AUGUSTA – Lewiston resident Lucien Gosselin won an unanimous vote Wednesday from the Legislature’s Transportation Committee to continue serving on the board that oversees the Maine Turnpike Authority.
Gov. John Baldacci nominated Gosselin for a second seven-year term. The nomination now heads to the Senate for confirmation.
Speaking to committee members before they voted, Gosselin talked of the importance of the turnpike to the Lewiston-Auburn area and the state, calling it the “lifeblood.”
Gosselin’s interest in the turnpike goes back to 1982, when he was Lewiston’s city controller and he urged the retention of tolls on the turnpike. As a board member, Gosselin pledged to ensure that the turnpike “operate as economically and efficiently as possible” and that tolls be “reasonable, raise no more revenue than necessary” and be fair to all users.
When tolls increased last year and the round-trip cost to go from Lewiston to Portland went from about $2.50 to $3.10, Gosselin said he received complaints from two people. One member of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce has since questioned whether the amount Lewiston-Auburn-area residents have to pay in tolls is equitable. Gosselin said the board is looking into that complaint to see if anything can be done.
Several people spoke for Gosselin’s reappointment at Wednesday’s public hearing, including Baldacci spokesman Andy Cashman; Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston; Rep. Robert Berube, R-Lisbon; chamber President Charles Morrison; and Bob Thompson of the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments. Rotundo said Gosselin “has an analytical mind like a steel trap,” and Morrison called Gosselin the best possible pick for the job in the state.
No one spoke in opposition.
Gosselin is the former city administrator for Lewiston, and is president of the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council. He was first appointed to the board in 1998 by former Gov. Angus King.
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