The choice before us today is whether we continue the pattern of electing the same people who have created the problems, or whether we change course and put Maine on an economic path to prosperity.
My entire professional life has been in the private sector managing companies, spending wisely, and creating jobs. I’ve dealt directly with the specific problems Maine has today. I know how tough it is to start and run a business in Maine and that you should only spend what you take in.
And I have been successful in my business dealings because I’ve never taken on excessive amounts of debt.
I hope I can earn your vote because I have the right experience and qualifications to lead Maine back to greatness. This election is too important to stay home. Our challenges are too important to leave in the hands of politicians.
Let’s take our state back. It all starts with your vote today.
]]>Should state be run more like business? ‘That’s a good way to put it,’ he says
ELLSWORTH—In the final days of the primary campaign, Bruce Poliquin has taken to the road.
Thursday, he woke up at 4:30 a.m. to meet and greet workers at Bath Iron Works at 6:45. He had a television interview planned in Presque Isle at night, along with stops at six towns in between.
“Nobody’s gonna outwork Bruce,” said Bill Boeschenstein, Poliquin’s friend since high school who has been volunteering for his campaign.
After breakfast at Moody’s Diner in Waldoboro, Jeff Evangelos drove his pickup up to Poliquin’s RV to thank him for running an attack ad against fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Les Otten.
Evangelos, a former Democratic candidate for the Maine Legislature, called Otten a “one-man wrecking ball.”
Besides their evident dislike of Otten, the two seemed to strike a chord on their distaste for incumbents and passionate disgust for the economic status quo.
“There is no solution to this anymore, because the demand side of the economy is gone,” said Evangelos, his voice rising. “It’s going down.”
“Don’t get negative on me,” Poliquin said.
About an hour and a half later, Poliquin was leading the charge out of the bus during a wet spell in foggy Rockland.
“Ah, this is a great day in Maine, guys!” the former coach said to the four members of his campaign team riding with him in the van, putting on a game face and beaming in the drizzle under a red raincoat.
Between stops, he called voters from lists he divided into supporters, probable supporters, potential supporters who share Poliquin’s concerns, and undecideds.
“He could have gotten us over the top,” Poliquin declared after hanging up on one such call he had while rolling down U.S. Route 1. He had spoken with a 25-year veteran of the Department of Corrections, who said he wanted to see a leader who would hold state government accountable, he said.
A short while later, Poliquin again picked up the phone.
“As you know now, we have five days left until D-Day,” he said, leaving voice mail. “We’re gonna fix this thing when we win this thing, but we’ve got to get people to the polls.”
Poliquin said his campaign’s polling shows him tied with Otten and Sen. Peter Mills for the Republican nomination.
He said he is confident he will win, because he thinks that he has presented himself as the only fiscal conservative in the race with private-sector knowledge from a career spent as an executive, managing pension investments; and an entrepreneur, developing real estate.
Moreover, he said, his is the only organization with the “ground game” to get out the vote.
“We are making tens and tens and tens of thousands of phone calls every week, and we are knocking on thousands and thousands of doors,” he said. “We are demonstrating that we are the hardest working campaign on either side.”
In the past 15 months, Poliquin said, he’s traveled 40,000 miles around the state.
Many of the people he met Thursday were registered as Democrats or not enrolled in a party.
That didn’t stop Poliquin from stopping to chat. He said he expected some voters to register Republican leading up to the primary, although official records indicate that, even during during the 2008 presidential-year primary, only a few thousand people did that.
“I don’t really look at our problems as being Republican and Democratic,” he told Beverly Stone and Sheryl Tripp at The Working Art gallery on Main Street in Belfast. “They’re economic, fiscal, and (about) jobs.”
Stone rattled off questions for the candidate, and before long asked him whether he planned to run the government like a business.
“That’s a good way to put it,” Poliquin said.
“The older I get, the less I pussyfoot around,” she said, a few minutes later. “Let’s see you take a pay cut when you get there.”
“How about no pay at all?” Poliquin replied.
After he left the store, Stone, who is not enrolled in a party, said she probably wouldn’t vote in the primary.
Poliquin was the first candidate for state office who had ever approached her in Belfast, she said, and, although it would take more than quick chat to capture her vote, she appreciated his effort.
“Most of them have a little town meeting that I need to make an effort for,” she said. “He’s running a different type of campaign.”
