Exile in Guyville aka “The Bodwell Incident”

The Biddeford City Council voted 5-4 Tuesday to reject Mayor Alan Casavant’s nomination of Joshua Bodwell to the Charter Review Commission.

But despite Mr. Bodwell’s over-inflated ego, the decision had very little to do with him.

Allow me to explain by starting with this news flash:

Mayor Alan “Let’s negotiate the best deal possible” Casavant never wanted to see a racino in Biddeford. No way, no how . . . despite how his campaign massaged the issue.

But City Council President Rick Laverriere and Councilors David Bourque, Melissa Bednarowski and Roch Angers were just champin’ at the bit to hit the one-arm bandits at a proposed racino complex on some city-owned land.

It should be noted that Councilor Richard Rhames was adamantly opposed to the racino, but likely joined forces with the “gamblers,” as a way to protest in principle something only he could understand.

And they all voted to deny Bodwell the opportunity to spend several weeks in a brightly-lit room with eight other people who think it would be really cool to review and tinker with the 3,654-page document known as Biddeford’s city charter.

It should also be noted that Roch Angers, despite his support of the racino, worked very hard on Casavant’s campaign. Angers says he voted against the nomination because he had serious doubts about how well Bodwell, a former newspaper reporter, who was an outspoken critic of both Mayor Twomey and the proposed racino, would gel with other members of the Charter Review Commission.

As a former newspaper reporter and an outspoken critic of former mayor Twomey, not to mention my ego and bad temper, I have my doubts about Angers’ rationale.

Most people in Biddeford, with the possible exception of Richard Rhames, his wife and a few of their friends, could not care less about the city’s charter or about the collection of dorks who want an opportunity to edit the charter for grammar and clarity.

But the majority of Biddeford’s voters cared a whole lot about the racino issue, overwhelming voting in favor of building a slot-parlor resort on a chunk of a city-owned land, hoping to cash in on new tax revenue and the promise of “jobs, jobs, jobs.”

Before we go any further, let’s pause for a bit of disclosure.

1.) I was appointed (not elected) to a previous Charter Review Commission (2006); and by default, am a dork. (Just ask my wife, Mayor Casavant or Richard Rhames).

2.) I ran Alan Casavant’s campaign and all the messaging for that campaign came across my desk before it ever went into an ad, flyer or press release.

3.) I have an over-inflated ego and was a newspaper reporter.

Biddeford’s voters are very smart, and they knew that Casavant was opposed to a racino. But they also trusted him when he said he would negotiate the best deal possible if the proposal was approved by the voters.

I know Alan Casavant, and he is a man of his word. I also know that the mayoral election hinged solely on the racino issue.

Although former Mayor Joanne Twomey was the racino’s most vocal cheerleader, and although the racino was approved by more than 60 percent of the city’s voters, the same margin of voters decided to oust Twomey for someone who would, at best, hold his nose if the racino was approved.

But it cannot be ignored that 38 percent of the city’s voters didn’t want Casavant to be the mayor; and many of them are still angry about what happened in November, when Casavant cruised to victory and the rest of Maine’s voters rejected the racino.

Therefore, the Bodwell Incident was much more an opportunity for Twomey loyalists and racino supporters to flex their muscle and show the bearded guy with the gavel who really runs Biddeford.

That’s why I told Casavant last week that he should pull Bodwell’s nomination off the table. He did not have the council votes he needed.

Casavant listened to my advice, and I almost thought he was going to take it. “You will be weakened before you get out of the gate,” I told him. “There’s no upside here. Nix Bodwell, and find someone else because you have bigger fish to fry.”

I was thinking like a campaign strategist. But Casavant decided that he wanted to be a good guy. He wanted to be loyal to the man he appointed.

Bodwell knew the council was lining up against him. He could see it just as plainly as everyone else, but his ego is apparently too precious to be sacrificed by falling on his own sword and taking one for the team.

For Bodwell, it was not about the Charter; nor was it about doing what is best for the city. It was about him.

Only time will tell if Bodwell learned anything at all from Casavant’s gesture of loyalty and sacrifice; or whether he is prepared to go to war over a rather meaningless and perfunctory political appointment.

Sidebar:

After shutting down Bodwell, the council then voted 8-1 to approve Casavant’s replacement nomination of former City Clerk Clairma Matherne to the Charter Review Commission.

After successfully leading the charge against Bodwell, Newbie Councilor Bednarowski cast the sole vote of opposition against Matherne’s nomination. She seemed a bit shocked that no one else joined her in opposition.

Bednarowski would likely say she cast that vote in principle, protesting so many appointments to a board that is supposed to be comprised of elected officials.

Maybe, but maybe not.

Final analysis:

For those of you keeping score at home, the score at the bottom of the first inning:

City Council, 1 – Mayor Casavant, 0.