MILLINOCKET, Maine — The town could proceed as early as next week with a legal complaint against Gov. Paul LePage for $216,000 in state aid the governor ordered withheld from the town, Town Manager Eugene Conlogue said Wednesday.
Conlogue said he awaits a letter from Town Council Chairman John Davis formally authorizing the legal action. Conlogue said he believes it might arrive as early as next week.
“We want to make sure we have all our bases covered as we go from one step to the next,” Conlogue said Wednesday.
Councilors have been discussing whether to proceed with a lawsuit or other form of legal action against the LePage administration over the funding since March 8. One of the hurdles they have had to overcome is state legislative permission to proceed with a claim, but Conlogue said town attorneys have found a way around that requirement.
“We believe we no longer need that with the type of case we have,” said Conlogue, who declined to comment further on that aspect of the issue.
Jeffrey Piampiano, an attorney at the Portland law firm of Drummond Woodsum who was hired to handle the matter, declined to comment Wednesday on the pending legal action.
The fight began when LePage claimed that town leaders broke their pledge to pay $50,000 annually toward the estimated $250,000 annual cost of the maintenance and operation of the Dolby landfill in East Millinocket used by the region’s two paper mills. He issued $504,000 on March 7 instead of the $720,000 the town is owed in Sudden and Severe Impact funds.
As part of the $250,000 deal that state officials were engineering, East Millinocket pledged another $50,000 in cash and services to complement the $150,000 the state would have offered.
Sudden and Severe Impact funds are given by the state to municipalities to cushion against steep tax losses — in the towns’ case, the closure of their paper mills. The LePage-engineered sale of both mills to a New Hampshire investor was crucial to the East Millinocket mill’s restart last October, restoring more than 200 jobs.
Millinocket officials angrily denied LePage’s claim. Saying LePage had connected unrelated issues and acted illegally, town leaders produced a string of correspondence that showed they never agreed to more than one $50,000 payment. East Millinocket officials, who also said they never agreed to fund more than one payment, received the first of several payments in late March.
Adrienne Bennett, LePage’s spokeswoman, did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment on Wednesday.
The Millinocket School Committee and councilors met in executive session last week to discuss the legal complaint. Councilors stopped an earlier discussion on the issue when it became clear that they didn’t know whether committee members favored proceeding. Conlogue declined to comment on that meeting.
The only way to deal with a bully is to smash them in the mouth. The majority of the State of Maine is behind you Millinocket. God Speed.
The irony is that it’s these working class, guns and God towns that stuck us with this lousy Governor in the first place. I sure hope they can apply this learning during the next voting cycle.
Which town or city will be the next in line to be lied to or bullied by the pompous self-anointed dictator? If someone doesn’t start standing up to him now we might just as well send our town leaders to Augusta right now to line up in front of the Blaine House front door to receive their beatings and our increased local property taxes. Of course we can all send him a message of our own in November. Vote a straight DEMOCRATIC ticket and take Mr. LePage’s power away.
Talk about elitist BS. You don’t know what you’re talking about. This is a town that believes in unions, something that Republicans and big business are bent on destroying. It is also not a town of crackpot religious extremists.
2010 election results Millinocket 46.1% Cutler; 34.3% LePage; 14.1% Mitchell
East Millinocket 44 .3% Cutler; 32.4% LePage; 17.5% Mitchell
Do you really check your facts.
I fully agree. This case is not about the money, but the fact that the Gov had lied and bullied everyone in the State He has shown he stands for the corps in the state and I guess the rest of us can kiss his butt. If this Gov is let off the hook what about the ones who follow? I hope this serves as an example to the rest of the government as to what happen when you lie to the voters!!
Ha ha ha. Millinocket’s town leaders are a bunch of give me give me whiners! The majority of Maine is by no means behind them. They just want money to build another ATV trail so they can go tearin’ it up on welfare cash! Whether you like LePage or not it would be hard to take the town’s side.
When the fall elections come you will see who is behind them or LePage.
Your immature answer and name reflect accurately of both our ignorant governor and yourself.
Mean-spirited, short-sighted, insulting, disparaging the poor, and not very intelligent.
Is this actually governor LePage himself posting here?
Lapage is like the honey badger he fears nothing
except the truth.
