After a lengthy hearing — and pleas from the public to investigate more — the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee on Thursday voted to take the unusual step of sending subpoenas to two members of Gov. Paul LePage’s staff to learn more about a threat to withhold money from Good Will-Hinckley after it hired Speaker of the House Mark Eves as its president.
This is a needed and serious step, as LePage increasingly shows his disregard for state rules and laws. The committee will subpoena the governor’s counsel, Cynthia Montgomery, and senior policy advisor, Aaron Chadbourne.
LePage has effectively admitted he threatened to withhold state funds from Good Will-Hinckley if the nonprofit organization followed through with its hiring of Eves, a Democrat whom the governor has repeatedly said was ill qualified for the job.
Yet he has stood in the way of a fuller investigation. First, LePage’s lawyer argued that the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Oversight didn’t have the authority to look into the matter. State law clearly said it did. The governor’s office then cited pending litigation — Eves sued LePage after Good Will-Hinckley rescinded its job offer to him — in declining to answer questions from OPEGA or to appear before the Government Oversight Committee. LePage also accused the Senate chairman of the committee, Roger Katz, of launching a “ witch hunt” against him. It’s not the first time the governor has attacked Katz, one of the most respected members of the Senate.
This stonewalling from the governor’s office left the committee, if it is to do its job, no choice but to issue subpoenas. On Thursday, the committee voted 8-3 to do so. The three opponents were Republicans. Two Republican committee members, Katz of Augusta and Rep. Richard Campbell of Orrington, voted to issue subpoenas.
The most disconcerting comments about the bullying of the Good Will-Hinckley board of directors came from Sen. David Burns, who opposed issuing the subpoenas. The Republican from Whiting said he didn’t agree with all the governor’s actions, but that the board shared some of the blame for what happened. The school should have known that hiring Eves would upset LePage, Burns said.
This is a horribly disturbing standard and precedent to set, especially given how easily LePage is upset. Should the Department of Environmental Protection not take legally required enforcement actions because they might upset the governor? Should lawmakers not submit legislation that LePage will dislike? Worse, should private citizens worry that bumper stickers for causes LePage opposes will get them speeding tickets?
Should Maine set up a “Does this upset LePage?” board to review big decisions that could incur the governor’s wrath?
Of course not. It is up to LePage and his staff, to know that he cannot use the power of his office to intimidate others. Failing this recognition, the Government Oversight Committee must continue gathering information, as it plans, to determine if the governor and his staff crossed legal boundaries in their efforts to ensure that Eves did not become the next president of Good Will-Hinckley.
