Offshoring: Calling MaineToday in Honduras

Published in the Portland Phoenix


Maine's largest daily-newspaper group has outsourced its circulation customer-service work to Honduras, letting five Maine-based employees go, reassigning another, and allowing one to retire early.

The workers, some of whom were part-time, were paid at rates that for full-time workers were between $445 and $542 per week, depending on their seniority, according to Kathy Munroe, administrative officer for the Portland Newspaper Guild, the union that represents most of the paper's non-management employees.

A call to the circulation number posted on the websites of MaineToday Media, the corporate owner of the Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram, Morning Sentinel, and Kennebec Journal newspapers reached a customer-service representative who confirmed he was in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. He was very cordial, even spelling the city's name for me. Another rep there told me there are 14 people there who cover around-the-clock hours solely waiting for calls from MaineToday clients. When asked about his hours and wages, he referred questions to the MaineToday human-resources department in Portland, which referred questions to owner/editor/publisher Richard Connor. Through his assistant, Connor declined to comment.

San Pedro Sula has several call centers, which appear to be based in its high-tech Altia Business Park, where online marketing materials boast about large numbers of English speakers (including numerous English-language schools) as well as high-reliability phone and Internet connectivity to the United States.

The move follows a consolidation within the MaineToday papers that shifted all circulation handling to South Portland, from locations in Augusta and Waterville. Though there have been other intra-company consolidations and transfers, this is the first outsourcing at the company that Munroe is aware of. "I take it personally when I hear about outsourcing," Munroe says. "We're hurting for jobs right here."

She says the company followed the provisions of the union contract, so there will not be a grievance from her organization related to the outsourcing, but "I'm hoping that there's a clamoring from subscribers."

Press Releases: Where's the drumbeat?

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Last week's news was dominated by a larger-than-life figure whose cartoonishly confident self-image was battered by revelations that high-level staffers were engaging in questionable practices while trying to get their jobs done.

No, I'm not talking about Rupert Murdoch, but rather Paul LePage, Maine's governor. There was the Phoenix's own story about a man we'll dub "Copy-Paste LePage" for the way he turns private-interest memos into public policy (see "The LePage Files," by Colin Woodard, July 22, for the details of how lobbyists control his agenda, including overruling his own ideas). And there was the blistering letter released by resigning marine resources commissioner Norman Olsen, accusing LePage of answering to anonymous special interests in the state's fisheries industry, refusing to communicate with one of his cabinet members, and directing public policy by private polls.

Stories like the Murdoch scandal are best handled by a practice Murdoch himself perfected: the constant drumbeat of new revelations, with even minor ones being used as an excuse to recycle all the old allegations, day in and day out, week after week, until the target of the reporting is beaten and battered, with public disgrace forever attached to his name.

LePage fares better in the tame Maine media ecosystem. There is clear evidence that the corporate influence-peddling in the LePage administration has reached levels that in most other states would be considered unacceptable — if not downright corrupt (see, in our own pages, "LePage's Secret Bankers," January 21 and "LePage's Secret Puppeteers," February 11. both by Colin Woodard).

But the Portland Press Herald, Bangor Daily News, and Lewiston Sun Journal — the state's biggest three papers — have given a pass to the governor and his cronies.

They changed that practice slightly when Olsen issued his statement — it was simply too inflammatory to be ignored, especially when written by a career US diplomat, who well knows the importance of word choice. But a week after these charges were issued, the headlines are gone, and LePage can go on his merry way with the tacit approval of the leaders of the state's media organizations.

If you're hoping these newspapers' State House bureaus are just digging behind the scenes and will begin their drumbeat soon, think again.

The coverage of a LePage "town hall" meeting in Dover-Foxcroft (his latest in the "Capitol for a Day" series) was, in fact, clearly friendly to the governor. None of the three papers took even a moment to note that the "questions from the audience" that LePage took were selected by his staff, from among written questions submitted by people as they entered the room before the event started.

MaineToday writer Susan Cover went so far as to say "No one asked LePage about the resignation of his marine resources commissioner" the day before. Her story did not say whether that assertion was based on checking the pile of submitted questions, or whether she simply tallied those that got past the LePage censors and were permitted to be raised aloud — but a meeting attendee suggests she did the latter.

Chris Korzen, co-founder and director of Maine's Majority, says members of his group (the folks with the "61%" stickers and T-shirts) did indeed submit questions about Olsen, as well as about those copy-paste-from-lobbyist practices. Korzen was not surprised that none were chosen. He characterized the meeting as "noncontroversial" and noteworthy mainly because, unlike other such events, where tempers have run hot on all sides, "there was nothing really remarkable at all" at the Dover-Foxcroft event.

While legal investigations are proceeding, public opinion seems clear that Murdoch's staffers engaged in despicable and deplorable acts that may yet clip the wings of his empire. But it seems regrettably likely that the revelations about LePage's public-trust violations have already finished their brief appearance in Maine's media. Unless the drumbeat starts.

Press releases: Shaking up Salt

Published in the Portland Phoenix


A school that has quietly drawn to Portland, trained, and set loose around Maine a large number of journalists and other young creative professionals is entering a new phase, and not a decade too soon.

The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, which relocated to Congress Street in 2008 after nearly a decade on Exchange Street (with its gallery in the space that is now the Corner Room), is adding more multimedia to its curriculum. The school's students have put out work displayed in a book (which terminated publication a few years back), gallery shows, and "radio church," a semester-end listening party playing work by students in the audio/radio track. In more recent years, many students have posted some of their work online, including collaborative writing, photography, and audio projects. That effort will now expand with additional faculty support.

The school does not grant degrees, but often serves as a host for college students taking a semester away from their regular campus (as well as college grads seeking additional education). Its four part-time faculty members quit earlier this spring "for a variety of reasons over the course of a couple weeks," says Donna Galluzzo, Salt's executive director.

She says the school has been planning a revamp of its curriculum, specifically to incorporate more multimedia work, for some time now. "We've been hearing off and on a lot over the years from students" seeking that sort of instruction in addition to the existing teaching.

"We've always had one class that's been an all-track class," Galluzzo says, and it's there that the school will center its multimedia instruction, led by Christine Heinz, who studied photography at Salt in 2001 and has worked at the school and elsewhere doing photography and multimedia storytelling.

