Editor’s note: This is the final installment in a series of profiles about Maine’s gubernatorial candidates, their views on the issues and how their plans will impact York County.
SANFORD — It’s been said more than once that Gov. Paul LePage doesn’t mince words. So he didn’t hesitate Friday afternoon when he spoke about what he wants for Maine and Mainers.
“Smaller government, bigger paychecks,” he said from a conference room at New England Truck Tire, a south Sanford firm that makes retread tires for large trucks.
LePage, 66, the former mayor of Waterville, who triumphed over a childhood fraught with violence from an abusive father and homelessness to become governor of the Pine Tree State, is looking for a second term.
He toured the retread facility that his government helped with a $200,000 business assistance grant, one of several stops in a day that began in Lewiston and continued on to Yarmouth before heading to Sanford.
He is challenged in the race by Democrat Mike Michaud, who represents Maine’s second congressional district, and by independent Eliot Cutler, an attorney and businessman. LePage didn’t talk about either of them ”“ except for a brief reference to Michaud and his vote against a natural gas bill ”“ during an interview with the Journal Tribune Friday.
LePage spoke about natural gas, an energy source that he believes, along with hydropower, that will translate into lower utility costs for Maine industries and homeowners, which will also help grow the state’s economy ”“ if only there were more of it. While LePage acknowledges merits to wind and solar power, he is firm: Maine needs 24/7 reliability, he said, something those two sources just can’t deliver.
Instead of removing dams on Maine’s rivers, he said, the state ought to be improving them to boost hydropower ”“ and creating fishways to ensure safe passage. He said Maine has the 12th highest electric rates in the nation, at about 15 cents per kilowatt, while Alabama’s is 4 cents.
He’s bullish on natural gas, and said Marcellus shale gas from Pennsylvania needs to come through New England.
“We can cut the cost of heat and utilities by half” if that happens, the governor said, expressing frustration that efforts to advance natural gas have been difficult.
“In two years, we’ve put in 300 miles of pipeline in Maine, and there’s no gas in them,” he said.
LePage said his administration has and will continue to help businesses cut through red tape, and offer incentives for locating or expanding here. And he said he’ll continue on with programs to help young people further their education and get jobs. Acknowledging a graying workforce in some industries in York County, LePage said he’s working on a scholarship program to assist young people headed into the fields of science, technology, engineering and math ”“ commonly called STEM. Another program would see tax incentives for employers to pay off an employee’s student loan, over time, with the stipulation the employee commit to staying with the job for a specific period of time.
LePage has been a supporter of the new Sanford High school and Technical Center project, of the York County Community College program in south Sanford that trains machinists, and of the partnership between Biddeford Center of Technology, Thomas College and Northern Maine Community College that educates young people and helps provide a skilled workforce, he said.
He said the bridge year program his administration started in 2011 that provides juniors and seniors in high school with the ability to take tuition-free college courses has received little attention, but has grown from a few dozen teens in its first years to 250 today.
LePage, who has championed welfare reform, said a new law that mandates those registering for welfare work, volunteer or study to develop job skills will make a difference.
Married, LePage has five children. He worked various jobs throughout high school and college, and had a career in industry before entering the realm of politics.
He has been endorsed by former President George H. W. Bush and first lady Barbara Bush.
Both LePage and former Gov. John Baldacci cut revenue sharing to Maine’s municipalities. LePage said Friday revenue sharing is intended to lower property taxes.
“Communities are pushing property owners to the limit,” he said.
He’s an advocate of a more regional approach to municipal and school administration, and said he would work with municipalities that are willing to consolidate those functions. He pointed out that Maine has 185,000 students and 127 school superintendents, while Florida, he said, has 2.7 million students and 56 school superintendents. He said parts of the country that adopt a regional approach “are winning.”
LePage pointed out that Maine had a $94 million surplus last year, with $4 million from the budget and the rest, he said, from the half-a-percent increase in the sales tax. He said had the tax been left at 5 percent, the surplus might have been about $10 million ”“ but the boost to the economy would have been greater.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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