If you can’t find Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant on Facebook, maybe you should have donated more to his campaign.
Actually, Casavant “took down” his “Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant” page after learning that it violated city policy.
“After I learned that, I wanted to set a good example,” Casavant said. “So I immediately took it down.”
According to Casavant, the city is expected to review its computer policy in the next few days. The standing policy prohibits city officials and city employees from having websites or Facebook pages to discuss, promote or opine about city business.”
Casavant and other city officials and employees may, however, have their own personal page but it cannot be construed as an “official” page either by reference or inference.
For the seven people in the United States who are not friends with Alan Casavant on his personal Facebook, maybe you should send a friend request instead of making assumptions that you were banned.
Well . . . apparently, I was a bit unclear last week, when I wrote about rumors regarding who Mayor Alan Casavant might appoint to a vacant city council seat.
Although I put to bed the notion that Casavant would nominate me ( or that I would accept such an appointment), some people have speculated that my wife, Laura, would be appointed.
Laura Seaver
I seriously doubt that Casavant ever considered Laura as an appointment, but just in case: I’ve got news for you, the bearded mayor and for anyone else looking to get freaky with my woman: My wife swapping days are over!
In her most recent column, titled Processes, procedures and proposed politicians, Molly Lovell Keely, editor of the Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier, dazzles us with her penchant for alliteration.
Keely also speculates that Laura Seaver, my Laura Seaver!, may be on some kind of short list of possible nominees for the council seat.
For more than four years, Laura served on the Biddeford School Committee.
During those four years, our family suffered immense pain.
The second and fourth Tuesdays of every month became a living hell for me and the boys. There was no one here to cook our dinner, to rub our feet, to read us our bed time stories.
That’s it! Enough is enough! I’m done!
I’ve put in almost 10 years of training Laura, instructing her about how to be a good wife, and I’m not going to share my hard work and resources with Casavant or any other elected official in Biddeford.
For the record, Laura is making progress with her good wife skills, and now sorts whites and colors for the laundry. She picks up my dry-cleaning when instructed. Her cooking skills are slowly improving, but her back-rub skills need work and lots more practice.
Hint: If you want a good wife, find a woman before she learns to read. It’s much easier to train them. Otherwise, they start getting all sorts of ideas about being independent and having their own opinions.
So that’s it. I hope this is clear enough. And I will speak to Brian Keely, reminding him that his wife-training regimen needs work.
Editor’s Note:Before all you women out there get your panties in a bunch, this is satire. It’s a short word and should be easy enough for you to comprehend. If you still have doubts, check the video below. Laura is the best thing to ever happen to me, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I do not deserve her.
It is Sunday morning, and I still cannot shake the groaning internal dialogue and the shivers that seized my spine less than 48 hours ago.
Maybe it was the photos: those black and white testaments to days of old, when men were men and felt invincible despite all evidence to the contrary.
Maybe it was the fruit punch or the company I was keeping on Friday night.
But whatever the reason, and regardless of the catalyst that triggered it, the ghosts were there and in full-force.
My mind drifted as I walked down Main Street in Biddeford under a cover of darkness sliced by a full-winter moon.
And it did not take long for the taunting to begin.
At first, it was just a collection of whispers; hard to distinguish above the din of passing cars and the music throbbing from an outdoor speaker at the Wonderbar Restaurant.
I tried to ignore the ghosts and their playful taunts, focusing my eyes on the young couple having dinner at a window table in Bebe’s Burritos, nodding to the young men who passed me on their way to the Oak and Axe.
But with each step along the sidewalk, the whispering became more defined and harder to ignore.
I kept my head down low, and took a long drag from my cigarette. I was on my way to meet Laura for dinner. I had neither the time nor the inclination to engage in this foolishness.
But the ghosts would not let go.
“It is a good night,” I heard one of them say. “Our city is back, there is life here.”
“Yas, baby,” another ghost responded between sips of Canadian Club whiskey from his hip flask. “We will not be forgotten or ignored by these punks.”
I pulled up my collar and steadied my course toward my waiting wife and the Chinese restaurant.
I could hear the sound of brawls from the Water Street tenement buildings, where tired mill workers were drinking warm Schmidt beers on a cold February night.
In a forgotten, smoke-filled, back room — in a building that no longer stands — Renald and Gilbert were arguing about Dempsey and playing their card game.
