Mayor Soule calls for secession (Printed Dec. 7, 2007)
By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
Rising snow totals were big news on Monday, but newly appointed South Portland Mayor James Soule brought some attention to his inaugural address on the same day by calling for Cumberland, York and Sagadahoc counties to “unite against our common oppressive enemy – The State of Maine” and form a new state.
“We must open dialogue with our neighbors with the potential conclusion being the necessity for a resolve to secede from the state of Maine,” Soule said in a speech during an inaugural ceremony in which city council and school board members were sworn in to their posts.
Reached by phone on Tuesday, Soule said he didn’t think he was jumping the gun with his message.
“The same issues, the same problems that South Portland faces today are the same problems it faced the last time I was on the council [from 1989 to 1992],” he said.
In 1995, the city received roughly $4 million in state funding for its schools and that figure holds true this year as well, Soule said.
Soule said South Portland’s need for more police officers and the defeat of the high school bond referendum are evidence of “the inequitable and oppressive redistribution of wealth” by the state.
With the Maine Mall and other regional retail draws, South Portland generates more than $45 million annually in sales tax, he said. There is a “disincentive,” he said, for communities to bring businesses and higher paying jobs to town.
South Portland City Councilor Maxine Beecher said she didn’t know what subjects Soule was going to broach in his speech, “so it did come as somewhat of a surprise.”
“Truthfully, I don’t think I’m quite ready for that piece,” she said. “I don’t think I have a lot to worry about.”
David Farmer, a spokesperson for Gov. John Baldacci, dismissed Soule’s call for secession, calling it a “rhetorical flourish” and “ridiculous.”
“It’s unfortunate the mayor chose to use his time at inauguration to deliver a message of division as a state,” Farmer said. “[It’s] counterproductive to talk about something this radical.”
Farmer said Soule was pushing an “outdated and anachronistic idea of there being two Maines” and said it is more productive to address the issues Soule raises as a united front.
Article 4, section 2 of the United States Consitution states, “No new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the concent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as that of Congress.”
During his speech, Soule also called for the city council to add an additional police patrol vehicle, join the Greater Portland Council of Governments, host the next five council workshops in district neighborhoods, meet with oil and gas company representatives about a designated truck route to bypass local roads, implement a recycling education program and establish a funding prioritization schedule.
Staff Writer
Rising snow totals were big news on Monday, but newly appointed South Portland Mayor James Soule brought some attention to his inaugural address on the same day by calling for Cumberland, York and Sagadahoc counties to “unite against our common oppressive enemy – The State of Maine” and form a new state.
“We must open dialogue with our neighbors with the potential conclusion being the necessity for a resolve to secede from the state of Maine,” Soule said in a speech during an inaugural ceremony in which city council and school board members were sworn in to their posts.
Reached by phone on Tuesday, Soule said he didn’t think he was jumping the gun with his message.
“The same issues, the same problems that South Portland faces today are the same problems it faced the last time I was on the council [from 1989 to 1992],” he said.
In 1995, the city received roughly $4 million in state funding for its schools and that figure holds true this year as well, Soule said.
Soule said South Portland’s need for more police officers and the defeat of the high school bond referendum are evidence of “the inequitable and oppressive redistribution of wealth” by the state.
With the Maine Mall and other regional retail draws, South Portland generates more than $45 million annually in sales tax, he said. There is a “disincentive,” he said, for communities to bring businesses and higher paying jobs to town.
South Portland City Councilor Maxine Beecher said she didn’t know what subjects Soule was going to broach in his speech, “so it did come as somewhat of a surprise.”
“Truthfully, I don’t think I’m quite ready for that piece,” she said. “I don’t think I have a lot to worry about.”
David Farmer, a spokesperson for Gov. John Baldacci, dismissed Soule’s call for secession, calling it a “rhetorical flourish” and “ridiculous.”
“It’s unfortunate the mayor chose to use his time at inauguration to deliver a message of division as a state,” Farmer said. “[It’s] counterproductive to talk about something this radical.”
Farmer said Soule was pushing an “outdated and anachronistic idea of there being two Maines” and said it is more productive to address the issues Soule raises as a united front.
Article 4, section 2 of the United States Consitution states, “No new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the concent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as that of Congress.”
During his speech, Soule also called for the city council to add an additional police patrol vehicle, join the Greater Portland Council of Governments, host the next five council workshops in district neighborhoods, meet with oil and gas company representatives about a designated truck route to bypass local roads, implement a recycling education program and establish a funding prioritization schedule.
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