As a citizen of Maine, a taxpayer and a former academic, I am deeply troubled by the governor’s defense in the lawsuit filed against him by Speaker Mark Eves (“Lawyer: Governor didn’t act on threat, has legal immunity,” Page B1, April 14).
If I, as a citizen, had called the principal of Good Will-Hinckley to complain about Mr. Eves’ selection and threatened to withhold funds, it would have been within my rights to free speech, but clearly ridiculous, since I have no power over the school.
When Gov. LePage called with that message, however, and threatened to withhold funds the school needed to get the matching funds necessary for its survival, unless it withdrew the job offer, it did have an effect, because of the governor’s executive power. Free speech is not the issue – the governor’s use of power is.
If he had called the principal and said, “If you give my preferred candidate this job, I’ll give you the funds you need to survive,” it would clearly have been a bribe. How is his threat to withhold state funding any different?
Finally, as a former university professor who has sat on many faculty search committees for publicly and privately funded positions, I know how thorough the process has to be and how carefully committees review their decisions. If the governor had concerns about Rep. Eves’ qualifications, he should have raised them during the search process, not after the decision was made.
This whole episode is another example of how low this administration stoops to wield power and influence, to the detriment of the state’s reputation and well being. The governor should use his power to create new jobs, not to deny them to one person through threats.
Susan Payne
Cape Elizabeth
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