Galluzzo says the multimedia class will seek to merge the existing disciplines at Salt into an online format, and will shy away from outright filmmaking. "We're not looking to be a film school or compete with any film schools," she says. As far as video goes, she says the school will provide "an opportunity for people to dabble."

Similarly for animation; "some (students) come in with tremendous skillsets," Galluzzo says, and Salt is trying to position itself to take better advantage of any opportunities "to combine what they know and what they're learning" that might arise.

The other new instructors have also been hired: Andres Gonzalez will teach photography; Michael May will teach radio; and Caitlin Shetterly will teach writing. Gonzalez is also a Salt alumnus, and a Fulbright Scholar who moved to Istanbul four years ago to document cultural transition in that city, which has been a crossroads for thousands of years. May is an experienced radio journalist (and has a solid print-journalism background) whose work has aired on major nationwide National Public Radio programs. Shetterly, too, is an author and public-radio producer (and former Portland Phoenix scribe).

What comes of these changes remains to be seen; Galluzzo says she is hoping to help students gain more marketable skills and produce more "sellable" pieces. While many Salt students have gone on to work as staffers or freelancers for local media outlets (including the Phoenix), since the demise of the school's own book, few of the students' actual projects for their classes have made it into wider publication. (For a rare exception, see, "Portland's Islamic Center Avoids National Debate," by Maura Ewing, August 27, 2010.)

Galluzzo has expressed interest in coordinating more with local publications and journalism organizations (including the Maine Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, a group I serve as president). It's a fair bet that with Salt's new blood and a refined focus, not only the students and school but also Maine media outlets and their audiences could be real winners.

Gubernatorial scorecard: End of the innocence

Published in the Portland Phoenix

As the legislative session ends, the amount and nature of Governor Paul LePage's political influence has become clearer. He is no longer the bombastic blowhard he once was, but neither is he ceding control of major policy initiatives to House and Senate leaders — though it is easy to see why people might think that. Herewith, our sixth Gubernatorial Scorecard, in which we score LePage on political savvy, and on whether what he's trying to do is good policy. Note the running total.

ENDING REGULATION | LePage has trumpeted the passage of LD 1, designed to reduce the state bureaucracy. Republicans have claimed victory, while Democrats are happy they were able to limit the damage the bill might have done. Whether it changes anything in the understaffed, confused state-office hallways remains to be seen.
POLITICS • He led an aggressive charge that moved the compromise line significantly in his favor | 8/10
POLICY • Most of the stuff LD 1 fixed should have been fixed long ago | 8/10

ENDING DEBATE | The governor has vetoed several bills that received overwhelming support in the State House, most notably one that would have limited health-insurance premium costs. Perhaps wary of provoking him, or perhaps persuaded by back-room politics, GOP legislators have switched their own votes and sustained his vetoes.
POLITICS • Requiring his followers to flip-flop, and getting them to agree? | 9/10
POLICY • For a guy who wants to lower health-care costs, he's sure pandering to the problem: insurance companies | 2/10

ENDING VOTER RIGHTS | Proudly declaring that no longer will the non-problem of voter fraud (and the non-problem of overworked municipal clerks) be allowed in Maine, LePage trumpeted his signing of a bill dramatically limiting voter rights, including same-day registration. A people's veto campaign is already under way, and looks to be one of the bigger public battles the governor will have to fight.
POLITICS • Rammed through a divisive bill that will benefit his party significantly | 6/10
POLICY • Though the Founders wanted to limit the franchise, we now know fewer voters is bad for democracy | 1/10

ENDING TAXATION | LePage has also announced his pride in signing a budget providing "the largest tax cut in Maine history." Never mind that nearly all of that cut goes to rich people, nor that he backed down on a March threat to veto anything other than his exact budget as proposed. (This one's more than a little different.)
POLITICS • Got the poor to go against their self-interest yet again | 9/10
POLICY • Next stop: the biggest spending cut in Maine history. Back to dirt roads and one-room schools we go! | 1/10

ENDING CONSISTENCY | Despite promises to let the private sector alone, the governor signed a bill that allowed the state to purchase a landfill in East Millinocket, in hopes of landing a private deal that proponents say could save as many as 450 mill jobs. A similar corporate-bailout deal in Old Town in 2004 never fulfilled its job-preservation promise, and landed the state with a massive cleanup problem.
POLITICS • Gets to say he tried to preserve jobs | 8/10
POLICY • How much more will Mainers spend to preserve jobs that are leaving anyway? | 1/10

This month's total | Politics 40/50 | Policy 13/50 | Last month: Politics 36/50 | Policy 15/50 | Overall: Politics 188/250 | Policy 119/250

Seeking relief: Business-led Haiti-aid group shuts down

Published in the Portland Phoenix

What happens when lawyers, public-relations experts, bankers and accountants, construction contractors, insurance brokers, and manufacturers join forces to get involved in emergency disaster relief in one of the most underdeveloped countries in the Western Hemisphere?

Much less than they hoped, it turns out. The brainchild of Darcy Pierce, a Scarborough-based independent consultant specializing in linking businesses with developing countries, MaineLine Haiti was a non-profit intending to make "a direct, specific difference" in Haitians' lives in the wake of a devastating January 2010 earthquake. The group is dissolving after just 18 months in operation, with no on-the-ground achievements, and is turning over its remaining assets to Portland-based Haiti-aid group Konbit Sante.

From the beginning, Pierce won backing from some of Maine's most reputable companies (including Preti Flaherty, Unum, Reed and Reed, and CD&M Communications) and parlayed that into glowing prognostications (10 schools built by "mid-2011") and fawning interviews in the Portland Press Herald and on several local TV stations. For this story, Pierce repeatedly declined to answer questions, referring thePortland Phoenix to attorney Susan LoGuidice of Preti Flaherty, who also serves on MaineLine's board of directors.

LoGuidice says the businesses "went in trying to do a good thing," but it didn't work out the way they wanted. A key pitfall was that MaineLine Haiti's decision to partner with a non-profit called Samaritan's Purse turned out badly.

In mid-2010 that group, run by Franklin Graham (son of evangelist Billy Graham) and focused on building schools, became the target of allegations that it was inappropriately spending federal disaster-relief grants on evangelical Christian missionary efforts. While Graham and Samaritan's Purse denied any wrongdoing, MaineLine ended the partnership because, LoGuidice says, MaineLine members were uneasy about the organization.

