steel mills of Pittsburgh, just about everything in Michigan and northern Indiana has gone away.
The question is how to go on from there. Detroit is a shattered city, while Pittsburgh appears to have picked itself up and gone along. One of the things that seems to have helped Pittsburgh is that along with the steel mills, the nineteenth century steel barons who built the city also built great universities. University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and Carnegie-Mellon have big endowments, good faculties, and have been able to compete with the “fancy” schools for really smart students. Pittsburgh doesn’t have any steel mills anymore, but they do have computer/software companies, and it has become an attractive place to live.
Baltimore has Johns Hopkins University, which is a very big time medical research organization. They also have the harbor, and Chesapeake Bay, so they can draw tourists. A problem with Maine is that the Barons who owned Maine build papermills here, and the universities elsewhere, probably closer to where they actually lived, and where their friends and peers would be impressed.
Maine has always been a backwoods backwater with some pretty scenery and good fishing. The idea of turning the University of Maine into a world class research university is laudable, but there’s no money for it. They have an interesting project going on around offshore wind, and that might do some good, but it’s pretty small potatoes.
a brain fart is all they’ve had
Millinocket is dying a slow and painful death and none of the town fathers knows CPR!
Millinocket hasn’t and will never get over the gravey train days of GNP. I remember back in the 70’s when janitors were making $50k a year. The unions killed the paper industry with their wage and benefit demands so now they want the state to pick up the mess. If I were to choose winners and losers on this one, I would wager that the Millinocket guys are lying through their teeth and jumping on the Liberal band wagon that lives to trash the Governor and create negative spin on everything in hopes of winning back the Blaine House.
In the 70’s janitors were making 50k a year??? Seriously do the math on that claim. 40hr work week, 52 wks a year, that would mean a janitor was making $24.03 an hour in the 70’s. I cant believe you get people to actually believe your allegations. I know for a fact, my dad worked 18 years, left the mill in 1987, was a millwright and left a little over $17 an hour. I’m sure if someone was making $24 an hr sweeping floors and a millwright was making $17 working much harder there would of been bigger issues at the mills, to me your claim isn’t even logical. I think what your forgetting is that people worked hard and worked a lot. A janitor could make 50k a year in the 70’s but what you left out was the amount of overtime one would work at time and half to make what they made. Nice numbers to make people sound like they got rich for doing nothing. I however will not dispute with you that unions killed industries in general not just the paper industry.
I think that most of our recent Governors must cringe when they hear the word Millinocket. In fact, I cringe when I hear the word Millinocket. Yucky all the way around.
On another note is Pelletiers Restaurant still for sale for some ungodly boondoggle? How many million dollars are they asking for that place? Talk about trying to cash in. No restaurant in Millinocket has numbers that would even come close to making that number feasible.
millinocket now is like a dirty word in the papers .im a shamed to say i live there i tell people that ask me were i live I tell them Im from Medway
You know, it really is. Nothing but sadness and woe coming out of there since the paper industry became, well, what is it now? Is it fair to say a “shadow” of itself. The leadership of the State seems to spend an inordinate amount of time and resources trying to resuscitate what is really just a sleepy backwater in the Maine woods. I mean no disrespect. I grew up in a sleepy backwater in farm country up north.
Maybe you should move there so you won’t have to lie.
Politicians dont lie!
They just tell the people what They want to hear!
OMG, LePage is a liar and a bully. Say it isn’t so….
lapage a lair yell the town officials are worse than that .They’ve all ways been sinnce the town manager has been in town
“LePage seemed to dare the town to sue and even threatened to pull his support for a plan to run a natural gas pipeline to the Katahdin region, an important part of the mills’ survival and LePage’s economic plans for the region.” If true, interesting from a governor who trumpets his support of bringing business to Maine in addition to promoting natural gas as an alternative to electricity.
i hope Millinocket has to pay the hole amount back to teach them a lesson.
The sun rises, the sun sets, and Paulie alienates more people.
So now, Governor LePage is also a “Supercertified Maine Assessor!” The Town must immediately lower the assessment of the paper mill? Let’s see the appraisal he made to back up his claim that the mill’s assessment is too high.
