PI councilors share concerns with LePage
WARM WELCOME — Gov. Paul LePage received a warm welcome during his first visit to Presque Isle since being elected last fall. LePage met with city officials at City Hall, discussing numerous topics, from transportation and school consolidation, to state regulations and the proposed bypass. Pictured here before the meeting, from left, are: City Councilor Bruce Sargent, LePage, Council Deputy Chair Emily Smith and Councilor Mel Hovey.
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Gov. Paul LePage spent the better part of last Friday and Saturday in Aroostook County, with one of his first stops being a one-hour visit with city and school officials to hear their concerns first-hand.
LePage arrived at City Hall around 9 a.m. Feb. 11, meeting in the Council Chamber with City Manager Jim Bennett; SAD 1 Superintendent Gehrig Johnson; Charlie Anderson, SAD 1’s business manager; Emily Smith, deputy chair of the Presque Isle City Council; and Councilors Randy Smith, Walt Elish, Mel Hovey and Bruce Sargent.
With a welcome by acting Council Chair Emily Smith, the governor opened the meeting by explaining the difficulties the state faces in the coming months, as state officials work to cut costs to lower the deficit, noting two areas of concern were the bond market and getting worker pensions and retirement packages under control.
“Quite frankly, it’s worse than we thought it would be when we took over,” said LePage. “State workers are under a hiring freeze and we’re encouraging those eligible to retire — those who are major contributors/knowledgeable are encouraged to stay on. The only jobs filled will be critical jobs, safety issues.”
LePage said winners in this year’s budget include education.
“There’ll be no cutbacks to education. In fact, there’ll be an additional $63 million for education,” he said. “For that extra money, we expect to get an awful lot from teachers. We need to have a better quality student coming out of (high) school.” Too many students going on to a college or university, he said, require remedial courses to get up to speed.
“At K-12, we’re not getting our money’s worth. We’re paying twice (for education); we need to figure a way to solve it,” LePage said. “I think we made the mistake that we’d prepare everyone for college. College is good but there’s nothing wrong with a vocational/technical (education). There’ll be jobs (in the future) and we need to train kids to do them.”
Emily Smith asked how the state can help force entities to share in the tax base, such as hospitals, universities and colleges.
LePage said in some cases, if it involves housing, a service fee could be charged, but currently hospitals and universities are exempt. He said a bill is in “the thought process” that would encourage such entities pay a service fee. He said he’s trying to make sure hospitals get funds owed them from the state.
“We’re trying to make sure they get paid, so they can pay their bills,” said LePage.
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
GOV. PAUL LePAGE visited with Presque Isle city and school officials during a visit on Friday, Feb. 11, at City Hall. Pictured from left are: City Manager Jim Bennett; Councilor Bruce Sargent, seated left of Bennett; Emily Smith, Council’s deputy chair, seated to the governor’s left; Councilors Randy Smith and Walt Elish; and SAD 1 Superintendent Gehrig Johnson. Also at the meeting but not pictured were Councilor Mel Hovey and Charlie Anderson, SAD 1’s business manager. During the gathering, LePage received input from participants on a variety of concerns.
Hovey asked LePage if he could help get the DOT moved to the Industrial Park, freeing up valuable property in the heart of town. The DOT currently is located on Spruce Street, parallel to Main Street — a location considered prime real estate by city officials.
“Could you talk with the Highway Department and see what deal we could make. We could provide them with a place at the Industrial Park, so we can develop that parcel and put it on the tax rolls,” said Hovey, with LePage agreeing to do so.
Hovey questioned why, with a focus on improving K-12 education, more wasn’t being done to address inefficiencies at the university level.
“I’ve been involved many years with the university system and think there’s a very fertile field for improving efficiency at the university,” said Hovey, offering the governor a packet that included Hovey’s testimony from an earlier bill of Sen. Sherman’s “that died in committee because the university pounced on it.”
“I think the university system is broken in a lot of places,” said Hovey.
LePage said the system does a “very poor job attracting kids from out of state, with a high dropout rate of 21 percent. They’re not providing quality students.”
Hovey said the “load factor was terrible” and that the University of Maine at Presque Isle typically only has classes “146 days a year.”
The governor noted Colby College in Waterville is a private institution that’s “as busy in the summer as it is during the school year.”