One of these days his pants are going to burst into flames!
Lepage “IS” a Sudden and Severe Impact!
-=-=-
“Adrienne Bennett, LePage’s spokeswoman, did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment on Wednesday. ” I wonder if the B.S. is getting to be to much for her to bear?
Her Nose is getting so long that she cant answer the Telephone!
It keeps dialing 911 all on it’s own!
Aside from the DHHS commissioner, Ms. Bennet has the worst job in the State. Can you imagine having to try to spin the junk rhetoric and abject stupidity that comes out of Penguin? Yikes.
LMAO!
How much longer are we the people going to put up with this pathalogicle liar. It is coming to a point where we can’t trust him. The guv is the corrupt one. He should be impeached and run off to florida as soon as we get done with the tar and fethering.
I agree. And the region also needs to get rid of Rep. Herb Clark who sided with the governor and Republicans on the most recent budget (which slashed funding to the poor, the elderly, and children). It did nothing to address welfare fraud, which the governor and his tea party base have been whining about. Shame on Herb Clark.
Lepage hasn’t worked a day in his life so why should he care about the northern folks.
I’m glad you’re standing up for what’s right.
/////
The lawyers wi$$ win this suit…they always do.
Thank you Governor. Please continue to stop the corruption.
WoW!
Start with Poliquin, Summers, and Webster.
The longer that this goes on, and we can all see that Millinocket’s Town Manager is taking the time to do it right, the worse it’s gonna get for Paulie. Pre-trial preperation is what usually wins these types of case’s and given that the current AG is spending more time in running for the Senate, instead of paying attention to what he’s being paid for, the writing is on the wall for LePage. I hope that Millinocket does win, not for the money (thou it is the right thing to do) but to give Augusta a good hard smack in the cojoines and wake all of them up to see what happens when they decide to play ‘Simon say’s’ instead of showing some determined legislative leadership in the face of a overgrown bufoon who got elected in a moment of panic driven hysteria. Both House’s in Augusta showed that they had ‘enough’ of Paulie’s antic’s 3 months ago when they overode his veto threat on the Budget Bill. It’s time they did it again.
When this comes up, and we can all see it happening, and Paulie starts crying in his beer, well, it’s time that the Legislature made it very clear that they don’t want to hear it and reach some kind of settlement with the 2 town’s, regardless of Paulie’s theatrical temper tantrum’s. It’s either that or Millinocket is gonna haul Paulie and Company into open court, put ALL OF THIS IN FRONT OF A JURY and then see where ‘the firework’s’ fly and what comes out ! The new fireworks law won’t be able to compete with this show, no matter how many truck’s of stuff they bring in !
Mike you mentioned the Atty. General spending time running for the Senate. The current Atty General is a LePage defender. Imagine what happens after November’s election when the Democrats take over in the Legislature and next Jan. appoint an Atty General who is not friendly to LePage. The investigations wil start and life will not be so enjoyable for Paul Richard LePage when he is held to account for his actions.
Go get ’em Millinocket. The only way to deal with a bully is to stand tall and challenge their tactics.
Lepage only did this to help his pals up at Brookfield Management of Toronto Canada. He illegally gave them $17 million Maine tax payers dollars in exchange for 600 good paying jobs.
We only got 125 low paying jobs but thanks to Lepage’s mismanagement we still have to pay the $17 million.
Why is it that media sources can never get in touch with spokesperson Adrienne Bennett?? Good grief, with today’s tech & media devices why is she never accessible?? Crazy…..
It is disgusting that LePage is causing a town to spend money in order to get money that is legally due them. Personally, I think that if the town wins the case, LePage should personally pay for their attorney fees.
A no win situation, the only winner here will be the lawyers for the Town of Millinocket. Though Millinocket due that money, if in fact the Governor has control over the rainy day fun which apparently this money comes out of it will be hard placed to get a favorable ruling. To base this lawsuite on a 3-2-2 vote does not bode well.
CORRECTION: that authorization occurred at the April 12 Council meeting and passed on a 5 – 2 vote. The 2 – 3 – 2 vote you referenced was for eating the $216,000 shortfall and dropping any other actions (such as the lawsuit).
Just take the money out of the Governors Pay…
Worse governor in Maine’s history and he’s still only half into his term.