Augusta, MAINE – Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett issued the following statement on Governor Paul LePage’s order to remove all prisoners from the Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport last night, resulting in the layoff of 50 employees on March 1, 2018:
“In the dead of night, Governor LePage singlehandedly took an economic lifeline for Washington County and crushed it. This deeply alarming move will result in severe economic consequences for Downeast communities.
“The Governor’s actions are further proof that he will do anything and say anything to get what he wants. It’s clear that with LePage at the helm, Maine state government is not of the people, by the people, and for the people – it’s of LePage, by LePage, and for LePage; a tool that he can and will wield mercilessly and without thought to the damage he does to anyone else.
“This is no way to treat the people of Downeast, Maine. I urge Republican leaders in the State House – Ken Fredette, Mike Thibodeau, and Garrett Mason – to speak out against the governor and this needlessly callous and inappropriate move.”
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