Conflict of Interest Questions Lead to Resignation of Maine DEP Commissioner (LePage ClusterFail)

[jpak]

http://www.mpbn.net/News/MaineNewsArchive/tabid/181/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3475/ItemId/16165/Default.aspx

News of Darryl Brown's (left) resignation as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection was met with gratitude from several environmental groups and disappointment from the chair of the Legislature's Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

Brown has instead accepted a position as director of the State Planning Office. His potential conflict of interest was first raised by the Androscoggin River Alliance and attorney Steve Hinchman, who filed a request for an investigation with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"We appreciate that the governor's office and Darryl Brown have taken the appropriate legal steps to end the conflict of interest. That's the right thing to do for Maine," Hinchman says. "I still find it hard to believe that nobody on the governor's transition team actually read the law and vetted the candidate."

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In a written statement, the governor's office said it intends to submit legislation that will allow qualified and experienced people to serve the state. The statement claims that federal law is more flexible because it allows potential conflicts to be addressed through recusal and delegation, something the attorney general said would not suffice and something attorney Steve Hinchman says is just plain wrong.

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LePage wants to ALLOW CONFLICT OF INTEREST in Maine gov't.

Can you say Corrupt Teabagger Kleptoreich?

yup