The stench of coal from the gasification plant was stifling. The second shift textile workers were counting the hours, and a line was gathering outside the Lightning Club, where young bucks combed their hair full of grease, and the school girls from St. Andre’s giggled with delight.
Further down the street, Sal Mineo’s name was illuminated on a marquee. The short-order cook from the Puritan — taking a quick cigarette break in an Alfred Street alleyway — nodded at me, before fading into the bricks of today’s reality.
I paused there for a moment — at the intersection of Alfred and Main Street, maybe a quarter-mile from the banks of the Saco River — feeling strangely content, despite my disquieting thoughts.
The ghosts — as many as 12 of them — kept walking, laughing as they continued down the street.
Only a few minutes prior I made an observation to others who also attended the opening of “The Way We Were” photo exhibit at the upper end of Main Street.
“When our economy worsens, our communities seem to become stronger,” I hypothesized. “Just like when the immigrants first came here in search of prosperity in the land of the free and the brave, we celebrate with one another and share common resources when not distracted by the lustre of individual gains.
“We know that we are okay, because we celebrate and commiserate with our neighbors, our friends and our peers.
“We are stronger, when we are together. We are better.”
Now, standing in the foyer of that Chinese restaurant, I could feel the warmth of the city streets.
And I could not help but think of my old friend Bob Dodge, a man I miss almost every day. A man who loved this city, the way a groom loves his bride on their wedding day.
It’s been three years since I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Bob’s infectious smile.
But I knew that Bob Dodge would be smiling tonight on the eve of La Fete d’ Hiver.
This kid who grew up in a Quimby Street triple-decker, left an unmistakable mark on his beloved hometown.
Who could be better to lead this community’s economic and community development efforts than a local boy inspired by the Kennedy brothers and motivated by sheer passion and will?
I looked down the street, watching those laughing, joyful ghosts as they faded over the diminishing hill just beyond my view. “Hey, Bob,” I whispered . . . wondering if he was there.
Maybe it was my imagination. Maybe it was wishful thinking.
But I swear, he paused and turned back from his group, waving to me in the darkness.
“It’s okay, Randy” he shouted back. “Go have dinner, relax. Me and the boys will be back.”
And with that . . . the ghosts disappeared, fading into the mid-February darkness, and I was left only with the lingering words of French poet Arthur Rimbaud:
“Qu’il vienne, qu’l vienne! Les temps dont s’eprenne.”
You know, . . .the humble Tom Clancy character who routinely saved the world from a cadre of evil forces while also writing a thesis about the importance of granola in the post-Soviet socio-economic structure.
Ryan Gavin
But what about the other guys named Ryan? The ones who were born in 1992 and grew up in Biddeford?
One of them made a short-lived bid to be Biddeford’s mayor, and the other one is wreaking havoc with the city charter.
Both Ryan Gavin and Ryan Fecteau are all of 20 years old, and, make no mistake: they are politically ambitious.
Nearly a year ago, Ryan Gavin, fresh off the heels of learning how to shave and graduating from high school, decided he was the most qualified person to become Biddeford’s next mayor.
After all, Gavin had all sorts of experience built up after serving two terms as an un-elected student representative on the Biddeford School Committee and a valid driver’s license.
Sadly, he was more qualified than many others who tried to become the city’s mayor. Karl Reed’s 2009 campaign comes to mind.
Ryan Gavin put on his best Sunday suit and a pair of sunglasses to make his public announcement from the back stairs of City Hall on a weekend afternoon.
Sadly, the media actually covered this event that included 11 people listening to a kid who looked an awful lot like John Belushi’s character from the Blues Brothers.
Jake was on a mission from God. Ryan was on a mission to save Biddeford from the clutches of Darth Vader, more commonly known ’round here as former mayor Joanne Twomey.
Gavin was smart enough to remove his sunglasses halfway through his press conference.
He was also smart enough to quickly figure out he had a snowball’s chance in hell of ever getting elected in a city brimming with old people who vote like clock-work.
Ryan Gavin eventually became an important part of Alan Casavant’s mayoral campaign team.
Let’s pause for just a moment and give out a shout-out to Ryan Gavin’s parents.
If I could be half the parent that Ryan’s parents were, I would be thrilled and could die feeling as if I accomplished something decent in my lifetime.