MaineLine, which had raised a total of $62,645 in cash (in addition to unquantified in-kind donations), including $28,500 contributed by the founding businesses, discovered that finding another partner proved difficult, she says.

After paying Pierce a consulting fee for "a number of months," and covering the costs of his two trips to Haiti, MaineLine's backers cut costs — telling Pierce they couldn't afford to pay him anymore (Pierce volunteered thereafter, LoGuidice says) — and looked for a less direct way to help.

"We found a high-quality institution . . . right in our back yard," LoGuidice says, referring to Konbit Sante, which has been helping Haitians improve their health care for 11 years. Pierce had met with the group in Haiti in April 2010, according to his Twitter feed; a tweet called them "great people doing great work." MaineLine decided to give them what remained of its money — around $30,000, LoGuidice says.

Nate Nickerson, Konbit Sante's executive director, says he understands what happened to MaineLine, because working in Haiti is unlike development work elsewhere in the world. "Some of the issues are the same, but the context is different," he says. In a country where more non-governmental organizations are at work than anywhere else on the planet, the people still live in grinding poverty because of a lack of coordination among all those seeking to help, Nickerson says.

Frustration and ultimately stalemate "was the experience of lots of groups that came in" after the earthquake, Nickerson says. His group doesn't have those sorts of problems because it has been working in Haiti since 2000. "We have the relationships in the community," he says, including 33 Haitian staff, an office in the largest hospital in the region that Konbit Sante serves, and a partnership with a group of Haitian medical professionals.

It's through that latter group that Konbit Sante will use the money donated by MaineLine Haiti, Nickerson says. While the deadly cholera epidemic that followed the quake continues — and is on the rise because it is the rainy season in Haiti — funding is dropping because emergency aid is running out. Konbit Sante will teach people how to protect themselves, including clean sanitation practices and water-treatment processing.

While Nickerson says Konbit Sante would welcome the opportunity to partner with any of MaineLine's former sponsors, LoGuidice says "it's too soon to tell" if that will happen. "We're taking a little breather."

Do you accept this fee?

Published in the Portland Phoenix; sidebar to larger banking story by another writer

How much do you spend in ATM fees? Maine consumers are paying more — by one estimate, the average per-transaction charge has risen from $1.50 in 2006 to $2.35 last year. And some ATMs charge $10 or $20, says Yellow Breen, chief strategic officer at Bangor Savings Bank, which is acutely aware of rising ATM fees because it reimburses customers for any changes they incur using non-Bangor ATMs. (The company charges its accountholders no ATM fees of its own.)

Those high prices, Breen says, are mainly for “captive audiences,” such as those at casinos or jails (see “Jail ATM Charges $10 Per Transaction,” by Rick Wormwood, November 12, 2010). But the cost of getting your hands on your money is rising.

Where does that money go? Simply put, it lines the pockets of the banks. But despite criticism from consumer advocates, banks say it’s not as much of a money-maker as you might be thinking.

The big winner in the transaction is likely your bank — the one that holds your account. Many banks charge accountholders for using what are called “foreign ATMs,” the industry term for “ATMs owned by someone other than your bank.” There’s virtually no cost to your bank when you use someone else’s ATM — maybe a few cents, if that. So banks that treat customers that way are simply taking your money.

If the ATM you’re using is owned by a bank (you’ll know; it’ll have the bank’s name plastered all around it as advertising), then the bank will charge a fee. Ostensibly this practice began either as a charge for convenience, or to discourage you from noticing that the most convenient ATM in your life belongs to another bank, so perhaps you should just shift your account there. But now it’s mostly just to keep the ATM from losing money.

Breen says “for the most part they’re not money-makers,” though they are “not super-expensive” either. The super-advanced ATMs, equipped with scanners that a photo of the checks and cash you deposit and print the image on your receipt, can cost $60,000 to $80,000, and will last five to seven years.

Add in the cost of servicing the machines and renting space (or building a larger branch to accommodate the ATM), and a bank is on the hook for $25,000 to $30,000 per year, per machine. “It’s hard to make that up two bucks at a time,” Breen quips. (His bank charges $3 to customers from other banks, but does not charge accountholders for using other banks’ machines, and reimburses customers for any fees those other banks charge.)

Without fees, would there be very many ATMs? Perhaps — Breen says customer convenience and advertising are other benefits of providing ATMs. He adds that Bangor Savings Bank has another incentive to put theirs around — to reduce demand for its reimbursement program.

If it’s not a bank that owns the ATM (the machine is at a convenience store, bar, or nightclub, for example), then the operator of the machine charges a fee, which is often split between the owner of the machine and the owner of the business it’s in. That money covers the purchase and operation of the machine, too, though usually those ATMs are far less sophisticated than bank-owned ones, and can generate a fair amount of cash for their owners, if they’re in high-traffic areas.  

Press Releases: Resurgam

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Two years after ceasing production for lack of funding, Portland-based LibertyNewsTV is back in action, and just released a June episode of the progressive news-commentary series, which is distributed on CTN Channel 5 in Portland and on public-access cable channels nationwide.

The money that evaporated in the wake of Obama's election (see "Freedom Isn't Free," by Jeff Inglis, September 25, 2009) hasn't returned, says Matt Power, the series mastermind, producer, and editor. Rather, he plans to make the show "with whatever budget we have." A few donations have come in since the announcement of the show's revival, and Power is hoping for more as viewers rediscover the program.

The new incarnation (available online at libertynewstv.org) focuses primarily on the threats of nuclear power, with new host (and local actor) Tess Van Horn noting that the amount of spent fuel stored at the Fukushima reactor in Japan is one-fourth the amount stored at Vermont Yankee, in the far southeastern corner of that state, right next to the New Hampshire and Massachusetts borders.

A dance performance follows, offering a non-narrative new exploration of themes of death and ruination, soundtracked with ominous music and the "I found radiation" warning crackle of a Geiger counter.

The show closes with a segment of commentary from local thespian Daniel Noel. He moves from a Bill Keller-esque assertion that social networking is making people dumber, to a last-decade warning that corporations are collecting data on millions of individuals, and concludes with an exhortation to "unplug," backed with "O Fortuna," the clichéd threatening symphonic ode from Carmina Burana.

