Civil Update

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Today I learned that the Maine Senate has appointed a new business council. I have added links to the list that the government provided. Here it is


Members of the Business Advisory Council are:

Larry Grondin                         Grondin Construction

Cathy Manchester                 Cathy Manchester Team (realtor)

Tim Varney                            Varney Agency (insurance & bonding)

Scott Hawthorne                     Mathews Brothers (manufacturers of Acrylic Windows)

Morrill Worcester                    Worcester Wreath ( sends wreaths to Arlington Cemetery)

Jason Levesque                      Argo Marketing (customer services)

Ginger Duryea                        CN Brown (Retired)  Big Apple Food Stores and Red Shield 

Wayne Hamilton                  Hamilton Marine (retail marine supplies)


Also today, I submitted this online to the Senate President concerning the statute passed in 2013 making changes to the way that bond questions are posted on the ballot which over rides constitutional requirements

Dear Senator Thibodeau.

I would like to request that you sponsor a bill to repeal the re-write of §152. Ratification of bond issue; signed statement, which makes compliance with the Maine Constitution optional, while emphasizing non-compliance with the same.

The Maine Constitution clearly states that certain fiscal information is to accompany bond questions on the ballot. It also states that statutes passed which are repugnant to the constitution are not lawful.

The statute passed in 2013 places that fiscal information "outside the guard rail" which means outside the voting area. Where I voted there was no notification of the fact that the information is not to be found on the ballot. Was I supposed to leave the voting area to go find the information and then re-enter the voting area? Unlikely I would have been able to do that and so I was forced to cast my vote in ignorance of the fiscal information needed to make an informed decision.

After the election I did my own research to find the missing information. I found it in the treasurer's Report to the Legislature. It is very short:

In June 2013, Maine had $104.5 million in outstanding Authorized but Unissued Bonds. In November 2013, voters ratified $150 million in additional bonds. The total Authorized but Unissued Bonds now amountto $254.5 million. Treasurer's Bond Update to legislature

The fact that the legislature would go to such great lengths to keep this information off the ballot leads to only one conclusion. The legislature does not want the public to be aware of this fiscal information.

Although laws are legal until challenged and in practice applies to laws passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor which are repugnant to the Maine Constitution, it is also true that both the legislature and the Governor have taken oaths of loyalty to the Maine Constitution and so should right this wrong done to the Maine people by repealing this bill and honoring the constitutional standards for Bond Ratification, whereby none of the bonds voted in in the last election are ratifiable due to the fact that the fiscal information did not accompany the bond questions.

I trust that you will tend to this matter as a high priority.

This action taken by the Maine State legislature and signed by Governor LePages harkens back to the recommendation by a board of industry called in by Governor Longely to lay the foundation stone (Maine Development Foundation & Maine Capital Corporation) of Maine's unconstitutional corporate state. In the report on the Maine Capital Corporation, the heads of industry made this recommendation:

2, eliminate the requirement for a local referendum on municipal bond issues.

This statutory rewrite of the Maine governing system took place less than a decade after the Home Rule Amendment was added to the Maine constitution granting municipal governments the authority to act as  economic development agents.

By establishing central management of the economy, the legislature and Governor were granting this authority unto the state through the establishment of  the unconstitutional state corporate network linked to private interests in "public private relationships"

Article VIII.

Part Second.

Municipal Home Rule.

Section 1.  Power of municipalities to amend their charters.  The inhabitants of any municipality shall have the power to alter and amend their charters on all matters, not prohibited by Constitution or general law, which are local and municipal in character.  The Legislature shall prescribe the procedure by which the municipality may so act.

Section 2.  Construction of buildings for industrial use.  For the purposes of fostering, encouraging and assisting the physical location, settlement and resettlement of industrial and manufacturing enterprises within the physical boundaries of any municipality, the registered voters of that municipality may, by majority vote, authorize the issuance of notes or bonds in the name of the municipality for the purpose of purchasing land and interests therein or constructing buildings for industrial use, to be leased or sold by the municipality to any responsible industrial firm or corporation.