Meanwhile, Poliquin and his team drove on.
]]>Portland – Today, Bruce Poliquin, candidate for Maine Governor, announced a statewide tour to rally supporters and boost the campaign’s “get-out-the-vote” effort ahead of the June 8 primary.
The tour will start in the early morning hours on Thursday with a visit to the front gates of Bath Iron Works. From there, the campaign will head downeast through Rockland and Ellsworth, finishing the evening up in Presque Isle. Starting before dawn on Friday, the tour will take Bruce from Arroostook County all the way to Kennebunkport, ending with a trip back up to Freeport for a Meet & Greet and a visit to Hadlock Field in Portland.
Bruce will be visiting major points of interest, business districts, and media outlets throughout the state to motivate voters to participate in this very important election.
For media inquiries about the tour and Bruce Poliquin, please contact Brian Phillips, brian@bruceforme.com, or call 272-0363.
Tour Schedule (times are estimates):
Thursday, June 3
6:15am Leave on tour
6:45am Bath Iron Works, South Gate
8:30am Moody’s Diner, US-1, Waldoboro
10:30am Rockland
12:30am Belfast
2:30pm Ellsworth
5pm Bangor
8pm Houlton
10pm-11pm Presque Isle
Friday, June 4
4:30am Leave Preque Isle
6:45am Lincoln Pulp & Paper Company, Shift change
8am Bangor
9am Newport, Dysart’s Truck Stop
11am Waterville, Wal-Mart and Upper Main Street
1pm Lewiston, Simones Hot Dogs
4pm Kennebunk
6:30pm Freeport, Frank Doyle M&G
9pm Portland Sea Dogs
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]]>Portland – Today, Bruce Poliquin, candidate for Maine Governor, stood out as the top choice during the third major televised debate between the Republican gubernatorial candidates. Touting his plan to reduce spending, lower taxes, and streamline business regulations, Poliquin was the only candidate to put forth a comprehensive approach to end business-as-usual politics in Augusta and improve Maine’s economy.
“It all starts with spending,” Poliquin said. “If we just focus on taxes, as many of my opponents propose, we risk putting our state into insolvency…That’s why we need someone from the private sector who’s dealt with these real-world economic, fiscal, and job related problems. We need to permanently reduce the cost and complexity of doing business in Maine, and that won’t come from a career politician.”
Poliquin, a business manager, is also the only candidate with a background in finance and comprehensive professional experience as both a company executive and a small business entrepreneur.
“Unlike my opponents, I have spent my entire professional life in the private sector, and been both a managing partner in a corporation and owner of several small businesses in Maine,” said Poliquin. “I know what it’s like to run a sizeable business, oversee large budgets, and build consensus among stakeholders. But I’ve also experienced what it’s like to create business and jobs from the ground up, deal with local and state agencies, sign the front side of a paycheck, and navigate the web of complex state rules and regulations.”
“That experience is critical for Maine’s next Governor. We cannot afford to continue the status quo. The future of Maine’s economy and opportunities for our kids depend on it.”
Tonight’s debate was sponsored by WMTW-TV and took place on the campus of the University of Southern Maine in Portland.
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Let us also keep in our thoughts those who continue to serve in places far from home. May they come home safe and soon.
]]>Our current state government has been greatly mismanaged. The next governor will have to take on a $1 billion budget gap and almost $9 billion in unfunded liabilities.
Of all the candidates for governor, Bruce Poliquin is the only one who has the managerial, financial and economic experience to help Maine rise up from this fiscal dilemma.
After graduating from college with a degree in economics, Bruce helped build an asset management firm called Avatar Investors Associates. The firm was responsible for safely investing pension funds for companies like Bath Iron Works and International Paper.
With Bruce’s direction, the firm was able to increase the total worth of the pension funds from $35 million to $5 billion. Bruce is the only candidate who has this sort of management experience. Bruce is not one to resort to political platitudes. He is not a politician. His experience as an investment manager gives him a perspective different from any other candidate. He understands fiscal matters.
Most of Maine’s financial problems are systemic, which is why I believe it is important to elect someone who has the skills to efficiently manage state funds and lead us toward financial solvency.
Bruce Poliquin is that someone.
Bayard Douty
Cape Elizabeth
]]>• Maine’s long-standing reputation for not being business-friendly.