The contrasts between this new generation of the show and its first run are perhaps starkest in Noel's piece. His comments in previous shows were hilarious, incisive, and ironic — calls to action based on deeply held views and thoughtfully considered facts. In this installment they come across as the ill-informed rantings of an old white guy afraid of a changing world and too smug to bother solidifying his arguments.

Those problems exist in other segments of the new show too: nuclear and other threats are implied or assumed, despite the ready availability of great supporting details that would both focus the points and differentiate the arguments from the breezy dialogue that today passes for political conversation.

Power used to have great research and excellent assemblages of clips — from politicians and activists alike — bolstering the show's own commentary, and urging repetition by activists out in the streets. Some segments could have doubled as well-researched talking points to add to an ongoing social debate.

But this time, I didn't understand the underlying point about the nuclear segment until talking with Power: An electrical failure at Vermont Yankee could bring about an even bigger Chernobyl-like incident right here in New England, he told me.

That concise, solid observation would have made it into an earlier episode in a much clearer way. The same is true of Power's observation that while Germany has promised to be nuke-free by 2022, "Obama has said nothing of the kind" and continued to push for nuclear plants as part of domestic energy efforts.

"Now that Obama has shifted into election mode, it's the only time he's going to listen," Power told me. In past programs, that powerful call to action would be made verbatim. Here, it's simply, and less effectively, a behind-the-scenes guiding principle.

Which is not to say there isn't hope. Power told me about ideas for future episodes that may return to the focus of old, addressing issues of cultural violence and social psychology, while reviving the show's underlying purpose of empowering and informing real-world activism. LibertyNewsTV is back, and while its relaunch has a few hiccoughs, the show has done better, and can once again. Stay tuned.

(Disclosure: I delivered a commentary on a 2009 episode of LibertyNewsTV, and a clip from a Matt Power short film featuring Phoenix staff writer Deirdre Fulton is included in the title sequence of the reborn series.)

Gubernatorial scorecard: The quiet man

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Governor Paul LePage has, perhaps unexpectedly, refrained from loudly saying stupid things over the past month or so, since GOP legislators confronted him and told him he was a problem child. (Dems figured this out too, and are using LePage's photo on flyers recruiting activists for summer work.) Here's our fifth Gubernatorial Scorecard, in which we score Governor Paul LePage on political savvy, and on whether what he's trying to do is good policy. Note the running total.

QUIET ATTACK | LePage's budget proposal would eliminate all state funding for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network ($2 million a year), and is widely viewed as payback for aggressive coverage by MPBN news staff during his campaign. When asked, LePage denied it was payback, and stuck to that line.
POLITICS • He may have mastered the art of attacking without seeming to | 7/10
POLICY • Slashing the only decent news provider available to most of rural Maine | 2/10

QUIET SPENDING | LePage's budget also gives big handouts to Maine's wealthiest (in the form of income- and estate-tax cuts); he has claimed it is better for everyone because it also gives tiny handouts to working Mainers. This assertion, while technically true, has yet to be challenged by nonpartisan observers (such as the press), who might note that trickle-up is the economic model backed by the evidence; trickle-down, based on evidence and experience, is a failure.
POLITICS • Is he also mastering the art of double-speak? | 8/10
POLICY • Giving money to the rich barely helps the economy; giving it to the poor is a massive boost to all | 2/10

QUIET ACTIVISM | The governor promised during his campaign to take away worker rights, ostensibly to give employers more freedom to create jobs. He has carried this through, by killing a bill that would have increased the minimum wage, by reviving an anti-union proposal long thought dead by State House watchers, and by cutting welfare benefits.
POLITICS • Keeping his campaign promises | 7/10
POLICY • The jury's out on whether employers will exploit workers, hire more, or both | 5/10

QUIET DEATH | The governor and his GOP operatives rammed through a major overhaul of the state's health-insurance system, reducing consumer protections and allowing different companies to play by different (and fewer) rules. It drew very vocal opposition around the state and forced the resignation of the state's top insurance regulator. Fewer people will be able to afford care, what care there is will be more limited and more expensive, and companies will be freer to screw customers.
POLITICS • Proved he can work the system to get major agenda goals accomplished | 10/10
POLICY • Insurers from other states welcome, except Vermont, which just moved closer to single-payer | 2/10

QUIET DESTRUCTION | LePage has moved to reduce Maine's efforts toward energy independence, saying existing rules are too burdensome on customers, including businesses. In addition to supporting continued dependence on foreign sources, critics say the move could kill Maine's nascent green-energy industry. The governor says much of that industry depends on tax breaks and is "temporary."
POLITICS • Policy-wonk move cleverly explained as "you save money" | 9/10
POLICY • Green innovation needs government mandates to succeed | 4/10

This month's total | Politics 36/50 | Policy 15/50 | Last month: Politics 24/50 | Policy 29/50 | Overall: Politics 148/250 | Policy 106/250

Press releases: Doing Harmon

Published in the Portland Phoenix

He won't thank me for pointing this out, but Portland Press Herald columnist MD Harmon is a liberal's best friend. The infamously reality-detached arch-conservative textbook-cranky-old-white-man has established a reputation for himself of explaining in great detail the exact nature of conservative viewpoints on controversial issues.

This goes back at least as far as a 1991 column I recently learned of, in which Harmon opposed allowing gays to serve in the military because, he claimed, they would become sex predators in uniform. And in 2009, in a column opposing same-sex marriage he demonstrated, as I wrote then, "that the strongest objections to same-sex marriage are thin, weak, and, where related to flaws in legislation, already fixed in the bill Maine lawmakers have before them." (See "Press Herald Does An Amazing Public Service," thePhoenix.com/AboutTown, April 17, 2009.)

Last Friday, Harmon again published a column that, precisely because it was well documented, clearly argued, and transparently explained, achieved its polar opposite, exposing the weakness of his analysis, revealing the inconsistency of his logic, and ultimately doing more to disprove his argument than most people who actually disagree with him have ever done.

He took on three abortion-related bills now before the Maine Legislature.

