Maine Gubernatorial Visits — Part III

Another update from Ben Porter on the effort to educate the next Governor of Maine on the importance of our bridges:

Subject: Two Final Gubernatorial Candidate Schedules
Date: Wednesday, September 8, 2010 5:49 PM
From: Save Our Bridges!

This note provides you with the schedule for the final two gubernatorial candidate visits here in Kittery, and provides a quick summary of the positions of the candidates who have visited so far.

On Wednesday, September 15th, Independent Candidate Kevin Scott will be at the Weathervane Lobster in the Rough on Badgers Island at Noon. He will be focusing on listening to all of us about the issue with the bridges and our frustrations with MDOT and the current administration.

On Friday, September 17th, Independent Candidate Shawn Moody will be at the Weathervane Lobster in the Rough on Badgers Island at 1 p.m. The focus in this meeting will be the same as that for Kevin Scott.

In each case I will take the candidates on a quick tour of the bridges to give them a flavor for the area.

We have heard that Governor Baldacci will come to Kittery sometime during the middle of the next week. We do not have a commitment as to when he will be here. We will keep you posted.

We have had good participation in these meetings so far, and I hope we can continue with the final two.

In the order of their appearance, this is a summary of the positions as I understand them:

Elliot Cutler, Independent – He promised to solve the problem with the bridges, but did not commit to a particular solution. In terms of funding, his primary focus is cutting out programs and inefficiencies within the state government first, but recognizes the need for bonding of projects of this type. He is willing to look at a variety of ways to create revenue streams that would pay the bonds off.

Libby Mitchell, Democrat – She is in favor of replacing the Memorial Bridge with a vehicular bridge. She favors getting the two bridges on different life cycles so that we are not faced with the extraordinary costs we now face. She believes that bonding is necessary in order to pay for the bridge, but did not identify how the bonds should be repaid.

Paul LePage, Republican – He said he would take up New Hampshire on their offer to front Maine the money to replace the Memorial Bridge. He wants to put the two bridges on different life cycles. His primary focus for paying the cost of the bridge is through the reduction of State expenditures. He is opposed to creating any new taxes or tolls to pay for projects of this type.

Please put these two dates on your calendars. I look forward to seeing you there.

Ben Porter
Save Our Bridges!
www.SeacoastBridges.com
A Coalition of Seacoast Local, Portsmouth Historical Soc., Seacoast for Change Grassroots Network,Kittery Business Association, York County Chamber of Commerce, KEYS, Am. Legion Booma Post, and others

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