Article IV, Part Third, Section 14 of the maine State Constitution

Article IV, Part Third, Section 14 of the Maine State Constitution says:

Corporations shall be formed under general laws, and shall not be created by special Acts of the Legislature, except for municipal purposes, and in cases where the objects of the corporation cannot otherwise be attained, and, however formed , they shall forever be subject of the general laws of the state ( emphasis mine)

Quote from the legislative Charter for Brunswick Landing Maine's Center for Innovation : The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority is established as a body corporate and politic and a public instrumentality of the State to carry out the purposes of this article. The authority is entrusted with acquiring and managing the properties within the geographic boundaries of Brunswick Naval Air Station. [2009, c. 641,
§1 (AMD).]
1. Powers. The authority is a public municipal corporation and may:D. Exercise the power of eminent domain; [2005, c. 599, §1 (NEW).]

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Saturday, March 5, 2011

LD 204, a bill that seems specifically targeted at keeping Town Manager Gary Brown off the MRRA Board.

I received this in my email urging people to contact the people listed below to defeat what seems to be an attempt to exclude the Brunswick Town Manager from the Board of the Mid_coast Regional Development Association.

Brunswick Republican Town Committee
Minutes of the MAR 2011 Meeting
Mar. 3, 2011
Brunswick Business Center
18 Pleasant St. Brunswick

MINUTES:

1. Meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM.

2. Chair’s Report:
            A. - Discussed LD 204, a bill that seems specifically targeted at keeping Town Manager Gary Brown off the MRRA Board.  This is strange, as a review of the makeup of redevelopment boards in other towns, most particularly the Loring and Pease base redevelopment boards, shows that the town councils where the bases were sited invariably had a permanent elected representative sitting on their respective boards.
            This bill is being held up temporarily, by Rep. Kerri Prescott, but will come up for a vote soon, possible Tuesday, the 8th of March. We urge all hands to immediately contact the following persons and urge them to defeat this bill:
            Senate Leadership

            Honorable Kevin L. Raye
            President of the Senate
            Phone: (207) 287-1500
            senator@kevinraye.com
           
            Majority Floor Leader: Senator Jon Courtney, joncourtney@metrocast.net , testified in favor of this bill and the question to his boss, Kevin Raye, is why was he allowed to do this?
             
            Assistant Majority Floor Leader: Senator Debra D. Plowman, SenDebra.Plowman@legislature.maine.gov


            House Leadership

            Honorable Robert W. Nutting
            Speaker of the House
            tel: (207) 287-1300
            e-mail: RepRobert.Nutting@legislature.maine.gov

            Majority Floor Leader: Philip A. Curtis <http://www.maine.gov/legis/house/hsebios/curtpa.htm>  (R-Madison), tel: (207) 287-1440
             
            Assistant Majority Floor Leader: Andre E. Cushing III <http://www.maine.gov/legis/house/hsebios/cushae.htm>  (R-Hampden), tel: (207) 287-1440

Governor’s Office
            Tel. 207-287-3531

            John McGough: Chief of Staff è he is from Brunswick

            Kathleen Newman: Deputy Chief of Staff

TALKING POINTS

            --The Brunswick Town Council is unanimous in desiring to have Town Manager Gary Brown represent their interests on the MRRA board (the authority overseeing the re-development of the base.

            --A survey of re-development authorities across America, including Pease and Loring after which the MRRA board was based, shows EVERY host communities has permanent representation on such a board selected by them, not the Governor

            --Currently the host community of Topsham has NO representation on this board.  Brunswick has two, a private citizen and a resident who happens to be the Freeport Economic Development Officer. We would like stronger local representation. Let us control our own destiny.