AUGUSTA, Maine — More than 20 lawmakers and other Mainers who testified to the Government Oversight Committee about Gov. Paul LePage’s role in leveraging taxpayer dollars to force House Speaker Mark Eves out of a job at Good Will-Hinckley were unanimous in their condemnation of LePage.
Their requests of lawmakers ranged from launching impeachment proceedings against LePage to calls for the hiring of a special prosecutor. Throughout numerous attempts by witnesses to discuss other LePage controversies, committee chairman Sen. Roger Katz, R-Augusta, reminded people repeatedly to keep their comments focused on Good Will-Hinckley.
Some said that having LePage as the state’s governor ruins the pleasure of working here.
“The last few years have given me pause to say whether I’m proud to call Maine my home, given the actions of the current administration,” said Brian Hodges of Vassalboro. “A governor’s oversight is the responsibility of the Legislature. You are the authorities. This committee is to the governor as the district attorney is to a citizen. … Let’s make Maine a place that we’re proud to call home.”
Cushing Samp of Saco agreed.
“This governor has spat in the face of our constitution,” said Samp. “The people of Maine elected a governor, not a demagogue. It is up to this committee to do something about it.”
Chris Myers Asch of Hallowell had similarly strong words about LePage.
“This is not politics as usual. This behavior is more at home in a dictatorship in a third-world country,” said Asch. “This is a politician who thinks he has no constitutional bounds. … If he can take down the speaker of the House without consequences, what’s to protect the rest of us?”
Rebecca Halbrook of Phippsburg, who has spearheaded an effort to convince Mainers to ask LePage to resign, said LePage’s intimidation of lawmakers and everyday Mainers is damaging to society.
“This is not simply about LePage and Eves,” she said. “It’s about each and every Mainer in this state and whether they have the right to live their lives without looking over their shoulder in fear that they might offend the wrong person in power. … This is simply about standing up for our democracy.”
David Travers of Westbrook make a similar point.
“It raises the question as to whether or not someone can be entirely objective about saying whatever they want to say,” he said. “I wonder even now if legislators are looking over their backs. Is LePage listening to what I am saying? Will anyone say anything to my employer? … As a citizen in what I thought was the democratic state of Maine, quite honestly I’m scared.”