Ryan was an exceptional student at BHS. He is, today, an exceptional student at UMO.
He is polite, smart, articulate and — unlike many of his peers — he not only cares about what is going on in the world around him, he’s also willing to step up and fight for it.
Ryan Fecteau
All of which brings us to our next point: Ryan Fecteau, a 2010 graduate of Biddeford High School who also served as a student representative on the School Committee.
In November, Fecteau began what will probably be a long and notable political career by actually winning an election.
Fecteau was one of five people elected to serve as a commissioner on the city’s charter review commission, a previously described group of dorks who want to sit around and debate whether the city’s bylaws should include more semicolons.
There were seven slots available and only five candidates on the ballot, so it’s not like Fecteau proved himself to be a tactical genius.
But you still have to respect a kid who is willing to tinker with the city’s charter when most young men his age are doing more important things like getting laid or drinking beer.
But not everyone in Biddeford is happy about Ryan Fecteau’s grand plans for Biddeford.
In fact, during last weekend’s downtown winter festival, I heard some people complain that Fecteau is actually living in Washington DC and is unable to attend the charter meetings in person. I wish I had figured out how to do that.
His critics also said he was trying to ram through “a lot of stupid ideas.”
So, I picked up the phone and called him, half-expecting to get his receptionist who would politely tell me that Congressman Fecteau was in a meeting with the Secretary of Commerce but appreciates my concerns and will have a form letter sent to me.
Actually, Fecteau is a sophomore at Catholic University of America, and it should come as no surprise that he is studying political science.
Fecteau said he saw an opportunity to get more involved in Biddeford politics, and he seized it.
“It’s a rare opportunity, even though we had a charter commission five years ago, who knows when I would have another chance to do this work,” he said.
When asked his opinion about the city’s police and fire commissions (two of the charter’s more controversial items), Fecteau said he would like to see the two combined, if not eliminated.
So far, so good. The city of Biddeford has more commissions and committees than the state of New York.
Fecteau also says he will only miss one more of the commission’s seven monthly meetings.
“The telephone is not a new invention,” he patiently explained to this over-40 geezer.
Asked to explain one of his recent Facebook posts in which he described Joanne Twomey as “a real Democrat” when compared to State Rep. Paulette Beaudoin, also a Democrat who may be challenged for her seat by Twomey in the June 12 primary, Fecteau chose his words carefully.
“I don’t agree with Joanne on everything,” he said. “Paulette is my neighbor, and we’ve had many, many conversations. The Democratic Party has a plank for a reason. I just think Joanne would be a better advocate for many of the party’s core issues.”
Again, so far…so good, but then we started talking about one of his new ideas.
Fecteau would like to see voting day moved to Saturdays instead of Tuesdays. He thinks such a move will increase voter turnout, completely forgetting that such a move would require Biddeford voters to go to the polls twice in one week: once for state and national elections, and then again for local elections.
“Yeah, I guess that’s an idea that needs more work,” he conceded.
I also told him Saturday voting would infringe upon the voting rights of normal college sophomores who spend the bulk of their weekends drinking beer and getting laid.
But for all you old farts who think these young punks ought to learn how to tie their shoes before running around and changing our government, you ought to take another sip of your Geritol and consider this:
There was a young punk from Bangor who got elected to his city council at the age of 23 before becoming one of the youngest state senators in the Maine Legislature. That little twirp named Johnny went on to serve in the U.S. Congress before becoming Maine’s 73rd governor.
On the other side of the political aisle, another young punk from Bangor became the youngest person to ever get elected to the Maine Legislature. Tarren Bragdon, former CEO of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, has had a big impact on Maine politics and public policy.
And no one should forget the impacts of two of our nation’s youngest presidents, Republican Teddy Roosevelt (42) and Democrat John F. Kennedy (43). Of course, Roosevelt was not elected at 42 because he was sworn-in after President McKinley was assassinated, but still . . . the U.S. Constitution says you can be president when you’re 35; a senator once you hit 30 or a member of the House at age 25.
Congressman Fecteau?… it’s not as implausible as you may think.
Given the news of a recent resignation by a city councilor, there is one glaring item that members of the Biddeford Charter Review Commission should consider sending to the city’s voters for approval.
As it stands now, the mayor has the authority to nominate anyone to fill a vacated city council seat, regardless of when the vacancy occurs.