• The lowest percentage of residents 18 years old or younger but sixth-highest percentage of residents 65 years or older in the nation.
• Unfunded liability of $8 billion for the State Employees Retirement and Retiree Health Fund.
• The fourth-highest personal income tax burden in the country.
• The highest cost per K-12 pupil in any rural state except Vermont, seventh among all states with only average matriculation in K-12 and below average in college.
• In 2006, Maine’s household average income was $16,000 less than in New Hampshire.
• The number of K-12 students in Maine from 1979 to 2006 decreased by 16 percent, but the number of teachers increased 32 percent and school administrators and staff increased by 52 percent.
• Eligibility requirements for MaineCare (Medicaid) are practically nil, which together with very generous benefits draws folks from other states, which further increases our costs. Twenty-two percent of Mainers (275,000 of us) are enrolled in this program.
• Restrictions put on private insurers by the Legislature have resulted in minimal individual health insurance competition and correspondingly high rates in Maine.
• Maine excise tax on a new $25,000 car is $600 for the first year. In Connecticut, it is $38.
• Lackluster results from nonprofit and government attempts to recruit new businesses and the loss of existing jobs are due to our anti-business image and policies.
Please consider these facts before you vote. I am voting for Bruce Poliquin for governor.
Bob Rasche
Wells
]]>Bruce Poliquin has owned or worked for a variety of businesses, and now wants to run the biggest business in Maine-state government. Poliquin is one of seven republicans battling for the party’s nomination for Governor in the June 8th primary.
Poliquin leaves no doubt about what he thinks of Maine state government. He says the state is “broke”, because of the “gross mismanagement we’ve had decade after decade in Augusta.”
MORE: Bruce Poliquin on In The Arena with Pat Callaghan
Bruce Poliquin on 207 with Kathleen Shannon
Poliquin told a small group of potential supporters in Rockland that the next Governor of Maine needs to be a business person, who has the management experience to fix the state’s financial mess. He claims he has a particular blend of management and financial experience that no other candidate has, and that it is the kind of experience that’s necessary.
Poliquin says the state needs to significantly cut spending, reduce regulation on business and then reduce taxes in order to stimulate business growth and new jobs. He does not give a lot of specifics about where or how much should be cut—saying the state needs a complete audit first.
He does say Medicaid and some other social service benefits need to be reduced to the same level as other states. But it is the issues of alleged overspending and overregulating that he says need changing the most.
“The state has been so mismanaged for so many years,” says Poliquin, “that we’ve created one of the worst business climates in the country. What decisions are made in Augusta have a direct impact on the private sector, and we’ve so created such a complicated and expensive place to do business that our private sector has been shrinking. And we tax it to death to pay for a growing public sector. It needs to be the other way around.”
]]>Republican Bruce Poliquin
JUNE 8 GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY
by Christine Parrish
“The state is underwater,” said Bruce Poliquin, a businessman and real estate developer from Georgetown who has financed his own campaign.
Poliquin had just been asked about his favorite television character, and he chose the series “Sea Hunt,” which aired when he was a kid. Lloyd Bridges starred as an ex-Navy scuba-diver who took on villains, salvaged everything from a bicycle to a nuclear missile, and rescued a downed Air Force pilot, dogs and children.
“Yeah, Lloyd Bridges saved people underwater and this state sure needs that,” said Poliquin.
Like many of the gubernatorial candidates on the stump, Poliquin wants to bring a business-friendly attitude to the Blaine House, do a major audit of state government to root out duplication and waste, come up with performance measures for state agencies to adhere to, hire professional business managers to head the state agencies, cut the budget back, then cut taxes.
But controlling spending is his number one priority.
“If you lower taxes first without getting at spending first, you are going to have problems,” said Poliquin, when asked about his priorities. He said it is the basic foundation on which economic growth can be built: spend no more than what you bring in.
A Thatcherite conservative
“I admired Margaret Thatcher’s courage,” said Poliquin, referring to Ronald Reagan’s British counterpart who also embraced trickle-down economics. “The next governor will face some similar challenges, because Maine has become a complicated and expensive place to do business.”
Simplify regulations and permitting
Poliquin said simplifying business regulations is essential to attracting business to the state.
“You need someone from the private sector to do that, someone who knows how tough it is to do business in the state,” said Poliquin.