First he addressed LD 1457, which requires parental consent before a minor can get an abortion. "The bill empowers responsible parenting, nothing more or less," Harmon writes, without a sense of irony. For Harmon, "responsible parenting" does not appear to include family planning, or parents and children talking openly about sex. His definition does, however, seem to include parents withholding consent for an abortion, thereby forcing their underage daughters to become mothers.

Harmon, a small-government conservative on most issues, here commits logical hara-kiri, arguing that when it comes to abortion, the state knows best, and the citizens are children who need to be told what's good for them.

Next, Harmon takes on LD 116, which would make women wait 24 hours between requesting an abortion and actually getting the procedure performed. He says that "surveys of post-abortive women widely show that many regret their decision," and alleges that "substantial numbers say they were pressured into it."

His logic is incomplete here: Harmon ignores surveys of women who have either chosen to become parents at a very young age or offered their newborns up for adoption. Regret numbers are high there, too, proving the obvious: When a young woman is pregnant, there are no easy answers.

Rather than sympathize with women forced to make grown-up decisions at too early an age, Harmon argues for a state interest in requiring a delay for an abortion, on the grounds that women are easily pressured into doing things they regret.

Lastly, he supports LD 924, which would require doctors to give women seeking an abortion a whole host of information about medical risks of abortion (and of childbirth), offers of economic assistance to carry a fetus to term, and basic legal advice about parents' rights and child support.

He patronizingly claims it is "hard to understand that anyone would object to giving a woman who is contemplating an invasive procedure information about what is occurring," and says the bill requires "simple, informative actions" that do not "keep women in ignorance."

Harmon even claims he supports the bill because "It views women as responsible agents," but the form of his argument belies that claim. He apparently actually believes that many — even most — women would walk into a doctor's office and ask for an abortion without seriousness of purpose, without understanding what is involved, without having talked it over with trusted friends. As a reasoned, thoughtful explicator of conservative values, Harmon is a top-notch portrayer of their shortcomings and flaws.

Gubernatorial Scorecard: Back from Vacation

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Governor Paul LePage recently returned from a Jamaican vacation, which provided fodder for some political controversy, and probably helped him avoid getting into new messes. Here's our fourth Gubernatorial Scorecard, in which we score Governor Paul LePage on political savvy, and on whether what he's trying to do is good policy. Note the running total.

PERMANENT VACATION | LePage has fired Charlie Colgan, the leader and most visible member of the state's Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission, the group that guesses how Maine's economy and tax revenue will do in the future, a key part of the budget process. Forecasts are never exactly right, but being overly optimistic, as Colgan was, causes more problems than guessing low.
POLITICS • Colgan was replaced with LePage-base-friendly ultra-conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center economist Scott Moody | 7/10
POLICY • Colgan's rosy predictions led to repeated rounds of excruciating "emergency" cuts to services; his departure is no loss | 10/10

IN NEED OF A VACATION | Top gubernatorial aide Dan Demeritt resigned his state post April 16, in the wake of reports that he and his businesses are behind on mortgage and utilities payments at several buildings, five of which are now in foreclosure.
POLITICS • Firing someone for financial trouble amid a recession? Heartless | 2/10
POLICY • Having a top aide who can't pay his bills is bad GOP form | 9/10

ACCOUNTABILITY VACATION | Shortly after his return, LePage told a group of business leaders that he was free to go on vacation because of how little the Legislature had gotten done so far. That drew fire from State House Dems and Repubs alike, with House Speaker Bob Nutting retorting, "I'm sorry that the governor still doesn't understand the legislative process and apparently nobody on his staff has explained it to him."
POLITICS • Excellent defense if his policy initiatives continue to crash and burn | 6/10
POLICY • Reckless antagonism of people he needs to achieve his goals | 3/10

STRAIGHT-FACE-TEST VACATION | In a three-day period, the governor: admitted his Environmental Protection commissioner was ineligible for the post because of a conflict of interest; moved that man (Darryl Brown) to a state office LePage has slated for closing; declared the state law the nomination violated needs revision; fired his Economic Development commissioner for making offensive remarks; declined to disavow the racist, classist comments in question.
POLITICS • Created enough moving targets that weaseling out of any actual error will be easy | 8/10
POLICY • Cleaning house incompletely leaves a lot of dirt behind | 3/10

VISIBILITY VACATION | As the Maine Turnpike Authority scandal gains mainstream attention years after the initial sounds of alarm (see "E-ZPass on Ethics," by Lance Tapley, August 4, 2006), LePage is nowhere to be found. This is precisely the sort of ridiculous entrenched-bureaucrat, government-waste problem LePage railed against when campaigning. But he is not stepping up to condemn it as loudly as we might have expected from his pre-election rhetoric.
POLITICS • Missing a massive opportunity to get on message | 1/10
POLICY • Raises a question: Does he really dislike cronyism and waste? | 4/10

This month's total | Politics 24/50 | Policy 29/50 | Last month: 32/50 | Policy 15/50 | Overall: Politics 112/200 | Policy 91/200

Commentary: This trickle-down stinks

Published in the Portland Phoenix

True free-market capitalism has lasted 30 years — barely half as long as its arch-enemy, Soviet communism. It began with Reagan chipping away at the social contract that bound us all together as fellow Americans, as human beings. Now, as funds "saved" by slashing programs for regular people are handed off to megamillionaire plutocrats as tax breaks, we can see clearly that the winner-take-all philosophy has bankrupted America morally, just as surely as it has punished her people financially.

That realization is taking hold among the rich — recent MarketWatch and Vanity Fair columns warn of dire consequences if the wealthiest one percent continue to neglect the suffering of the masses. The rest of us must now drive this point home. The risks if we do not are clear: Republicans in the US House of Representatives have just suggested slashing Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security — without canceling a dime's worth of tax breaks for the uber-rich.

As tax day, April 15, approaches, it is obvious that we live in an era of taxation without representation. The government takes money from the working class — the only people left who do not get massive tax breaks — and makes decisions that serve only the wealthy few.

Today, with endless war and limitless profiteering, America is in crisis. The Reagan-esque "trickle-down theory" appears ascendant, as politicians on left and right alike dole out government handouts to the wealthy and the corporations they own, while simultaneously eliminating government help for those who are the neediest. The stated promise — the vain hope — is that the rich will reinvest in America, creating jobs and thereby spreading wealth to everyone.