Although special elections can be costly, the curent charter gives too much power to the mayor, setting the stage for stacking the deck. Unless there is less than six months remaining in a term, the council should be required to call for a special election.
Unfortunately, Councilor David Flood’s sudden resignation puts Mayor Alan Casavant in an awkward position.
The mayor now has to nominate someone from Ward Seven to fill that seat. That nomination must then be confirmed by the city council. Thus, if the mayor chooses someone who is perceived to be on his side he runs the risk of a protracted debate and council objection.
On the other hand, if the mayor chooses someone who would not support his position, then the mayor’s influence with the council will be further weakened.
Thus, Casavant is screwed no matter which way he goes in the next 30 days.
Casavant ought to consider at least one of two approaches to solving this potential conflict.
Choice One: Nominate the individual who got the second most votes in the Ward Seven race in November, Bill Sexton. Under this method, Casavant would be signaling that he is at least attemting to follow the best intentions of the voters.
Choice Two: Ask the Council President and other councilors to offer suggested names for a replacement candidate. This method would go a long way toward ensuring a smooth confirmation and allow the mayor to bypass controversy and potential attacks of “cronyism.”
The next meeting of the Biddeford Charter Review Commission will be held on Feb. 23. More than likely, only a handful of people will attend. That’s fine, but don’t complain about the process unless you’re willing to change it.
It seems like rumors and speculation surrounding the sudden resignation of City Councilor David Flood is spreading faster than the odds on whether Ron Paul is actually still alive or in a cryogenic state to be unfrozen after Election Day.
Let’s put to rest a few of the more popular rumors:
1.) This is NOT the final phase of a secret master plan that was coordinated by me, Flood and Mayor Alan Casavant. There was nothing wrong with the three of us pooling our financial resources last month to purchase $500,000-worth of gift cards.
Our purchase of those gift cards is nothing to worry about. Pay no attention. There is nothing to see here.
2.) I shall not seek nor will I accept a nomination by Mayor Alan Casavant to replace Flood on the city council.
I spoke with the mayor a short while ago and we are on the same page: such a move would look awful and smack of cronyism. I called the mayor to offer him some suggestions about potential nominees and to ensure that our gift cards were not being used improperly.
Besides, I doubt the mayor would ever consider nominating me because I am actually taller, better looking and far more skilled at banging a gavel.
Furthermore, I would be an awful city councilor. I have neither the temperament or the desire to spend a bulk of my free time arguing about solid waste, graffiti or the merits of mounting a full-scale invasion of Dayton.
3.) I am NOT returning to my life as an under-paid, overworked weekly newspaper editor. I have not received a call from David Flood, nor have I received a call from the folks who own the Journal Tribune and the Courier.
4.) I did not start this blog as a precursor to Flood’s move to Current Publishing. Truth be known, Flood hates this blog almost as much as he hates me. I have it on good authority that he recently hired some professional thugs from Saco to take me out.
I am not concerned about Flood’s plan to have me assasinated while I sleep. I have well-armed body guards who accompany me 24-7 and a ferocious golden retriever, not to mention my stunning, Ninja-like reflexes.
If there is going to be a newspaper war in Biddeford (Likely), then you will find me on the sidelines, taking notes and pictures for this blog.
5.) If Donald Sussman ever offers me $5 million for an ownership stake in All Along the Watchtower, here are three things I wouldNOTdo with the money:
Buy a home within 1,500-feet of my present location
Buy a downtown building that needs serious and expensive renovations
Run for the Biddeford City Council.
I hope this clears the air. We return you now to your regular programming.
More breaking news… Biddeford’s own media mogul, David Flood, intends to resign his Ward 7 seat on the Biddeford City Council.
In 2007, Flood sold the Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier and several other weekly newspapers that he and his wife published as part of the Mainely Newspapers Group to the parent company of the Journal Tribune.
Today it looks like he can’t wait to get back into the newsapaper game.
According to a story in the American Journal, Flood will take over as publisher of the Sun Chronicle and other York County publications owned by Current Publishing, a former competitor of Mainely Newspapers, Inc.
Only weeks after selling his newspaper in 2007, Flood jumped into Biddeford politics, winning an at-large seat on the city council, before making a failed attempt to oust Mayor Joanne Twomey in 2009.
