MMA interviews candidates for governor; LePage declines to participate

AUGUSTA — In a pair of more than hourlong interviews released on video Wednesday, two of the three candidates running for governor in Maine answered questions about the state’s relationship with its cities.

Democrat Mike Michaud and independent Eliot Cutler sat for the interviews with members of the Maine Municipal Association, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that represents 487 of the state’s 492 towns and cities.

MMA released six video excerpts, three for each candidate, ranging in length from 17 minutes to 24 minutes.

Incumbent Republican Gov. Paul LePage did not respond to an invitation to meet with MMA, according to Eric Conrad, the association’s spokesman.

In separate interviews, Cutler and Michaud answered a range of questions from members of the MMA board of directors touching on everything from international trade to state revenue-sharing with cities.

“What I’ve seen over the last three and a half years with the current administration just tears me apart,” Michaud said, answering a question on why he wants to be governor. “The divisiveness, the partisanship and the failed policy.”

During his interview, Cutler said one of the reasons he is running is “very, very personal. I’m motivated to run because I owe the state of Maine a great, great deal.”

He said his grandfather at the age of 12 fled Russia to escape conscription in the the czar’s army when he turned 15. He put down roots in Bangor and built a business and a family.

Cutler said he wants to be governor because not all Mainers are afforded the same opportunities to acquire a good education and lift themselves up through hard work that he and his family had.

Both candidates elaborated on the efforts they would take to improve the state’s relationship with its cities and how they would improve the relationship the governor’s office has with the state Legislature.

Cutler said he likes lawmakers and city councilors and anyone who is willing to run for public office because they are “fundamentally good people who want to help.”

He criticized both LePage and his Democratic predecessor, former Gov. John Baldacci, for failing to provide good leadership.

“For the last 11 years there has been an absence, indeed a vacuum, of positive leadership,” Cutler said. “There’s been an absence of independent ideas, bold leadership that would stem and should stem not from someone making a campaign contribution … but ideas and leadership that stem from a commitment to the welfare of the people of the state of Maine to economic growth and opportunity in the state of Maine. That’s not there.”

Cutler said he intended to provide that type of leadership as governor.

Michaud said he has a proven track record of working with both major political parties to solve problems. He said LePage was wrong to suggest government should be run like a business.

“Government is not a business,” Michaud said. “Government should be run efficiently and effectively, and as governor I will be making sure that happens.” He said he would restore respect to the legislative process and hold regular meetings with lawmakers from both parties.

Michaud said LePage’s leadership style “is a big part of the problem we are facing today, and I know that for a fact. Because I’ve (heard from) businesses in Maine and outside of the state of Maine that are not happy with the attitude this current administration has portrayed.”

Alex Willette, a spokesman for LePage’s campaign, said in an email message he believed the governor was unable to participate in the meeting because of a scheduling conflict. Willette later said LePage’s official governor’s schedule was booked for Aug. 1, the day MMA had asked him to attend their interview.

Conrad, with MMA, confirmed the interviews took place in August, Cutler on Aug. 1 and Michaud on Aug. 28. Conrad said both interviews had been scheduled for the same day weeks in advance but Michaud had to reschedule because of a conflict with his congressional schedule.

Conrad said MMA began its communications with LePage’s campaign staff in March and had received several messages back acknowledging the campaign had seen MMA’s request. Conrad said correspondences with LePage’s campaign staff about the interview ended in July, when LePage’s campaign staff simply stopped responding to MMA’s messages.

“They never said, ‘No, we’re not interested,'” Conrad said. “The contact just stopped.”

He said MMA held similar interviews with the candidates for governor in 2010 and all of the candidates, including LePage, participated. Conrad said he couldn’t comment on whether LePage declined because of differences MMA has had with the governor’s office and suggested that was a question for the LePage administration to answer.

“We invited the governor and we wish he would have come,” Conrad said.

Willette provided a copy of a message from LePage’s campaign schedule coordinator, his daughter, Lauren LePage, dated July 23 that read, “At this time, Governor LePage cannot commit to participating in your event.”

LePage last week refused to participate in a forum on energy issues in Portland after complaining that the format of the event featuring the governor, Cutler and Michaud had been changed at the last minute to resemble a debate.

Organizers had arranged for the candidates to sit beside each other on stage, but the format was simply a presentation by each on their ideas and not a debate. LePage suggested the event was being turned into a debate, but organizers said that was not their intent.

sthistle@sunjournal.com

: Democrat Mike Michaud, left, and independent Eliot Cutler, candidates for Maine governor, as they appear in a set of videos released by the Maine Municipal Association. The MMA interviewed Cutler and Michaud in August on the state’s relationship with its cities and towns. Republican Gov. Paul LePage, running for re-election, declined an invitation to participate in the interviews, which were held at separate times.