“How will we do it? We’ll figure out by putting the heads of agencies, business people, and legislators together to look at business regulations and see what can be done,” he said.
“Here is an example: a construction company in Phippsburg wanted to build a road and they needed permits from the Department of Environmental Protection, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Inland Fish and Wildlife, and more at the local level. The agencies didn’t communicate well. One blueprint was needed for the Army Corps, a different blueprint for the DEP . . .” said Poliquin, adding that someone who has been through that process will work hard to make it easier for business.
Welfare: Too generous
Poliquin said a lot of our taxes go to supporting social services in Maine that offer welfare benefits that are far too generous and often better than private health insurance, and that residency requirements and time limits should be set on receiving welfare.
Roads and Broadband
“It is a business development priority to fix the roads and bridges,” said Poliquin. “Absolutely. They are in great disrepair. But it’s a balancing act to fund it. But we need to do the government audit first. Roads come later.”
And on other issues . . .
Energy: Favors importing cheap energy from Canada to lower energy costs and favors coastal oil drilling.
Tax reform: Will vote yes to repeal LD 1495, the tax reform bill that passed last year.
Republican Party platform: “I share the core values of the Republican Party, but this platform was divisive,” said Poliquin, when asked about the Tea Party-inspired state platform adopted at the Republican convention earlier this month. “Abolish the Department of Education and the Federal Reserve? I don’t agree with that.”
Social issues: Does not think the governor or the Legislature should get involved in questions of gay marriage or abortion. Believes it should be left to a people’s referendum.
Health care: Favors increased competition from out-of-state providers in an effort to lower premium prices. Views Dirigo Health as a well-intentioned failure.
]]>The following is a LIVE chat that took place on the Portland Press-Herald’s website, pressherald.com
12:00
MaineTodayMedia: Good morning, and welcome to the latest in our series of online chats with the candidates for Maine governor. Today’s guest is Republican Bruce Poliquin.
12:00
MaineTodayMedia: I’m Angie Muhs, managing editor of the Portland Press Herald. Before we get started—we expect Bruce shortly—a few housekeeping matters.
12:01
MaineTodayMedia: We encourage you to use your real name when you post a question, and we’ll try to get to as many questions and topics from as many people as we can. Please keep questions focused on issues so that we may have a civil conversation.
12:02
Bruce Poliquin: Hello everyone. I want to thank the Portland Press-Herald for hosting the online chat today. I look forward to everyone’s questions.
12:03
MaineTodayMedia: Bruce, thanks for joining us.
12:03
MaineTodayMedia: If you missed today’s profile of Bruce you can read it here.
12:03
MaineTodayMedia: Whoops, I mean here: http://www.pressherald.com/news/Profile-A-business-friendly-environment-tops-Poliquins-agenda-.html
12:03
MaineTodayMedia: And we have a few questions coming, so let’s start with Shawn.
12:04
[Comment From Shawn]
Do you believe that Progressives have helped or hurt the Republican party?
12:05
Bruce Poliquin:
Shawn, I think any time we stray from our core principles of free enterprise, fiscal prudence, limited government, personal responsibility, and individual liberties it hurts us.
12:06
[Comment From Bob Rasche]
What are your thoughts on reducing MaineCare costs
12:10
MaineTodayMedia: Thanks to everyone for the questions coming in. .. Please understand we post one at a time. We will get to as many as we can…
12:10
Bruce Poliquin:
Bob, MaineCare now enrolls 280,000 of our fellow Mainers - 23% of our population. The reason for this is the ease of enrollment, no residency requirement, and the fact that the benefits provided in MaineCare are more generous than in most other states. We can no longer afford to be everything to everybody.
As Governor, I’ll lead the effort to institute a residency requirement so people will have to live in Maine for a reasonable period of time before they can receive benefits. I’ll work to reduce the the benefits so they are no more generous than those offered in other states.
That will dramatically reduce the what we’re spending on MaineCare.
12:10
[Comment From Gary]
Mr Poliquin, what is your stance on gay marriage in Maine, and will you lower the citizens incredible tax burden if elected, and if so, by how much and what means. The tax rate in Maine borderlines crazy.
12:12
Bruce Poliquin:
Government and politics have no place in social issues like gay marriage. When it comes to an issue of conscience, the people of Maine should have a vote. As Governor, I will do everything in my power to refer such issues to the ballot so that the people of Maine can ultimately make the decision.