Perhaps you need to give your name and number so the reporters could call you to get the “true” facts.
Another LePage misstep that will end up costing the taxpayers of Maine.
Lepage lie???? Never! Why would politicians lie? They are saints. Pardon me while I barf.
Don’t forget that the Millinocket town council members are also politicians.
LePage thinks he is a tough guy and likes to push people around and intimidate them. He believes he can do or say anything he wants and get away with it. I don’t care if he has done some good things or not! Its time the people set him straight and used the recall vote to take him out of office and let him know that he gets absolutely no benefits or pension, just unemployed! If Maine does not have the recall vote, now is the time to establish one and use it! The recall vote must exist in every branch of Government to protect the people and there rights!!!!!!
Lord, just get us to the next election so we can vote ourselves a new governor.
So typical as always in Millinocket, it’s someone else’s fault they are yet again in another mess. A once great community reduced to begging for scraps and handouts.
I am with them…he is a hot-headed bully…..
Let’s be real. The children won’t suffer. The teacher’s paychecks will suffer.
Resulting in worse education for the children. They are the ones that suffer the most.
“LePage also thought town leaders overvalued the Millinocket mill, Bennett said”So instead of hiring his own appraiser and getting the FACTS Lepage “thought” (wow, what an oxymoron) that the mill was overvalued. As for the rest of LePage’s statements, put up the documents that prove your position or SHUT UP!
And this surprises anyone, This so-called Govenor has been bullying since he took office…..Guess he learned it from Daddy LePage. Any Doubts…..ask an employee of Mardens.
It’s all Roxanne Quimby’s fault.
LePage and the Millinocket Town Council were made for each other: dumb and dumber
Well said!!! ha ha ha ha ha…Love it!
“Publish, and be damned!”
Got him!
Simple fix,close the landfill lock it up tight until the state comes clean with their money.
Simple fix – let the state seize the landfill and properly administrate it.
Maine already owns the landfill. We gave $17 million to the Mill former owners from Canada. The purchase is completely illegal under Maine law but that never stopped Lepage before.
I mean let the state manage it, the local area doesn’t seem to be able to.
The state is managing it, the towns were suppossed to maintain the facility. Basically they have to plow, patrol and inspect.
We didnt give 17 million to nobody, we assumed that much in liabilty. A new operator could also assume that liabilty as part of runing it for a profit landfill. Kinda like Cassela did in Old Town.
no would-be buyer wanted the estimated $254,100 annual cost of operating the landfill and the estimated $17 million it would cost to close and cap the landfill and contain leachate from the Dolby II and Dolby III portions of it. The people of Maine will have to pony up the money and that is illegal under Maine law.
All these comments calling Lepage names, or belittling the people of Millinocket, what do they accomplish? I mean other than making the comment writers feel important? If anyone really wants to know what the agreement was, and then provide facts instead of insults, just send FOIA requests to the governor and the town and review the documents. Isn’t this what the BDN reporter should do before throwing red-meat to the piranha population that posts here?
To those who feel that the people of Millinocket are “whining”: Let me take your sources of revenue (your job and your investments) away from you –wouldn’t you get a little whiney too?
Lepage doesn’t respond to FOIA requests. I have been trying to get his US citizenship papers, birth certificate, passport and proof of his collage degrees for a year and his office simply refuses.
Arrrr, lookin’ for the White Whale are yea? What do you suspect? He is pulling a Barack Obama? And he isn’t even eligible? Will you be the ordinary citizen who brings down a sitting Governor!?
Considering how many times Lepage has favored Canadians over Americans I think it’s a fair to ask which country he is loyal to.
Tinfoil hats i do believe is what the progressives were advertising when we ask about the great divider.
17 million of our tax dollars are being sent to Canada in direct violation of the Maine constitution.
Specifically, Article IX, Section 14 of the Maine Constitution requires that before the state can take on any liability greater than $2 million, the Legislature must approve of the action by a two-thirds vote and then be approved in a general election by Maine voters
Who favored INEXCON?