But we know that's not working — for decades now, America has been stripped of her wealth, her workers left to rising unemployment, their homes foreclosed upon, their children's schools gutted.

Self-serving politicians have co-opted the Tea Party movement, turned it into a pawn, a shill for corporate interests. The crowds that attend Tea Party rallies obviously do not realize that they are in a very real way demanding to pay higher taxes and receive fewer services, so that corporations can boost profits. Tea Party orators promote destruction of the social safety net that keeps children from starving, the elderly from freezing, and the poor from dying in the swamp of need. It is time for a return to the real Tea Partiers' values, for us to refuse to pay up without a voice in how our collective riches are allotted.

In Wisconsin, in Ohio, and in Maine, working people are finally standing up and reaffirming the true American ideal, one that generations grew up working to achieve: that we are all members of the same community, who thrive or perish together. We should not tolerate a nation in which corporations and the ultra-rich tread on the poor and middle classes, exploiting them by depriving them of fair pay, humane working conditions, and a decent education.

As the greedy, the heartless, and the power-crazed grow in influence, the American dream is turning into a nightmare. It is already a bad dream for far too many.

The real American dream — the one millions of Americans died striving for, perished protecting, and still work for today — is far from perfect. Still, it is a world in which some corporations are socially responsible, in which some of the wealthy recognize their private fortunes are built on the skills of the many, in which some of the privileged exercise what used to be called noblesse oblige but today goes by the name of public responsibility.

The real America is a nation in which every person has an equal chance to better his or her life, and by so doing also betters the lives of everyone around them. It is a nation in which we help our neighbors in need — knowing that when our day of need comes they will help us.

Today, as I prepare to pay my taxes to a government that does not represent my interests, I'm angry — and not just at the politicians and corporations. I'm angry at those who voted for Bush, for McCain — even, it seems, for Obama. We are complicit in our own ruin at the hands of the robber barons.

Now is a crucial moment for us to change course. The privileged, who have already achieved their fortunes by hook or by crook, seek to bar the door to us, to deny us our dreams forever.

It is time for us to stand up and tell the wealthy what, in fact, is trickling down on us from up there, where they sit, comfortable on their thrones. It is not prosperity, nor even opportunity. It's something very rudely different. And this trickle-down stinks.

Press releases: Build on each other

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Why is that when one Maine news outlet breaks a big story, the others spend more energy trying to copy it, rather than extend it? Take the most recent example, the labor mural dispute.

Governor Paul LePage's remarks and actions about the historical mural at the Maine Department of Labor office in Augusta are indeed newsworthy.

But after more than two weeks of non-stop coverage by Maine reporters, serious — and obvious — questions remain. We still don't know where the murals are, whether any actual business leaders disliked them, whether their removal was legal (a question now before a federal court), why they were removed so abruptly, nor why the governor later said he wished his removal order hadn't been followed so quickly.

These unanswered questions highlight a strange phenomenon of Maine journalism, which I have observed throughout the course of many years as a reporter and editor here.

In a competitive media environment, publications don't worry about getting the scoop a competitor had yesterday — they care about getting the news that hasn't been told yet. If someone gets a big break, other reporters swarm to the topic, seeking to build on that original story. Only rarely does this involve on-the-ground cooperation; mostly, reporters believe in the integrity of the competition, and bring their own resources to bear, driving deeper into the heart of an issue.

Maine has what might be called a passive-cooperative media environment, where media outlets don't acknowledge each other — for good or ill. Perhaps that's to avoid making the others look bad. But in the process, they make themselves weaker, and hurt the public interest.

As a contrary example, look at the New York Times-Washington Post relationship: They regularly scoop each other on topics both papers cover, such as national security. If the Times breaks a story, the Post will develop additional sources and insights to move the story forward, and will often make its basis explicit, saying in an early paragraph, "the New York Times reported X." By expanding on the information someone else has already reported, the Post can get a better, deeper, more insightful story. The Times will respond by building on the Post's reporting. Readers — whether they read one paper, the other, or both — learn lots more, very quickly.

That's not the case in Maine. Here, editors act as if their readers don't look at any other sources of news. So if the Press Herald, the Sun Journal, or the Bangor Daily News gets something good today, you can bet that tomorrow's editions of the other papers will have that story. But don't expect anything else. We see this in the coverage of the mural mess. Despite the massive reporting effort by the State House press corps (and the Press Herald was not the only paper to assign extra reporters to cover different angles), none of Maine's daily papers got anything substantially different from what any other paper had.

The basics still remain unknown. The problem is easily fixed, if only Maine media outlets would acknowledge that somebody has already covered some turf, and decide to move the entire story forward. Instead, busy covering what was already known, none of them bothered to figure out what the next question was, nor determine its answer.

• Another casualty of all this coverage of the mural controversy is news about WHAT ELSE WENT ON IN THE STATE HOUSE LAST WEEK. This is an administration and legislative majority with big plans to make big changes in Maine's governance — and while they likely didn't plan this particular massive distraction, key players are definitely poised to take advantage when the media spotlight turns away. Someone in the State House press corps should have the sense not to follow the pack, and to look in the dark corners others neglect.

Gubernatorial scorecard: What's behind the curtain?

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Here's our third Gubernatorial Scorecard, in which we score Governor Paul LePage on political savvy, and on whether what he's trying to do is good policy. Note the running total.

VEILED LOBBYING | LePage tried to create a "business advisory council," to allow key players in the state's economic scene to have direct access to the governor. After a statewide public and media outcry because LePage exempted the group entirely from the state's open-government law, the governor scrapped the idea.
POLITICS • Promoting transparency during the campaign turns to secrecy in office | 2/10 POLICY • He can still meet secretly with whomever he likes; this just avoids a fight about it | 7/10

VEILED THREATS | The governor has threatened to veto the budget if it changes from his proposals, despite the facts that 1) a two-thirds majority must pass the budget (automatically overriding any veto), and 2) compromise is the only way to get two-thirds support and avoid a government shutdown.
POLITICS • Shutting down the government is what his base really wants | 9/10 POLICY • Shows misunderstanding of the system | 1/10