12:13
MaineTodayMedia: Bruce, would you like to address the 2nd part of Gary’s question, re taxes?
12:13
[Comment From Gary]
BRAVO for your answer on MaineCare
12:13
Bruce Poliquin: On taxes, yes, Maine has one of the highest tax burdens in the country and it is a major impediment to business formation and jobs. However, we must address spending first. Central to my plan to improve Maine’s economy is to only spend what we take in and get our fiscal house i order. That must come first.
12:14
MaineTodayMedia: OK, we’ll take a question from William next.
12:14
[Comment From William]
Bruce - your campaign chose to be the first to air television ads critical of your opponents. Do you have any second thoughts about that, particularly given some criticism that at least some of the accusations in those ads were false?
12:19
Bruce Poliquin: William, it’s important that all relevant information be part of the discussion regarding who is best qualified to oversee state finances. Our campaign has made it part of the discussion and now voters will make the decision.
12:19
[Comment From Trevor]
You have said your first action as Governor would be to audit every State Agency to look for savings, waste and duplication. We have tried several times top combine certain “similar” agencies into one and every time it has failed, due to special interest groups. Do you have a plan to streamline State Agencies?
12:23
Bruce Poliquin: Trevor, Streamlining state agencies must be part of the mix. To be successful in the private sector, a competent manager must always look for cost efficiencies. By conducting performance audits of our departments, agencies and programs, we’ll determine which are performing well and which are not. We’ll then be able to make the appropriate adjustments. But we must conduct the performance audit first otherwise we risk hurting agencies and programs that are working, and not reforming those that are not.
12:24
[Comment From Steve Sanderson]
How do you plan on attracting new businesses and creating jobs? in manufacturing , good sustainable jobs, not just highway projects.
12:28
Bruce Poliquin: Great question, Steve. As Governor, I will introduce a new positive attitude toward business development and jobs. Maine businesses are not the enemy. They employ our people. Our state government should do everything possible to help them thrive.
I’ll then lead the effort to get our spending under control. Maine must become one of those states that only spends what we take in.
Once we get our fiscal house in order, I’ll then lead the effort to reduce taxes in a meaningful way. That will create incentives for businesses to invest in Maine and create jobs, and keep our young families here.
Finally, I will simplify business regulations to make it easier to do business in Maine.
This will create a business-friendly environment in Maine attracting good paying private sector jobs. (more…..)
12:29
Bruce Poliquin: The truth is there is no silver bullet that will fix our economy. There is no “big idea” that will save our state. We MUST get back to basics and permanently reduce the cost and complexity of doing business in Maine.
12:30
MaineTodayMedia: Bruce, ready for a different topic? We have a couple questions that are education-related.
12:30
Bruce Poliquin: All set!
12:30
[Comment From Jack]
Do you support or oppose home schooling? Specifically, would you support increased regulation of homeschooling, e.g., teacher certification or the like.
12:30
[Comment From Dick Douty]
I know you are a advocate for Charter Schools. Can you explain how these schools would save the state and municipalities money. Also, how would the quality of education be affected?
12:36
Bruce Poliquin: I strongly support home schooling and would oppose new regulations.
Publicly-funded charter schools should be an extension of our public school system like in other states. Charter schools are laboratories of innovation. They are more flexible in curriculum design, teacher qualifications, and holding schools accountable. Additionally, they often perform at a lower costs than traditional public schools. Our students can benefit greatly from allowing these innovative schools to augment our traditional public schools.
12:36
[Comment From Matt]
The Maine DEP and Maine DOT have a hisotry of purchasing using equipment and State employees to perform many state funded projects that could be done by Maine private firms and contractors. What is your position on privatization.
12:39
MaineTodayMedia: While Bruce is answering, I’d like to note that this chat—as well as all other candidates’—will be archived online here: http://www.pressherald.com/home/governor/Candidates_for_Governor.html
12:41
Bruce Poliquin: Matt, the private sector can often provide services at a lower cost than the public sector. As Governor and chief fiscal officer of the state, it will be my responsibility to help deliver the best services to the taxpayer at the lowest cost. Taxpayers of Maine deserve this.
12:42
MaineTodayMedia: Scott has a question about the legislature’s role.