Councilor Randy Smith discussed agricultural regulations, asking the governor what his plans were on the issue and how to make the County prosper in the future. From rolling back regulations to addressing energy issues, LePage said steps are being taken to expedite rather than delay economic development.
Councilor Elish discussed the proposed bypass and what little progress has been made on the project to date.
“We’re still waiting for a determination on the proposed route. We’ve been patient in all this. Now after three or four years of study, there’s possibly one home on the route that might qualify for the Maine Historical Registry. That just came up and might delay it further,” said Elish, adding he’d be interested in going to Augusta to meet with the governor and the new commissioner of transportation to discuss the bypass.
LePage told Elish he knew what it was like dealing with an historical group — having done so as mayor of Waterville — and understood the delays involved.
Councilor Sargent — no stranger to the transportation business, having owned and operated a trucking company for nearly three decades — asked LePage what, if anything, could be done to make Maine a friendlier place for truck owners and operators.
“Hundreds of trucks won’t register in Maine because the DOT is ridiculous. We’ve lost hundreds of trucks in the County, not just because of the economy but the trickle-down effect from fines,” said Sargent. “(Maine’s) the worst state in the nation for trucks. Truckers are the working men of Maine.”
LePage said he’d be interested in hearing more from Sargent and that the new public safety commissioner “has a lot of common sense” and “wants to get the job done.”
“Any information you provide, I assure you I’ll read it,” said LePage.
Hovey asked if anything could be done to cut the amount of money the city pays to the county and state, since Presque Isle has a 24/7 police department — requiring little or no assistance from the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office and Maine State Police. The governor told Hovey the same thing he said he’d been told as mayor of Waterville.
“You use the jail a lot more than other communities do,” said LePage. “What you bring up is a very good point; the whole area of public safety needs review. Consolidation of jails needs to be looked at; some equity can come of that, and some serious inequities need to be looked at.”
Emily Smith asked for the governor’s thoughts on excise taxes and revenue sharing.
“Excise tax is detrimental to the state, but there are those who’d fight tooth and nail if you oppose,” he said, noting he’d like to see one of two things happen. “Either excise taxes should be restricted for restructuring/repaving roads — the true answer is to regionalize some of the public service issues.”
LePage said “revenue sharing, if spent correctly, needs to have as much sent back from the state to the communities (as possible),” adding, “home rule is very costly. (Community leaders) need to find ways to consolidate services.”
Johnson thanked the governor for the added funding available to schools in the coming year, noting SAD 1 “was on course to lose three-quarters of a million dollars.”
“Now we’re back to losing about a half million,” said Johnson.
LePage said some “very wealthy communities were getting big increases, while rural communities were getting big cuts. That’s being addressed.”
Johnson said his administration is dealing with cutting costs and increasing productivity, “but this formula is killing us.”
“Parts of the state that can afford it the least are hit the most,” said Johnson, adding the district’s cut numerous positions in the past year and it’s still looking at half a million dollars in cuts.
LePage said while mayor, he used “TIFs (tax increment financing) to our advantage, sheltering nearly $200 million.”
Johnson questioned school consolidation and how it affects schools like Ashland, which is penalized $67,000 a year.
“Those penalties will go away,” said LePage. “The systems that did conform — those superintendents have jumped off board. Through legislation, I think they’ll fight this. It doesn’t change the fact some of the poorest systems in the state are being penalized. (Consolidation) will drive them in the ground.”
LePage said the money has to follow the student.
“What I’m trying to do is provide money for the classroom and the student. I’d love to be in a position to pay 100 percent of the teachers, then let the
communities decide what else they need beside student/classroom/teacher,” he said.
Anderson, who works with three school units, questioned the high costs involved in the educational system, from energy to fringe benefits.
“The health insurance component and the monopoly that exists — what’s the possibility of getting that market opened?” asked Anderson.
“I want all government/state employees in the same program. Increasing the pool and having one basic administration fee will curb costs (due to a larger pool of participants),” said LePage. “I encourage all communities/schools to consider (doing the same).”
Following the meeting in Presque Isle, LePage and his wife took part in World Cup Biathlon festivities in Fort Kent, then returned to the Star City for the Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday night, hosted by the Aroostook County Republican Committee.