VEILED HISTORY | The governor, on the basis of an anonymous note likening Maine to North Korea, ordered a huge mural in the Department of Labor office removed, saying the depictions of Maine's labor history were anti-business. The move spawned a satirical call for art from this newspaper (see below) and a real one from the state, as well as a scathing Sunday editorial in the New York Times and local and national media coverage mocking LePage for whitewashing reality.
POLITICS • Proves he'll do absolutely anything to promote jobs in Maine | 6/10 POLICY • This is his biggest pro-business move so far | 1/10

VEILED INFLUENCES | The governor celebrated the erection of an "Open for Business" sign at the Maine-New Hampshire border on I-95. The sign was made in Texas. And a couple of his campaign staffers launched a pro-LePage website, MainePeopleBeforePolitics.com. It's hosted in Utah.
POLITICS • Offers opponents easy distraction while his real agendas move forward | 8/10 POLICY • Needlessly thoughtless | 2/10

VEILED ACCESS | The famously mercurial, bullying governor promotes his open-door policy, welcoming anyone who wishes to speak with him. And yet he has posted a uniformed state trooper in his waiting room — in addition to his plainclothes bodyguard squad.
POLITICS • Job-creation success: one state trooper | 7/10 POLICY • Unclear whether the protection is for him, or from him | 4/10

This month's total | Politics 32/50 | Policy 15/50 | Last month: 32/50 | Policy 28/50 | Overall: Politics 88/150 | Policy 62/150

City walls: A look at Portland's graffiti history

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Back in the early '90s, Eli Cayer had just finished art school in Boston and headed to Maine, where he continued creating street art. In a scene then heavy on "throw-ups," tags with an artist's nickname in stylized letters, Cayer had another approach. "Instead of going to do throw-ups, I'd just do faces."

In the mid- to late '90s, Cayer was a busy, visible street artist in Portland. But one night, he recalls, he was arrested while leaving a nightclub. He spent the night in jail, and was later sentenced to a week behind bars.

The experience set him on a course to create legal opportunities for graffiti artists and other street artists to show off their wares. Promoting work "inspired by the street, inspired by the youth, inspired by emerging cultures," Cayer organized events — including an "Urban Earth Day" celebration — that included spray-painting activities as part of the entertainment. He wanted people to "recognize it as a legitimate art form," he says.

That led to contact with city workers, in both the community-policing and parks-and-recreation departments, which in turn connected him with officials at the Portland Water District's East End Wastewater Treatment Facility. As Cayer described how murals, particularly those influenced by street art, can actually "graffiti-proof" a wall (by showcasing the work of prominent artists younger taggers will be reluctant to paint over), an idea took hold: the outside wall of the sewage plant could be a place for graffiti artists to do their work legally.

The idea was that vandalism would decrease if the city would just "allow the artistic side of it, encourage it even" by providing places for people to practice and engage with street art, Cayer says.

He says that containing or institutionalizing graffiti doesn't necessarily change the nature of the art — and if it does, it does so organically, rather than forcing the change on the artist. "The hard-core writer, even given the opportunity to do a (legal) jam, it's not going to change what he's doing on the street," Cayer says. But others might take an opportunity to expand their expression while also reducing legal risks. "It's almost the . . . equivalent of skateboarding," Cayer explains: "It's not organized, it's totally self-driven, it's what you make of it."

On June 4, 2002 — Cayer recalls the date easily — that section of the wall was unveiled at the same time as a newly opened section of the Eastern Promenade trail. Ever since, that space has been known as the "legal wall," where anyone can go and practice their art. For a time, he also helped coordinate the painting of the Asylum wall every year.

Cayer, who is no longer active in the city's street art scene (though he stays in touch through MENSK, the arts-related non-profit he helps run), says he does see Portland's culture shifting somewhat from "exclusively spray-painting," to more varied types of street art. (That said, he notes that Portland's train-painters are very widely known: "I've seen Portland, Maine, trains in North Dakota" and Alabama.)

Aubin Thomas isn't a tagger or street artist either, but in the past year or so has turned into a chronicler of the ad-hoc art scene here, as what she calls "curator of images" at her Freezetagging blog (freezetagging.wordpress.com).

"I don't ever pretend to know what it's like to be a tagger" — she only tags on blackboards — but wants to preserve the art so it's not lost. "There are wonderful pieces of art around here . . . but then they disappear," she says, so in an effort to counter that, she takes long walks around different parts of town every week to photograph what she sees.

She has noticed a number of fascinating elements of the street-art community in Portland. "They talk to each other around the city," she says, leaving notes asking "who's this?" near a new tag, or incorporating elements in new creations that echo nearby pieces by other artists.

Letter shapes, and color, and medium (marker, paint, etc.) are part of their language, giving knowledgeable viewers and scene insiders messages about who drew what.

Like in other cities, marking a particularly visible or hard-to-get-to area (such as high up on a building) is a declaration of prowess, but Thomas noted that Maine street artists have other challenges. Back in December, she was out taking photos in a blizzard, and saw a tag that called attention to when it was made: "Blizzard bombing," it read.

In the past six months, she has noticed more labels and stickers going up around the city, works people draw at home and just slap up somewhere as they're walking by. She theorizes that is part a reaction to a pending city crackdown (see "Outlawing Art?") and part desire to do more intricate pieces in a less-risky way.

Thomas is definitely appreciative of the efforts of local street artists: "It adds to the layers of things we have in the city to look at," she says. And she observes that the Portland Museum of Art held an event earlier this year focused on local graffiti and street artists.

Outlawing art?

After years of a moderate tolerance to graffiti artists, Portland officials are reconsidering that approach. The city council's Public Safety Committee has proposed increasing the punishments for graffiti artists. That has brought thinly veiled threats from the street-art community of retribution by increased activity.

A second controversial element of the proposal would fine property owners who do not clean up if their buildings are tagged. That has led to objections from people who worry that they might be "victimized twice" — once by graffiti, and a second time by the city enforcing the clean-it-up law.

The proposal would also ban the sale of "graffiti tools," such as markers and spray-paint cans, to minors. Aubin Thomas notes that might be missing the point: "All of the graffiti artists and taggers I know are not minors."

While proponents say tagging would be discouraged if it were removed quickly, that's less certain in an art form whose very nature assumes, and even embraces, temporary display.

Eli Cayer suggests that fighting graffiti is best done Montreal-style, where the city hosts international events celebrating street art and "the whole downtown is tattooed, almost, with graffiti."

