LePage denies report he threatened funding cut to Aroostook County cultural group
Source: Portland Press Herald
The LePage administration denied a published report Friday that the governor threatened to pull state funding to an Aroostook County cultural organization in 2013 unless the board removed its president.
The report, a blog post by liberal political activist Mike Tipping published by the Bangor Daily News, quotes a member of the World Acadian Congress board as saying she was told the governor demanded the board remove then-board President Jason Parent or lose $500,000 in state funding. In the same blog, Tipping quotes Parent as confirming the account: “When asked if the allegations that financial threats from Governor LePage forced him from his role as President were true, Parent said simply “I can confirm that is the case.”
On Friday, however, Parent refused to comment directly on the allegations that LePage pressured the board or confirm Tipping’s account. In an email, Parent said he “agreed to step down” two and a half years ago.
“At no point in that conversation was my ability or initiative as a leader questioned,” Parent wrote. “Despite repeated requests by the media and others to publicly tell my story, I have not chosen to do so, and have moved beyond the situation. Because my heart was still with this project, I chose to not disclose the behind-the-scenes machinations that I was presented in order to avoid any fallout for the event and cause. While I am saddened at the way my involvement with the WAC ended I am proud to have been a part of the effort.”
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Read more: http://www.pressherald.com/2015/07/24/lepage-denies-report-he-threatened-funding-cut-to-aroostook-county-cultural-group/
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