12:42
[Comment From Scott]
What do we need a legislature for if we put all the tough questions to the voters? Do you favor a change in the Maine Constitution—in that case we may not need a governor either.
12:48
Bruce Poliquin: Scott, as you know, Maine has a long, rich history of giving the voters a loud voice in how their state is governed. I support that process.
However, a competent and fiscally prudent manager as Governor would have avoided the need for many of our past referendum issues. I think the prevalence of all the referendum issues is a symptom of how mismanaged our state has been for so long, and how frustrated our citizens are. My hope is that we can restore Mainer’s trust in their state government.
12:48
MaineTodayMedia: Let’s try to get a few more questions in before we end at 1.
12:48
[Comment From Mike]
Where do you stand on gun rights? And what is your position on trapping in the state of Maine?
12:53
Bruce Poliquin: Mike, I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, gun rights, and an individual’s right to own firearms. Mainers are responsible gun owners. We don’t need any new gun laws. For example, we don’t need background checks for gun purchases through Uncle Henry’s, private transactions, or at gun shows.
On trapping, I support the current laws.
12:53
[Comment From AJ]
Bruce, what is your opinion on school consolidation, how would you change it and how would you change the current school funding formula (EPS)?
1:00
Bruce Poliquin: AJ, Maine has an expensive education system but is receiving average results. One of the reasons we have such an expensive system is high administrative overhead costs. The current Governor has been trying to reduce those costs through the consolidation effort. I wouldn’t have gone about the process in the same way. For example, one size does not fit all school districts. However, we must continue to be serious about reducing administrative costs and get the money in the classroom where the kids are.
The real problem is that Maine is broke. We have no new money. When we fix our economy, they’ll be plenty of tax revenue to educate our kids, and we won’t have to fight over the pieces of a shrinking economic pie. Fix our economy and we’ll have the necessary resources to fund our priorities.
That’s why it’s so important to have a business manager from the private sector with extensive experience in finance to lead our state.
1:00
[Comment From Bill]
Steve asked earlier about your plan for attracting new businesses including manufacturing. While I applaud your answer about reducing spending, taxes and unfriendly business regulations, given our extremely high energy costs, how could any manufacturing business afford to locate in Maine ?
1:01
MaineTodayMedia: Bruce, if you can take one more .. and this will be the last.
1:06
Bruce Poliquin:
Bill, Maine families and businesses pay 50% more for electric power than the national average. As Governor, I will work to reduce that cost to attract business investment and jobs from all industries.
The truth is that Maine has all but eliminated the two cheapest sources of electric power - nuclear power and hydro-electric generation. I will lead the effort to import the cheap, green, renewable, and plentiful power from Canada - which is using nuclear and hydro to produce electricity for roughly a fourth of what Mainers are paying. This will be a major incentive for businesses like manufacturing to invest in Maine and create jobs, as well as help our families lower their monthly electric bills.
1:07
MaineTodayMedia: And that’ll wrap up our chat today. Bruce, thanks for participating with us.
1:07
Bruce Poliquin: I had a great time. Thanks to all the questioners!
If you haven’t been to one of our town halls, I hope you able to come to one of the remaining events. I’ve also posted the video highlights of several town halls on my web site. It’s important that Maine’s next Governor hear directly from voters so he or she knows exactly what people are experiencing in their daily lives, how they view their interactions with state government, and what we can do to improve that experience.
The thing I hear most is that it costs too much to live and work in Maine. Whether it’s a business owner or a parent trying to provide a better life for his or her family, Maine is an expensive place to live. Many people are leaving as a result because they just can’t make it here.
The high cost is in large part because of the enormous tax burden our state government imposes to pay for spending on state programs that is way beyond national averages.
That’s why I have made a central part of my campaign a plan to spend only what we take in and reduce state expenditures on programs to the average of what they spend in other states. That will allow us to enact meaningful tax reform to benefit families and companies, and help keep our kids in Maine.
]]>]]>Profile: A business-friendly environment tops Poliquin’s agenda
The Georgetown Republican is described as a decisive leader.
By Matt Wickenheiser
Staff WriterGEORGETOWN — Bruce Poliquin’s first job after he graduated from Harvard with an economics degree was with Harris Bank in Chicago. His annual pay was $11,000.
What the job lacked in pay – even in 1976 dollars – it made up for in experience, said Poliquin. He worked for a trust division of the bank, and part of his job was talking to small-business owners in the Midwest about investing their pension funds.
