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DEMOCRATS

Democrat forum: Sick pay divides candidates

By Susan M. Cover scover@mainetoday.com
State House Bureau

AUGUSTA — Democrats running for governor took positions on a national park in northern Maine, Sunday hunting and mandatory paid sick leave Thursday at a forum sponsored by the Maine Forest Products Council.

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MAKING THE PITCH: Steven Rowe, second from left, and Pat McGowan, second from right, speak with Jeremy Payne, left, and Sebastian Belle, right, after a forum Thursday at the Maine Forestry Products Council in Augusta. Rowe and McGowan are campaigning for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Staff photo by Andy Molloy

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All four who came the event -- Patrick McGowan, John Richardson, Steven Rowe and Rosa Scarcelli -- said they oppose the creation of a national park in the North Woods.

Sunday hunting proved a little more divisive.

McGowan said he would support it in the unorganized territories as long as a fee was charged. Richardson said he supports it in "parts of the state."

Rowe said he'd have to think about it, and Scarcelli said she'd have to talk about the issue with interested parties.

The group spent 90 minutes answering questions from the Council in front of a variety of people representing professional guides, renewable energy companies, sportsmen, paper mills and small woodlot owners.

Seven Democrats have signed up to run for governor and Monday is the deadline for party candidates to turn in 2,000 signatures to secure a place on the June ballot.

Meanwhile, candidates have been traveling the state for more than two months to secure support from various groups. A weekend trip to Fort Kent by all the major candidates led McGowan to joke that they should start car-pooling.

"We should rent a bus and lower our carbon footprint," he said.

McGowan, who resigned his position as commissioner of the state Department of Conservation to run for governor, said he opposed the consolidation of the state's four natural resource agencies.

He said while there are places to save money in the agencies, they represent less than 3 percent of the state General Fund budget.

Rowe, who served eight years as attorney general, said the state needs to look at the Department of Health and Human Service and the education budgets to save money.

Richardson, who resigned as head of the state Department of Economic and Community Development to run for governor, said he'd look to Iowa, where "lean management practices" have proven effective.

Scarcelli, who runs a housing company, said Maine has an outdated system of government.

"The idea is smarter government, not necessarily smaller government," she said.

The field split on the issue of requiring large Maine companies to offer paid sick leave to employees. The measure is sponsored by Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro, a gubernatorial candidate who did not attend the forum because of legislative business, said James Cote, a communications specialist with the forest products council.

Rowe said he would support the bill because it was amended to put the requirement only on businesses with 50 or more employees. He said his wife, who is a public school nurse, sees children come to school sick because their parents can't take time off from work to care for them.

Richardson was strong in his opposition.

"I would veto this bill," he said. "It's well intentioned, but it's the wrong time."

Scarcelli said Maine should not become the first state in the nation to have such a law.

And McGowan said he, too, would oppose it, but that it was important to remember it was introduced at a time when the H1N1 virus -- and concerns about spreading illness -- was a serious threat in Maine.

All four said they would support a constitutional amendment to protect a portion of public money for the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, although McGowan said funds would also have to be protected for the Department of Conservation.

One of the major topics of discussion throughout the forum was energy -- the high cost in Maine and what role windmills, biomass and hydropower would play in the future.

Rowe said pursuing a variety of sources -- offshore wind, biomass and tidal -- will be the key.

"It needs to be diversified," he said.

McGowan said recent state law changes that helped speed up approvals for new power generation need to be applied to other areas.

"Energy is a critical piece of Maine's future," he said.

Susan Cover -- 620-7015

scover@centralmaine.com