It was never theres, it was the companies. That thinking is part of the problem, things change. Come up with a new direction or fold up the streets.
This is a pretty strong, as yet unproven, accusation that the BDN seems very excited about splashing on its front page. Whether or not Gov. LePage lied seems to be a “he said – he said” debate right now and will hopefully be resolved soon to the public’s satisfaction.
Of one thing there is no doubt: this headline and article is clearly a breach of journalism ethics as part of a daily campaign to undermine this Republican Governor by the leftist editors of the Bangor Daily News. FOR SHAME!
True, but the headline got you to read the story, didn’t it. That’s the only thing that matters to BDN.
They were happy to get the mill opened back up because of the deal Lapage made and now dont want to live up to there end of the deal , cut all the funds off and let them work it out on there own.
I have a simply solution – support your State Democratic Party and purge Maine of these anachronistic conservatives who are trying to suppress all real progress in the Maine and the nation.
When will people realize that they are all the same. It doesn’t matter if they are a democrat or republican. They are all bought and paid for. None of them have the welfare and/or interest of the regular people in mind. There is only one incorruptible politician – Ron Paul.
The sooner people realize this, the sooner we can get all the crooks out of our politics and rebuild. Demolish both parties, get the money (lobbyists) out of politics, and start over neutral. What the heck do we need labels for anyway? At this point, I refuse to vote for any incumbent other than Ron Paul.
Well, you got your name right to be a Democratic supporter – “Weneedbigbrother”…How can I make this stuff up when you are doing it for me?
Because I’m the real deal and believe in what I say
So you are definitely for a strong government and centralized control?
Yes – and every industry in the country from the oil to car industry, banks, and healthcare needs to be nationalized; and all natural resources.
Public Policy Polling news release that went out Thursday: “Maine has voters’ remorse on Governor LePage.” Should we be surprised?
Recall LePage !! Maine’s biggest mistake….
If LePage is serious about eliminating fraud in the state, why doesn’t he leave the state?
Lying?? Politicians don’t lie do they? Shame on the leaders for the towns for trusting him and not getting it in writing. They should all resign for not doing their job. Whoever the attorney for the town is should be disbarred if he or she was involved and did not get the gov. to sign the agreement
Politicians? Lying?
I am shocked. Shocked . . .
Isn`t this the town where the school board threatened the town council with a lawsuit if they didn`t pony up their money for the school.
Yup! Conlogue is always stirring the pot. No worries though…his time is coming.
one and done for Lepage.
I predict this landfill will only make a “go of it” by accepting out-of-state waste at the expense of Maine taxpayers and Maine’s unique environment.
Even then, it’ll be expensive for out of state truckers to drive past Juniper Ridge, about an hour’s drive south, unless they end up importing Canadian waste.
I hope LePage won’t follow in John Baldacci’s sodden footsteps with Johnny’s Rape of Juniper Ridge!
olympia snowe your state needs you.
Olympia has had enough of the bullsh*t, time for her to go take a nap
Typical liberal BDN SPIN, LAPAGE LIED! Lets spin this to keep up this discourse!, To heck with the facts in this case, To heck with Millinocket mafia mentality, Its all Lepage’s fault. Whatever, you liberals love it and thats what sells the papers! GO GET EM PAUL!
The first paragraph in this article Omits quotation marks. Creates a Reporters SPIN.
this is not the type journalism needed . this is just another stab at the Governor. The writer actually gets a Paycheck for this shoddy reporting. Very sad.
You are 100% right. This counrty and unfortunately this state is media driven. Total bs, Bdn is a liberal mouth piece rag and they love it that way. Expect more quotation marks to be removed in the future.
Who purchased the landfill?
Who wanted him to purchase it? The same people that wanted the mills to run. Everyone acts like Lepage is the bad guy. Hes the guy that saved the mills from being scrapped. If Millinocket isnt grateful enough to kick there share in to run as East has so be it. But dont ecpect much from the Lepage.
AMEN!
Your a class A politician Medway4me. You couldn’t answer a simple question without asking a question and then rambling on about something yet to be published. I on the hand will answer your questions. Who wanted him to purchase it, every single person affected by the mills being started back up, from Millinocket, Medway, East, Chester, Woodville, Patten, you name it. ALL the communities.