Flood returned to the council in November, but now will be resigning after serving fewer than 90 days in office.
We have also learned that the Biddeford Courier will soon be looking for a new home.
Flood owns the 180 Main Street building where the Courier is now published. Apparently, he plans to use the same building to house his newest endeavor with Current Publishing.
Flood is reportedly planning to publicly announce his resignation from the council on Tuesday, during the council’s next regular meeting.
It remains unclear whether there will need to be a special election to fill Flood’s vacancy or whether Mayor Alan Casavant will be able to appoint a replacement.
Since there is far more than a year remaining in Flood’s term, it is likely that the council will call for a special election.
If Elmer Fudd had attended Tuesday’s Biddeford City Council meeting, he may have made the following observation about our city councilors:
“Those wascly wabbits seemed especially wambunctious last night.”
Fudd’s assessment matches my own observations.
Watching the councilors in action, I actually began to wonder whether a couple of our council critters had skipped their required rabies vaccinations, especially when they began talking about a favorite City Hall subject: solid waste disposal.
If you missed the meeting, then you also missed a rare opportunity to hear one of the city’s most eloquent and handsome residents address the council about the contentious issues surrounding trash and recycling.
No, Jim Grattelo did not show up last night.
It was me — yours truly — the voice of logic, reason and nicotine addiction from Ward Seven.
At issue is the perennial topic of how to both increase the city’s recycling rate and reduce the amount of trash we send to the Maine Energy Recovery Company, where household waste is recycled into electricity.
Council President Rick Laverierre seemed ready to explode or at least pop a button on his new suit, when he railed against the concept of a pay-per-bag trash collection system.
“This is not a Maine Energy thing,” he said, ignoring the obvious and hoping to avoid taking a public stance on a very controversial issue.
Laverierre strongly supports sending no less than two referendums to the city’s voters.
The first referendum would ask voter permission to even allow the council to discuss or say the words “pay-per-bag,” and the second referendum (a few months later) would ask the voters whether they approve a plan. Seriously.
For the first time in 192 years, I found myself in agreement with Councilors David Flood and Richard Rhames.
The last time the three of us agreed on a topic was in 1820, when we published a joint op-ed in the Boston Globe, making the case for Maine’s secession from the state of Massachusetts.
The opening line of that editorial proves the piece was a collaborative effort:
“For whatever. Massachusetts blows. We need another state where Democrats can control the Legislature.”
Back to last night’s meeting. Rhames, for a brief moment in time, seemed lucid with a firm grasp of the obvious.
Rhames reminded his fellow councilors that they will soon be forced to review the city’s waste disposal contract.
“This council needs to be grappling with this issue,” he said. “This matter is roaring up on us. It is not a simple issue and, unfortunately, we have not yet begun to consider our position.”
But Councilor Michael Swanton expressed doubts about how much the city would save its taxpayers by forcing the Solid Waste Commission to devise a plan that could increase the city’s recycling rate. “I ran the numbers at home,” he said. “And I figured out that I would save about 37 cents per week by recycling more.”
The council, however, did seem to agree on one thing: trash disposal involves a lot of fluctuating numbers, a good pair of rubber gloves and the willingness not to hoard No.2 plastic bottles.
Ultimately, the council voted 8-1 (Laverierre opposed) to kick the can down the road for another few weeks by sending a resolution to the Solid Waste Commission that seeks to increase the city’s recycling rate.
Take the money and run
Earlier in the evening, the council took up the issue of ethics, pondering whether to amend the city’s ordinances to require members of the Planning Board to sign a code of ethics.
It should be noted that members of the city council are not required to sign a code of ethics.
As I have explained to my children, whether you should take a 10-dollar bill from your mother’s purse is NOT an ethical dilemma.
It is a crime.
An ethical dilemma is a situation in which both choices have merit and must be carefully weighed against one’s own values and belief system.
At first blush, it seems more than reasonable to ask city officials to sign a code of ethics. But a closer examination of the proposed language reveals some glaring problems that leap off the pages and then steal money from your mother’s purse.
For example, Councilor David Flood (my neighbor, former employer and BFF) pointed out that by signing the code, planning board members would be required to only do reasonable things that also “appear to be reasonable.” Again, I’m not kidding.
If this same standard were applied to the city council, we would not have a city council.
