ORONO, Maine — Frustration and worry surfaced among the 12 members of the legislative committee that has jurisdiction over the merger of two state agencies that will create a new Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.
During the committee’s meeting Monday at the University of Maine, Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources Commissioner Walt Whitcomb and Department of Conservation Commissioner Bill Beardsley presented loose plans for the union of their two agencies.
The problem legislators said they had was that merger planning is progressing too slowly and leaving hosts of unanswered questions.
Rep. Jeffrey Timberlake, R-Turner, was lead sponsor of the original bill to merge the two departments, but on Monday he was among those who criticized how the effort was progressing.
Under an amendment to the original law passed late in the last session, the committee has authority to approve the merger or submit legislation during the 126th Legislative session to improve the existing law.
Timberlake said he was frustrated with the pace of the planning, arguing that at this rate it’s possible the merger might not happen at all if the Legislature can’t meet its deadline next session.
If the merger bill doesn’t reach the 126th Legislature on time or isn’t approved, the merger dies and the system reverts back to its previous structure with two separate departments, Timberlake said.
“With the timetable we’re working on, we’re not going to make it there,” Timberlake said.
Senate committee chairman Roger Sherman, R-Houlton, said he has seen the state consolidate its jails and schools under Gov. John Baldacci and wasn’t pleased with either result.
“So when we’re talking about consolidation here, I’m a little concerned we aren’t hearing more specific answers about specific things,” Sherman said.
Republicans and Democrats largely were unified in their concerns.
“I think there was a shared frustration between the Republicans and Democrats as far as not having a timeline or having clear outcomes for this merger,” Rep. Jeff McCabe, D-Skowhegan, said after Monday’s meeting.
Whitcomb said most of the fledgling department’s work thus far has consisted of organizing the commissioner’s office, a step in the merger that is required by statute to happen by Aug. 30.
Under the current plan, the merger would create a department led by one commissioner, who would appoint two deputy commissioners. The divisions of the department would report to the deputy commissioners and, Gov. Paul LePage has argued, work more closely to be good stewards of Maine’s natural resources and give the state a unified voice in Washington, D.C.
The organization of the offices under the commissioner and deputy commissioners remains fluid. Whitcomb would take over as commissioner of the new department.
Members of the committee said they were worried some divisions might get lost in the shuffle and services might suffer.
Sen. Elizabeth Schneider, D-Orono, who was forced out of office by term limits this year, said she was “in complete opposition” to the merger since it was proposed back in February.
She said she has never heard a complaint about the Department of Agriculture from a constituent and is worried the reorganization might end up “swallowing” the organization or leaving it with a staff shortage.
“I did not want to be responsible for undoing something that was working really well in state government,” Schneider said, adding that she didn’t feel there was a reason for a merger if agencies would just collaborate more effectively.
The committee plans to hold six to eight meetings with commissioners in coming months, with the next one scheduled sometime in September.
More information on the merger is available at www.maine.gov/acf/index.shtml.
What’s with this shady Lepage (mis)administration? Why does everything need to be rushed and pushed through? Add to that the on again/off again secret special legislative session and one has to wonder.
It’s the same reason that Bank Robbers try to get in and out of the Bank in 90 Seconds!
LePage is very aware that he is not likely to have a Republican majority in the legislature after the November elections.
He will be the lamest of lame ducks for 2 full years.
Seems to me that Whitcomb’s and Beardsley’s incompetence in pulling off the merger planning in a timely fashion is an indication of their inability to lead and manage their present organizations to say nothing of the new, larger and more complex department envisioned by the LePage administration. My sympathies to the civil servants in these two fine state agencies.
I would prefer to think that the commissoiner’s with input from seasoned senior staff have a lot better sense for how to go about this on a reasonable schedule than a bunch of election driven legislators.
The civil servants may be slowing things down knowing full well that the legislature in January will look nothing like the that voted for this merger.
This could all be for naught no matter what planning is done.
The merger of both depts.would be like trying to make RSUs the good old boys club wont let the upper management be weeded out and retired or laid off.The RSUs would have worked if the upper high paid management dead wood would have been tossed out the problem is with them not the lowely teachers. The gov never spoke truer words when he said there was high paid do nothings in a lot of the state positions
BDN removed my last comment on this without a trace so I’ll try again.
In my opinion the merger of these two state bureaus is an effort by the GOP to open up our state lands to development and eventual privatization. These lands belong to the citizens of Maine, they are our heritage, and should be held in perpetuity for all.