"I want to live in a city where I see more of the productions" — larger, artistic pieces — he says. "Not everybody does, I can appreciate that, (but) just because you don't like it doesn't mean it doesn't deserve respect."

Cayer cites as an example the new mural at Joe's Smoke Shop on Congress Street as a successful contribution of art to the community that also deters graffiti: "Joe's gets bombed all the time, and it's not going to now."

Broadband update: Internet service falling into place

Published in the Portland Phoenix

The details needed to understand where and how to best improve Maine's high-speed Internet connectivity are finally within reach. Even better, the funding and planning are under way. Three major developments have happened recently, and two more are on the horizon, that could hasten the dawn of a day in which Maine is no longer in the slow lane for Internet service.

The first development is THE BEGINNING OF WORK ON AN 1100-MILE FIBER-OPTIC NETWORK covering most of Maine. Called the "Three-Ring Binder" because it is designed with three interconnecting circles of fiber, the project, funded with private and state and federal government money. The network has six miles complete — including a section in downtown Portland — and when finished in two years' time will be open to any Internet provider as a super-high-speed link to the wider Internet. Key to this is that fiber-optic networking is largely considered "future-proof," meaning that as better transmission technologies develop over time, the fiber network itself will not need to be replaced or re-wired. Even though transmission equipment at connection points may need replacement, the money and time required is far less than re-creating an all-new network to parallel the old one.

The second development is the RELEASE OF A NATIONAL MAP OF BROADBAND ACCESS, complete with data on actual speed delivered by providers, number of companies offering Internet access in a particular area, and the means by which that access is provided (wireless mobile, cable-modem, DSL, etc.). In the words of Phil Lindley, executive director of the ConnectME Authority, the state agency tasked with expanding high-speed Internet access across Maine, "It's great to know where it is, but what's more important is for us to know where it isn't." Yes, the map shows empty spaces too — which will inform the selection process for the next round of ConnectME grants, to optimize investment in areas that most need help.

The third development is that NOBODY IS LOOKING TO FAIRPOINT COMMUNICATIONS FOR LEADERSHIP IN BROADBAND SERVICE anymore. The North Carolina-based company that operates the landline telephone network in Maine was expected to be a key element of providing 21st-century technology to rural parts of the state — and discussions of that prospect were key to state regulators' approval of the deal that allowed FairPoint to buy Verizon's landline system — even state officials now recognize that FairPoint is not a serious player.

While the company emerged from bankruptcy late last year, and did announce in January that it can provide faster-than-dialup service to 83 percent of Maine homes, the speed of FairPoint's service is the lowest that qualifies as "broadband" under state and federal guidelines. The company is still on its way to wiring up 87 percent of Maine homes by the end of 2014 — down from 90 percent, which was its original goal. As a sign of the times, though, if a proposal now before state officials moves forward, Maine's legal definition of the term may soon be accelerated, such that whatever FairPoint provides, it will be too slow to be labeled "broadband."

Coming up are two additional moves at the federal level with big promise for Maine. First is that the $8 billion annually raised by the Universal Service Fee (a surcharge on landline and cellphone bills alike) could be released to fund Internet expansion. At present, the fee is limited to supporting telephone service in rural areas, but bureaucrats are beginning to figure out that it's Internet access that is truly necessary everywhere in the country. A Federal Communications Commission decision on that could come later this year.

Also, the FCC is expected to release some additional radio spectrum for auction soon, with the goal that funds raised from the auction and most of the new bandwidth itself will go to reach 98 percent of Americans with Internet access at speeds five times faster than Maine's present minimum broadband speed.

For more info, check out broadbandmap.gov.

Fuzzy math: Buy Local 'survey' is questionable

Published in the Portland Phoenix

Heaven knows I like the idea of the Portland Buy Local campaign, so it pains me to say that I found the recently released results of an area business survey just a bit too self-congratulatory.

An announcement headlined "Survey Finds 'Buy Local' Drawing New Customers to Local Businesses" describes the responses to a questionnaire sent to organization members as evidence that the campaign is helping locally owned businesses survive, even in the recession.

But because of the survey's methodology, those findings are anecdotal and specific to the few businesses that responded, rather than being truly representative of the organization as a whole, admits Portland resident Stacy Mitchell, the Buy Local group's vice-president and a senior researcher for the Minnesota-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Warning: entering survey-statistics nerd territory. The problem is not so much that the sample size is small (49 members of a 386-member group), but rather that respondents were self-selecting instead of being picked randomly. A random sampling of 50 Buy Local members would have resulted in a survey with a 10 percent margin of error, Mitchell says, defending the number of respondents. She may be right, but surveys with self-selecting responses have an even larger error margin. (And 10 percent is considered huge on its own — major political and business surveys aim for margins of error under 5 percent.) Leaving nerd turf now.

It's the difference between asking questions of a certain number people randomly selected from your entire town, versus the same number of people in just one neighborhood. One is representative of the larger whole; the other isn't.

Because those who chose to answer do like the Buy Local campaign and say it is helping them, there is some indication that things are going well, but we have no accurate information about how well, or what non-respondents might think. (As Mitchell points out, this is not the only measure the group uses to evaluate its effectiveness. It is, however, the only such information the group provides to the public.)

But even the question about the helpfulness of the Buy Local campaign is problematic. The survey asked "Do you think that this campaign has had an impact on your business?" and suggested several answers: "significant positive impact," "moderate positive impact," "a little positive impact," "no impact," "don't know," and "negative impact."

Of the 49 businesses that responded, all but seven said it had some degree of "positive impact." (Those seven said the Buy Local effort had "no impact" on their business.)

But only listing "negative impact" — without options for a scale (such as "significant," "moderate," and "a little") — biases the results against showing that result. And indeed, no respondents chose that answer, Mitchell says. (It may seem strange to consider that a program to promote local businesses might somehow hurt them, but a proper survey will leave that as an open question to be answered by the respondents, rather than assuming a specific outcome.)

The results Portland's campaign is trumpeting are culled from the Portland-specific answers to a nationwide questionnaire with similar methodology and credibility problems, conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, the chief backer of buy-local campaigns around the country.

Mitchell says her group lacks the financial ability to hire a survey company to conduct a formal study that could give results that would be representative of the group as a whole.