Slaughterhouses, tool and die shops, electroplating businesses, carburetor manufacturers – Poliquin met with the owners, toured the operations and learned what made the businesses successful.
“It was a tremendous learning experience on not only how good businesses are managed, but what’s an environment that creates an opportunity for a business to succeed,” said Poliquin. “Businesses are most successful when they’re in a regulatory environment, in a cost structure, where they can be successful. That’s why Maine has such a horrible economy, and why our kids are leaving.”
Poliquin, of Georgetown, is running for governor in the Republican primary. As he campaigns in a field against six other GOP candidates, he hits relentlessly on recurring themes.
He stresses his management experience as an investment banker who analyzed companies and pension funds, contending that’s what Maine needs in a governor.
He talks about the state’s poor business environment, and how he would address it. And he raises his work with Maine youths, and the need to create jobs here so graduates can stay here, or return home if they wish.
He has no political experience, but that’s common in this year’s Republican primary. He sometimes sticks to his campaign’s talking points to the level where, in debates and forums, he doesn’t answer questions.
He has funded much of his campaign, contributing more than $550,000 to a total of $860,000, according to the latest state records.
“Putting my own money in is the right thing to do,” he said. “Any enterprise I’ve ever gotten involved with, I’ve had a commitment to it.”People who have worked with him and know him describe a straightforward man who absorbs information and then acts.
“He’s a real straight shooter. Basically, when he says he’s going to do something, it gets done,” said John Moody, the construction manager who is working on Poliquin’s housing development in Phippsburg, Popham Woods.
Moody said Poliquin didn’t have much experience in construction when he first talked to Moody about working on the project. Poliquin asked for advice, listened and took in the information, Moody said.
Julie Moss of Yarmouth served on North Yarmouth Academy’s board of directors with Poliquin for about eight years, and he was president of the board for four of them.
“The thing that struck me the most was that he was very solicitive of everybody’s opinion, he wanted everyone’s input before he made a decision,” said Moss. “But once he made a decision, he made it. He was sure of himself, but very respectful of everybody on the board, and wanted them to feel part of the process.”
Poliquin grew up in Waterville. His mother was a nurse and his father was a teacher. His father held other jobs at the same time, refereeing basketball, umpiring baseball, running lobster pounds, renting beach cottages.
The family often talked about business ideas and plans, said Poliquin, and he was encouraged early on to work.
During winter, he would help shovel out people who had to get to work. He cut lawns in the summer, and saved enough money to buy his own metallic green stingray bike, with a banana seat.
When he was young, he became interested in going to Harvard.
On the advice of a guidance counselor, he and his family looked into boarding schools. Poliquin got into Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., and supplemented his scholarship to the school by working in the library and washing windows for faculty members.
He went to Harvard on a scholarship, worked in the dining hall busing tables on Sunday mornings, and cleaned an office building in Brattle Square.
For job interviews, he borrowed a suit from his roommate. His father mailed him the dress shoes he had worn at his wedding 40 years before.
Poliquin took the job with Harris Bank, spent a few years there and then took a job in New York City with a consulting firm that evaluated corporate pension funds and matched them with investment companies to manage the money.
In 1981, he joined a small investment management firm called Avatar Associates. The firm was managing about $35 million of other people’s money, said Poliquin. When he left in 1996, he was the company’s third-largest stockholder and a managing partner, and the company was managing $5 billion.
In New York at the same time was Jane Carpenter, a Waterville native and a good friend whom he had dated off and on over the years.
She was working at the Brooklyn Museum’s lab in art restoration. Their time in New York overlapped for about five years, and the relationship became serious.They got married in Phippsburg in 1989, 17 years after they met. The couple moved back to Maine, and Poliquin traveled back and forth to New York, still running Avatar with his partners. After their son, Sam, was born, Poliquin worked more and more from home.
In early 1992, Jane and her father drowned during a family vacation. Sam was 16 months old. Poliquin spent the next half-year making sure Sam was well and safe, and figuring out how to be a single parent, with help from his family.
Poliquin worked with Avatar for a few more years, with his mother and father watching Sam overnight when he made quick trips to New York.
He invested in small companies in Maine, from software firms to a bookstore. About five years ago, he started a real estate firm, Dirigo Holdings. “It was a way I could do something different and manage a process with different parts,” he said.