Now I’ll do a little rambling without bashing either town. Just because we want something doesn’t mean we should get it. You must be the parent that cant say no to a kid, buys whatever they want. From what your opinion sounds like, you want me to applaud Mr. LePage for finding a buyer for the mill, making a deal to get it done to make us happy and now come back and want more. Dont think that the mill sale wasn’t as big of a deal to Mr. LePage and his ego as it was to the Katahdin Region. No one said we weren’t grateful, but sticking to our agreement is something we stick with. We agreed to a one-time payment of 50k which is clearly documented for public viewing. What isn’t available is a document supporting LePage’s claim that we agreed to 50k a year each and every year.
For those who were wondering why LePage wants to be able to work in secrecy…now you know.
Hope Adrienne was given a pat on the head and a biscuit.
I would surmise the Town of Millinocket could file a lawsuit against the office of the governor for the misuse of power. Consult a lawyer and see how many other towns have had issues and form a consortium lawsuit. Attorney with experience in suing government officials and not affiliated with State of Maine.
God Bennett is annoying.
Boohoo, it’s always everyone else’s fault and I’m perfect and you guys are biased, wah wah wah.
I guess it is time for those involved to put the black and white on the table so that the rest of us can see it. The deal is done so no harm should come to any parties and then and only then will we know the truth. All this he said she said is a crock till i see the black and white.
The state has assumed a large liabillity by taking on this dump. The communittees should be thankful of that but you don’t hear that from them all they are interested in is the money. This area in my opinion is a welfare drain on the rest of the state. Maybe some to this nations top economist are right let the private sector fix what is wrong with our economy.
No spiffy new “Open for Business” sign from the guv to Millinockett, I guess.
He lies !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Knowing the BDN, the full scope of the story has not come out. I would hold judgement until said time.
Millinocket leaders have been getting an up close and personal introduction to the governor’s style all week. I wish my town could get an introduction to the governors style and get an industry back.
So let him break the law. Then when the legislature flips to the Democrats in November they will have grounds for impeachment.
The only answer here is ,lets see the signed agreement if there is one. We the people of Maine should demand all papers turned over by the end of this month. I also would like to know if there is a law about spending more than 2million dollars withouy a referendum?
Finally, an article that will get the moonbats to stop complaining about the fake Rush Limbaugh issue. Maybe if we can get LePage to order his administration to kill an American citizen we can then start talking about the real issues we face – like Obama’s almost daily attacks on our constitution.
In “Augusta Language” it’s called “Bait and Switch”!!
“LePage lied about landfill partnership”… Must be the way business was accomplished in Waterville…Hmmm… wonder if Marden’s was the same?
Can anyone really expect anything less from LePage? He has been this arrogant even before he was elected which still makes me scratch my head on that one….
If Millinocket were a car, we would call it a money-pit that is way past it’s prime…and take her to the crusher…
Millinocket is a beautiful area…Unfortunately it’s leaders are the ones way past their prime with their outdated ideas and philosophies.
I agree entirely!
but even old cars have values, clean em up, shine em up and they are worth twice as much as they currently are. Bad analogy.
Not when the frame is rusted out Mr. Leavitt. Any old Mainer knows that…
So what part you want to claim as the frame? Machines still work, mills still standing.
Every day, this rag of a news (opinion) outlet has to bash the governor. Keep cutting, consolidating, and saving Governor. BDN’s welfare recipient readers are just looking for more handouts.
LePage lied, no more free ride! Come on everybody, LePage lied, no more free ride! pff.
LePage once again shows he is an adept confidence man, ready and willing to employ whatever bait and switch tactics are needed to fleece constituencies.
People before politics, never! Most transparent administration, only until he took the oath and since then he has only sought to keep the people more and more in the dark.
If you want to understand the rhetoric, just remember the slogans are all precisely the opposite of what you are actually getting. We already know that this term is about politics before people and shrouding the governors workings in secrecy. Knowing that, any and all should set their expectations accordingly. Practically speaking, this means: DON’T TRUST HIM.
