The reason lawmakers in both parties are saying Senate President Beverly Daggett is abusing her power is simple.

She is abusing her power.

Daggett refuses to appoint members to the new Office of Program Evaluation and Governmental Accountability. Her actions have derailed efforts to get the agency up and running, and that’s her intent.

The audit program was created after serious accounting problems were discovered in the Department of Human Services. The Legislature designed a plan to put professional, nonpartisan assessors on the job of evaluating government programs, and allocated $300,000 for the work.

Daggett fought the creation of the panel, saying its powers are too far-reaching and it jeopardizes confidential information.

But Daggett is simply being an obstructionist.

More than 40 other states have agencies within the government charged with oversight. Maine, meanwhile, hasn’t had an organized review of its state operations since 1994. That’s too long, and the money problems at DHS and the Department of Education are the proof.

Sen. Edward Youngblood, a Brewer Republican, says he will introduce legislation requiring Daggett to make her appointments. But the Senate president remains obtusely coy, saying only that “We’ll see” when asked by a Sun Journal reporter if she would comply with the order if it passes.

That Maine has been operating without adequate governmental oversight and scrutiny is painfully obvious. At least part of the state’s ongoing budget troubles can be attributed to mismanagement and ineffective programs. The Senate and the House recognized this and went about creating a structure to attack the problem.

Far from the Senate president’s claim that her political opponents are trying to “blackmail” her, she is holding hostage an important component of better, more accountable government.

We support Youngblood’s coming effort to force the issue. It deserves the support of all legislators who want to improve state government.

Daggett, by her inaction, is subverting the law.


A nice ring


The civic center has a new name.

Colisee.

According to Assistant City Administrator and Interim Rink Manager Phil Nadeau, the name is pronounced Cau-lee-zay. Think the first part of cauliflower, add a little General Lee and then zay it with zest.

It’s a welcome improvement over the bland Central Maine Civic Center. Translated from French, the new name means “The Coliseum.”

That’s a pretty good fit, though we don’t expect to see chariot races.

Finally, no more confusion with the area’s other notable CMCC – Central Maine Community College. And we can remove one entry from the alphabet soup of names that grace our fair cities: CMCC, CMMC, AVCOG, YMCA, AARP, DHS, SBA, YWCA and CMP, just to name a few.

There’s no guarantee that Colisee will stand the test of time. With naming rights up for grabs, a new moniker may be just down the road. The hope from the management board is for Colisee to be incorporated into any new name, for example the Acme Colisee.

For now, though, Colisee has a nice ring to it all by itself.
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