More evidence that LePage is playing favorites with funding
by Gina Hamilton
According to reporting by Mike Tipping in the Aug. 6 Kennebec Journal, Gov. Paul LePage played favorites with more than just one town (which happened to have Republican representation). In fact, he offered assistance to five towns — Norway, Dover-Foxcroft, Eastport and Monmouth, as well as the already reported Livermore Falls — which are represented by Republicans in both the House and Senate.
None of the towns with Democratic representatives — Rockland, Bath, Belfast, and the already reported Skowhegan — got the same courtesy.
Adrienne Bennett, spokeswoman for LePage, said that all of the 11 towns that had requested funding were approached by the Department of Economic and Community Development about the possibility of qualifying for Community Development Block Grant loans as gap loans until such a time as the governor deemed it appropriate to issue the bonds, which were approved in November of 2010.
She said that at the end of July, Norway, Dover-Foxcroft, Eastport and Monmouth — the towns with Republican representation — qualified for the loans, while the other towns did not apply or did not qualify for the loans.
She could give no further information about the state loans, and Douglas Ray, spokesman for DECD, was out of the office until Aug. 13, so the New Maine Times was unable to determine why the Democratic towns did not "qualify."
Here is the timeline according to the governor's office:
- On June 7, LePage made public that he would not sell bonds at this time and encouraged town and city officials to find alternative funding.
- In early July, the developer of the Livermore Falls project proactively contacted the state to discuss potential solutions regarding the Lamb Block project.
- On July 16, LePage signed a memo to the Maine state treasurer committing to issue bonds in the amount of $400,000 on or before June 20, 2015, to the town of Livermore Falls.
- On July 18, the developer for the Livermore Falls project secured funding through the Maine Rural Development Authority.
- Department of Economic and Community Development’s staff has reached out to all 11 communities involved in the Communities for Maine’s Future program
- In late July, the towns of Dover-Foxcroft, Eastport and Monmouth qualified for loans through the Community Development Block Grant program.
Bennett said that the governor is under "no obligation" to discuss the matter with Rep. Jeff McCabe, D-Skowhegan, even though he approached the governor on behalf of the citizens of Skowhegan.