One of his projects was the ill-fated Stinson Seafood cannery redevelopment in Bath, which Poliquin wanted to make into a marina and condo complex.
The city never approved rezoning for the project, and an arsonist torched the property.In the Popham Woods project, he said, he was told late in the process by state regulators that he would have to change the plans because of wetlands, adding a full year to the process of obtaining permits.
It’s a combination of experiencing such frustrations and knowing kids who want to return to Maine but don’t have jobs that spurred him to run for governor, said Poliquin.
While campaigning, Poliquin pushes the need to restructure the state’s permitting process and streamline government in general.
He opposes borrowing to supplement programs, would institute ways to measure the performance of government programs, and would hire professional managers to run departments, if elected.“We need someone who’s got guts. Someone who’s not worried about the next election,” said Poliquin. “Someone who is a manager, who’s been successful with financial dealings, someone who understands the problems, someone who can lead this state and rally the forces, whether it be the populace or the Legislature, to do the right thing and fix this.”
Staff Writer Matt Wickenheiser can be contacted at 791-6316 or at: mwickenheiser@pressherald.com
]]>Vote for Poliquin
Your May 13 editorial, “Weigh in on election,” noted that candidates’ decisions on whether or not to send a letter or a commentary to The Times Record would indicate to the voters “how much respect candidates have for residents of the Mid-coast region.”
Republican Bruce Poliquin not only respects the residents of the Mid-coast region, he is one of us. He lives in Georgetown. His Yarmouth-based company is building homes in a wooded section of Phippsburg, surrounded by a carefully preserved 130-acre wildlife habitat. His campaign headquarters are in Brunswick, in a former Dunkin’ Donuts building that had been sitting empty on the corner of Pleasant Street and Church Road.
At this writing, the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics & Election Practices (http://www.mainecampaignfinance.com/public/home.asp) lists 23 “active” candidates for Maine’s 2010 gubernatorial election: seven Republicans, five Democrats, one Green, and 10 “unenrolled.” Bruce Poliquin is the only one of the 23 who is living, working, and meeting a payroll in the Mid-coast area.
From this local base, Bruce Poliquin has traveled more than 69,000 miles across Maine, listening to the voters and spreading the message that competent management can fix our broken state government. He has the financial and management experience, the dedication and the drive necessary to get the job done. He has my vote.
Ann Frey, Brunswick
We talked about how the next Governor is supposed to get anything done when the bureaucracy is so entrenched and our government is run by career politicians. As Governor, I will go directly to the people.
Case in point: at the same time we were discussing these issues in Bridgton, people in states around the country were changing their elected leadership away from career politicians. Long-time U.S. Senator Arlen Specter from Pennsylvania lost his seat against his opponent’s anti-Washington campaign. And in Kentucky, Rand Paul, a political newcomer from the private sector, soundly defeated his opponent Trey Grayson, an establishment favorite.
The message? No more business-as-usual from career politicians.
Our own career politicians have so mismanaged state finances that Maine is now one of the worst places to do business in the U.S. We have one of the highest tax burdens in the country to pay for Maine’s out-of-control spending on state programs. Mainers across the state are fed up with nonsense in Augusta.
We can’t afford more career politicians poorly running our state, mismanaging our finances, or wasting our hard earned tax dollars. The people in Bridgton and all across Maine are calling for competent management of Maine.
In Kentucky and Pennsylvania, they have changed course. I am convinced we’ll see similar results in our election as well.
]]>People see jobs fleeing the state as a result of the cost and complexity of doing business in Maine. That cost is a result of our state’s addiction to spending. As a state, we need to fundamentally be honest about what services we should provide and what we can afford. State government cannot be all things to all people.
During this campaign, we have seen little attention paid by the other candidates to controlling spending, despite it being a chief concern among voters.
It’s really a question of fiscal management. If we commit ourselves to being a state that only spends what it takes in, then we’ll be able to rebuild our economy, lower taxes, and encourage business formation and job growth.
If we do, it would be a fundamental shift away from business-as-usual in Augusta. I am convinced career politicians in Augusta and Washington will not make these tough decisions.
More than ever, we need someone from the private sector in the Blaine House who knows how tough it is to do business here. Our next Governor must direct state finances based on sound economic judgment and experience, not based on what will get them reelected.
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