November 7, 2012 – LESSONS IN MEDIOCRITY

Here’s a post-2012 Election tip for my friends in Biddeford:

Don’t bet against Mayor Alan Casavant.

Sure, I know…Casavant narrowly lost his bid for a fourth and final term in the Maine House of Representatives for the District 137 seat on Tuesday night.

While Republican Bill Guay certainly deserves a lot of credit for his win, it’s far too early for Casavant’s detractors to begin celebrating and waiting for his eventual ouster from the mayor’s office next year.

Why?

Because Casavant’s numbers actually showed improvement.

First, let’s remember that Casavant won his first bid for the mayor’s office in a landslide last year, capturing more than 62 percent of the vote against a well-known incumbent.

Let’s also remember that Casavant was the anti-casino candidate in a city that overwhelmingly wanted a casino, which was being championed by Casavant’s opponent.

Let’s also not forget that Casavant won three consecutive terms to the Maine House., nor forget that he trounced his House seat challenger in the June 12 Democratic Primary.

Before we get to the numbers here, it should also be noted that the city’s voters overwhelmingly rejected three proposed municipal bond projects and that the city’s taxpayers just got hit a few months ago with a heavy tax increase.

Logic would suggest that Casavant should be political toast. Under his watch, Biddeford taxpayers took a big hit.

Furthermore, House District 137 is actually composed of Biddeford’s coastal neighborhoods and the town of Kennebunkport, a Republican community if there ever was one.

Last year, when he made his first run for mayor, Casavant decimated his opponent in Ward One by earning 727 votes.

One year later, in his next bid for office, Casavant received 871 votes in Ward One, a better than 20% improvement.

In fact, when just considering the city of Biddeford, Casavant beat his opponent, 1667-1,030….nothing to sneeze at, folks.

Casavant’s detractors were overjoyed when they learned of his narrow defeat on Tuesday night. City Councilor Melissa Bednarowski clapped her hands like a little girl who just got a pony for Christmas, and fellow Democrat State Senator Nancy Sullivan — who is soon to be termed out of office and was defeated by Casavant in the June 2012 Democratic primary — chortled at her table in the Wonderbar restaurant on Election night.

Is Casavant’s loss to Bill Guay on Tuesday a sign of things to come? I asked Sullivan. “I think so,” she replied.

“Would you run against him as mayor next year?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Sullivan replied, leaning forward from her table. “As they say, I don’t have any plans, but I’m not ruling anything out.”

It should be noted that Sullivan is certainly not happy with me, especially since I called her out earlier this year for a rather nasty attack ad she ran against Casavant during the primary.

“I remember,” she told me, her eyes narrowing on my jugular…”and I will get even.”

Wow, I thought. Here’s a woman I once described as petty and vindictive, saying she will “get even” with someone who had the temerity to criticize her.

People before politics? Hardly. Personalities above all else? You betcha.

Sullivan, a lifelong Democrat, would rather see a Republican win than a fellow Democrat who beat her in the primary. understandable, I suppose…sort of like former Mayor Joanne Twomey, another vindictive and particularly nasty politician from Biddeford.

In February, just months after being humiliated by Casavant in her bid for a third mayoral term, Twomey was at the city’s Democratic Caucus meeting, telling members of her party how she was the real Democrat. And here I thought she was just trying to make a political comeback by challenging fellow Democrat Paulette Beaudoin for the District 135 House seat. Democrats ultimately stuck with Beaudoin.

And Twomey? She put up a lawn sign for Beaudoin’s Republican opponent. Hmmm…real Democrats vote for Republicans. I get it.

I wish Mr. Guay the best of luck. By all accounts, he is a decent, well-respected, hard-working man. He seems like a natural fit for a citizen Legislature.

My only advice for Mr. Guay? Watch out for some of those Biddeford Democrats! They can be vicious.

Then again, they may be some of your strongest allies.

The city of Biddeford is a lot of things; among them it is a college town that is home to the University of New England, a liberal arts college nestled along the banks of the Saco River.

In numerous conversations this evening with city election clerks and poll workers, I heard repeated stories about record voter turnout and incredible same-day voter registration statistics among UNE students.

It’s nice to see our nation’s young people get involved in politics, I only wish they actually cared a bit more about the community that serves as their temporary home.

Why do I say this? Why am I so callous?

Well, maybe it’s because I think college students, especially, ought to be a bit more “educated” on issues of national, state and local importance. Our nation’s college students represent our future. They are the up and coming leaders of tomorrow, but apparently can’t be bothered to invest a small measure of time in their host community.

How do I know this? Just look at the 2012 Election Results.

Even with a perfunctory review of the numbers, it becomes quickly apparent that the students cared about only two issues: the presidential election and a statewide referendum question regarding marriage equality.

UNE is located in Biddeford’s Ward One, the predominantly coastal and more affluent section of the city.

In Ward One, 1,445 voters cast ballots regarding Marriage Equality, not including 59 blank ballots.

In Ward One, 1,496 voters cast ballots to choose the next president, not including 8 blanks.

But what happened when these voters were asked about who should be their state representative in the Maine Legislature?

Hmmm…. there were 97 blank ballots

How about the Maine Senate? 173 blanks

How about Local Bond Questions regarding road pavements? 228 blanks

How about the local school budget? 138 blanks.

Ok, so maybe most voters don’t drill down that far…but let’s compare the number of blanks on those election issues against some other neighborhoods in the same city, like my neighborhood…

State Senate: 72 blanks (a difference of 99 fewer blank votes compared to Ward One)

Paving Bond: 143 blanks (a difference of 85 fewer blank votes)

Local School Budget: 69 blanks (a difference of 99 fewer blank votes)

Across the board, Ward One had a higher number of blank ballots than any of the city’s other six voting wards (both in actual numbers and as a percent of totals)

For better or worse, Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant is also serving as a representative in the Maine House of Representatives. He is a Democrat. He lost by a margin of just 8 votes to his Republican challenger. Wow…what if just a few more students had cast a vote in that race???

Many of the students, including a young woman from the neighboring town of Kennebunk, used only their UNE student ID as a means of proving residency in Biddeford. But they did have to swear an oath to certify that they had not voted anywhere else.

Out of curiosity, how is it that college students who can wait in line 36 hours for the latest I-Phone or score coveted Dave Matthews concert tickets months before a scheduled concert not be able to register for voting until the actual day of the election?

Nah, it couldn’t be they want to wait until the last possible minute in order to avoid scrutiny. They really do care what’s happening in the world. They just forgot that Election Day was creeping up on them.

Maybe we should require you to register to vote when you buy an I-Phone or some concert tickets. Wouldn’t that be convenient? Then they would not have to rent so many passenger vans to vote. Then they would not have to put such a strain on our strapped city resources. Then, maybe these educated kids might be able to fill out the entire ballot.

You may call me a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.