Upon realization of this quandary, the council pondered their own ethical dilemma and rejected adopting a code of ethics for other people to follow.
Smart move.
In other business, the council put the brakes on a proposed policy that would allow the city to accept private contributions for public infrastructure.
After hearing further words of wisdom from yours truly about the slippery slope of unintended consequences, the council decided to send the proposed policy to the “Policy” Committee for further review and clarification.
If you would like to have Randy Seaver speak to your civic club, organization or rehab group, please send an e-mail to randy@randyseaver.com
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If you thought watching the New England Patriots lose the Superbowl was painful, you should stay away from the Biddeford City Council’s next meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
For the past few weeks, the council has been working around the clock to nail down some serious matters that could have grave consequences for those of us who live, work and play in Biddeford.
Councilor Roch Angers (left) consults the Council Rules for Color Selection while Councilor Richard Rhames urges Councilor Flood against choosing an official city color.
It’s been a hectic few weeks, so let’s take a quick recap and review some of the bigger accomplishments of this industrious group.
By a 6-3 vote, the council finally settled on a seating arrangement in the council chamber. Councilors Melissa Bednarowski, Brad Cote and Mike Swanton voted against the measure, mistakenly thinking they would have to swap seats each week so that one of them would always have to sit next to Councilor Richard Rhames.
Things settled down and the council then moved quickly to unanimously approve the color beige as the “official color” of the 2012-13 City Council, but not without some heated and long-winded discussion.
“I like beige,” remarked Councilor David Flood. “I can get along with beige. For whatever.”
Councilor Roch Angers, however, seemed less than pleased.
“I really wanted red,” Angers explained. “Not some half-assed, pansy shade of pink, mind you. I wanted crimson red. It’s an angry color, and I’m feelin’ some anger.”
Councilor Bobby Mills seemed hesitant about casting his vote. Only hours before the meeting, Mills told supporters of the color Yellow that he was definitely on their side, somehow forgetting that he had also told representatives from the Blue caucus he thought their color made the most sense because of its soothing nature.
Mills tried to split it down the middle so as not to offend anyone by nominating the color Green as an amendment, but Council President Rick Laverierre ruled Mills out of order to prevent Angers from having an aneurysm.
Of course, Councilor Rhames held up the vote with a 98-minute monologue about why the Council should remain “color neutral” and lambasted the influence of color in the black and white world of city politics.
Of course, Councilor Rhames held up the vote with a 98-minute monologue about why the Council should remain “color neutral” and lambasted the influence of color in the black and white world of city politics.
“These sorts of things have a way of leading us all down a very slippery slope,” Rhames cautioned his fellow councilors. “If we take sides with corporate America now, where will we stop? Next thing you know, we’ll be endorsing a particular brand of shaving cream, a product I have not purchased since 1988.”
Mills, who just last week narrowly avoided being in violation of a longstanding Mills family tradition of running for elected office at least every 60 days, moved quickly to end the discussion. “Let’s just do beige,” he said.
Councilor Brad Cote shrugged. Councilor Mike Swanton rolled his eyes, silently praying that someone would shoot him; and Councilor Bednarowski called for a roll-call vote.
You can expect more of the same on Tuesday, when Biddeford’s team of nine takes up the contentious issue of whether to adopt a “code of ethics” for the Planning Board.
Other items to watch: The council will vote on Mayor Alan Casavant’s most recent political nominations, which include a suggestion that two of the city’s most well-known and respected downtown property developers be allowed to join the Downtown Development Commission.
Doug Sanford, who owns the North Dam Mill Complex, the former West Point Mill building complex, the St. Jean Baptiste Hall, the Puritan Building and just about every other building in downtown Biddeford, apparently thinks he has something to offer to the DDC, one of Biddeford’s most notorious “good ol’ boy clubs.”
Casavant’s other nominee for the DDC is Chris Betjemann, who got smoked in November when he attempted to run for an at-large seat on the City Council. Betjemann and his business partner own just about every other building in downtown Biddeford that is not already owned by Doug Sanford.
When asked whether Sanford and Betjemann would be good fits for the commission, DDC Chairman Brian Keely chose his words carefully.
“I don’t know,” Keely said. “It really depends if they know how to plant flowers and smoke cigars. We have a certain way of doing things downtown. I think it’s great that they want to join us, but I hope they’re not expecting to waltz in here and start demanding that we do stuff, you know?”