They had no business holding the sessions in private to begin with…unless the issues delt exclusively with personnel or private contract matters, which they obvisouly did not, the closed door sessions were illegal!
The reality is; we the people of Maine need to start our own campaign to have Governor LePage impeached. He has done so much damage to our state and we cannot afford to allow him in the Blaine house any longer. Everyone needs to get on the phone to our elected officials, write letters, protest in front of his office and get this viper out of office. We need to stop allowing him to continue on the destructive path that is destroying the State of Maine, our schools and the hard working people. He has no leadership abilities his only knowledge is how to bully, lie and devastate. I hope that everyone will stand-up and help rid our state of this man that acts like a locust out to devour all that is good.
Just a little late to the party eh? FYI Maine has been broken for years….Lepage didn’t start the fire…he’s trying to put it out.
His colorful language and his policies that actually address wise governing of Maine are a refreshing change from the policies of the failed Baldacci administration. That bunch of political patrons gave us…
* – The failed Mainecare computer billing system that cost us over $100 million in direct costs (and probably twice that in real costs) for absolutely nothing.
* – A former prominent Dem legislator stealing the MTA blind while no one in the Baldacci administration had a clue what was going on.
* – The sale of the state liquor business to politically connected Dem insiders at a fire
sale price (we’ll be paying for that one for years to come).
* – The “loss” of a hundred million from DHHS without a trace. The clueless Baldacci administration didn’t even seem to care where it went.
* – The sale of prison system property to connected public employee in a no-bid deal that once again the clueless Baldacci administration was unaware of at best.
* – The failure that is Dirigo health that was going to… Insure ALL of the uninsured
in 5 years (FAIL), Lower premiums for everyone (FAIL), be self supporting and NEVER require any tax money (EPIC FAIL).
Compared to the previous administration LePage is a freaking genius.
YES! You hit it out of the park oldmainer. I understand why Maine is in the pickle it’s in reading a lot of these posters comments… lord help us all.
I admire LePage for doing the dirty work the liberals have been kicking down the road for going on 40 years now. He is like the “bad cop” parent the spoiled teenager will eventually appreciate, but right now loathes because he is saying “parties over” and time to live within our means.
Run it like business. Yeh. Isn’t there an anti-bullying law in this state?
Since LaPage and Bennett have been in running affairs of the state all we hear about in the papers is what a sorry the state finances are. Who do they think they are king and queen ? The people who voted for LaPage must have regrets, seeing all the crap he’s causing with the help of Bennett.
The town manager & council have finally met their match. It’s humorous that they are calling Lepage a liar. Sort of like the pot calling the kettle black…
You are 100% right. I read these posts and laugh, these people will believe anything the BDn puts in front of them. Bleeding heart liberals love to bash Lepage even if he has the state’s best interest at heart. All they want to do is cry foul instead of geting the facts first. If they only knew how foolish they are. Thanks for your post, it is refreshing to see a realist point of view for a change
Where is the legally binding paper on this “agreement”?
no city, no town, nobody is safe from Lepage’s wrath, if we don’t organize to remove him from office, this nightmare is just going to continue.
a politician lying? never!
Economic development commissioner Phil Congdon must have been speaking for Lepage when he told a northern Maine audience that they could “forget about waiting for economic development opportunities to come”…. and that if they wanted economic development they needed to “get off the reservation….”
I think Conlogue has met his match.
this is one of those things he would like us not to to be able to find out about
Lordy, lordy, another one of Bennett’s tirades, will she ever stop?
LePage is far from a genius! He has done some good, but he is nothing but a bully… Yes, past administrations have done poorly and made many mistakes, but LePage has placed a black mark on the state. Anywhere I go outside of Maine, people laugh at the idiocy, ignorance, and incompetence of LePage and think all people in Maine are idiots under a slave master. He has represented the State of Maine very poorly!
Isn’t it nice to imagine a State of Maine without Paul LePage as governor.
Not saying I like LePage, but honestly, was it any better before him?
Obviuosly, NO.
agreed! I do have to say I do respect a man who sticks up for his beliefs are and looks to cut state funded agencies that have been misused and abused far to long.
I much rather look forward than backward.
I believe LePage lied and it isn’t the first time either…..the man is a crook. Recall LePage !!
Maine doesn’t have a gubernatorial recall process. In March, 2011, Rep. Cynthia Dill (D), Cape Elizabeth, proposed “to direct the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee to report out a bill establishing a process for recall of the governor, legislators and constitutional officers, who include the treasurer, secretary of state and attorney general.” (BDN, March 31, 2011) The Republican majority in the Maine House of Representatives killed her proposal by setting it aside without action.
Cynthia Dill is a fraud. Whatever she has done is moot.
The point of my comment is not who proposed recall legislation, it was to inform two people who stated that a recall of Paul LePage should be initiated that Maine has no recall. I have seen similar comments from other posters, who are not familiar with this aspect of Maine law. It is a fact that the proposal was immediately stifled by the majority Republicans.
The recall proposal included legislators and Constitutional officers as well as the governor.
Personally, I favor a recall provision and hope that a future Legislature enacts one, regardless of which party occupies the Blaine House or has a legislative majority.
I think it is time that the progressive attackers on here pony up and run for governor.This has been a coordinated effort to stop a man that is brave enough to try and fix this state.Every department he starts in to save money this admin has run into the public money into private pockets crowd.As usual on this blog the progressive party that has been pocketing public money come out with their daily party sheet to attack and save their payday.I only hope the people of Maine realize what the past admins did to this state and what lepage is trying to fix.With a media backed bunch of hacks that have been bleeding the state dry.Mr lepage’s task is an up hill battle.All it takes is to look beyond the personal attacks and the spin this crowd has assaulted onto augusta it should be very clear.
Well Well…So LePage is finally being exposed for the Felonious Fraud he is!! NOW PLEASE MAINERS..START THE RECALL PROCESS IMEDIATELY!
Maine doesn’t have a gubernatorial recall process.
In March, 2011, Rep. Cynthia Dill (D), Cape Elizabeth, proposed “to direct the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee to report out a bill establishing a process for recall of the governor, legislators and constitutional officers, who include the treasurer, secretary of state and attorney general.” (BDN, March 31, 2011)
The Republican majority in the Maine House of Representatives killed her proposal by setting it aside without action.
It is hard to back either LePage, who constantly lies for a living or Milli which has become a DEAD ZONE. Maybe a working dump with Out of State Trash can bring Milli back to it glory days.
There should be a relatively simple method to determine who is telling the truth and who is lying.
A contractual agreement such as the one being described would have to be approved in a public motion by the Millinocket Town Council. Furthermore, the LePage administration would have a copy of the agreement.
If there is a Town Council motion and/or a signed contract that was approved by it, then Millinocket town officials are lying. If neither exist, LePage is the liar.
I know of a banker in the area during the early 80’s who can attest to the fact that a janitor, possibly with some over time, was making $50k. It was verified income from an application. Seems it proved to be unsustainable for GNP, the auto makers and Government entities alike.
Well who can trust that banker who goes and takes information obtained by a private application and spreads it around? I think with the unsustainable for GNP you might want to research that a little more. See where GNP invested there money and see how GNP made mistakes with their stocks. I bet you find that it wasn’t the hourly wages, it was what they did with their business that lead to the the fall down.
Lets do the math. A janitor in the 80’s was not making 15.00 an hour straight time. How much overtime do you think he was putting in to earn $60,000. That same janitor would be making around $11 dollars an hour in the year 2012 except there will be no over time. Your banker friend who does all his math without being any smarter than a fifth grader probably has made a lot better money in less hours.
“””During the meeting, Conlogue released 24 pages of correspondence between
state and town officials that he said proved that Millinocket only
agreed to a one-time $50,000 payment toward the landfill. In none of the
documents do town officials speak of a partnership.”””
I see this allot, do someone a favor and they expect it for the rest of their lives.. Is this what is happening here? Maybe this is why Liepage is trying to hide his work papers.. How much more of this buffoon are we gonna have to take? And the mess with DHHS just too much..