Randy Seaver was secretly pulling for the New York Giants. Send him your death threats, hate mail or credit-card numbers by e-mail to randy@randyseaver.com
If you don’t know anything else about Biddeford politics, you ought to know about the Dutremble family, one of the city’s most prolific, political families.
For more than 50 years, the Dutremble family has been — in one way or another — deeply entrenched in local political circles.
State Sen. David Dutremble
Lucien “Babe” Dutremble, one of 13 children, never lost an election during a political career that included several terms on the city council, six terms in the Maine House of Representatives, the mayor’s office and serving as a York County Commissioner. Babe’s brother, Richard, was a York County Sheriff. Babe’s son, Richard, today serves as a York County commissioner.
Just as Babe’s political career was winding down, his second eldest son was making a name for himself. Dennis “Duke” Dutremble served several terms in the Maine Senate before being tapped as the senate president. But he retreated from the public spotlight after losing his bid to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Flash forward nearly two decades, and yet another Dutremble is making a foray into the city’s political establishment, banking on his family’s legacy and his “outsider” perspective.
David Dutremble is a lieutenant in the Biddeford Fire Department, the youngest of Babe Dutremble’s nephews, and is now a candidate for the District 4 State Senate seat.
Despite his legacy name and strong local connections, David is facing some challenges on the road to Augusta.
1.) A crowded primary field could split the city’s Democratic base and allow someone like businessman James Booth of Arundel to take the seat as a unenrolled candidate. Booth, a native of the neighboring city of Saco, is the son of former Saco Mayor Haley Booth and served on the Saco City Council.
2.) Expect his primary opponents (which could include former State Rep. Stephen Beaudette and former city councilor James Emerson) to question whether Dutremble can effectively balance his city job as a firefighter while serving in the State Senate.
Furthermore, we were stunned that David has yet to seek the counsel of his cousins, Duke Dutremble and County Commissioner Richard Dutremble.
CAN’T WE JUST GET ALONG?
David Dutremble graduated from Biddeford High School in 1985. Since 1988, he has been a Biddeford firefighter. He and his wife, Charlene, have five children.
Why jump into the fray for a state senate seat without any prior political experience?
“Honestly, I would have gone into local politics a long time ago, but the city’s charter prevents city employees from holding municipal offices. Initially, I was thinking about running for the House until I talked to Alan [Casavant] and found out he is hoping to keep his seat.”
You have all the political muscle you need, given your last name.
(Laughs) “It’s an intimidating last name, you know in local politics…absolutely, but it also carries a lot of expectations.”
Aren’t you busy enough. Why run for public office?
“I think we need more people in Augusta who can reach across the political divides. I think government has a responsibility to do good things for the people. Government should be creating an atmosphere that promotes economic development.”
You sound a little like a Republican.
(Laughs) “I’m a life-long Democrat, but I think both parties want to see Maine succeed. It’s time to stop all the political bickering and blame. It’s time to think about the people we serve. I don’t care who gets credit, as long as we do good things for the people.
“When my kids grow up, I want them to have the same opportunities I had. My step son had to move out west to find a good job. I think that’s really sad. It bothers me to see local kids miss out on the same opportunities we had growing up here.”
How can you be a firefighter and a state senator at the same time?
“I’ll use vacation time, and swap time. I’ve already run it past the guys in the department. I know I have support and we can swap shifts to accommodate my schedule.”
You haven’t talked to Duke about your decision to seek his old senate seat?
(Laughs) “He’s in Florida for the winter. I sent him an e-mail on Facebook, but I haven’t heard back. Maybe he doesn’t check his Facebook.
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rank Governor LePage’s performance?
(Pauses) “I’d probably give him a four. I just think his priorities are out of whack…like going after the labor mural.”
Same scale for President Obama?
“I’d say a 7. No matter who won in 2008, it was a no-win situation for our economy, whether we elected a Republican or Democrat. I don’t think we would be any better off if John McCain had won. I think President Obama has done a decent job.”
Do you really think you can change the political dynamic of partisan bickering?
“Yes, but you have to start small. People used to say that women would never be able to vote. We used to say that a black man would never drive the bus. I believe things can change for the better. I think elected leaders just need to focus on working in collaboration to solve problems.
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