Chairman's Blog
Maine Equal Justice Partners: TABOR No, Legal Fees Yes
On Monday, October 5, Maine Equal Justice Partners (MEJP) jumped into the fight against Maine's taxpayers. Sara Gagne-Holmes, MEJP's executive director, announced that the organization "is joining the growing group of organizations, businesses, and labor unions against Question 4 by launching an online video series that highlights the potential harm created by TABOR II for families, schools, and our communities." Her statement, of course, begs the question of the identity of the "organizations" and "businesses" opposing TABOR.
The videos themselves are crudely done and - in our opinion - quite harmless. They begin with a cheap animation and then continue with a Maine teacher and parent reacting in irrational fear to TABOR. They repeat the same untruths presented by Kristi Hargrove, who visited Maine this past week and bashed her home state of Colorado and its TABOR. As I said, pretty thin soup and easy to refute - even for the irrationally fearful.
But just who and what is Maine Equal Justice Partners? MEJP is one of the non-profit groups listing itself on the Maine Can Do Better website and is one of the "control" organizations listed on the EngageMaine site. In fact, MEJP boasts in its annual report that it helped found Maine Can Do Better. Both are fronts for Maine non-profits that largely subsist on $550 million in contracts with the state Department of Health and Human Services. MEJP is a "social justice" organization with some strange bedfellows, which don't necessarily concern us in this post.
What does concern us, however, is MEJP's 2007 Form 990, which shows income of approximately $750,000.00, one-third of which consists of government grants. Its board of directors seats several lawyers - and here the irony grows thick.
Jerrol Crouter of the Portland law firm of Drummond Woodsum & MacMahon is a director as well as MEJP's treasurer. It should be noted that Mr. Crouter's firm has earned millions in legal fees representing Maine school districts, including $108,000 billed to the Portland School District during one three-month period in 2007. If fact, the firm has pretty much captured the Maine market on school district representation.
Does anyone but me find it ironic that an organization attacking TABOR for its supposed detrimental effect on schools should have as its treasurer a lawyer whose firm generates millions in fees from the very same schools?
On Monday, October 5, Maine Equal Justice Partners (MEJP) jumped into the fight against Maine's taxpayers. Sara Gagne-Holmes, MEJP's executive director, announced that the organization "is joining the growing group of organizations, businesses, and labor unions against Question 4 by launching an online video series that highlights the potential harm created by TABOR II for families, schools, and our communities." Her statement, of course, begs the question of the identity of the "organizations" and "businesses" opposing TABOR.
The videos themselves are crudely done and - in our opinion - quite harmless. They begin with a cheap animation and then continue with a Maine teacher and parent reacting in irrational fear to TABOR. They repeat the same untruths presented by Kristi Hargrove, who visited Maine this past week and bashed her home state of Colorado and its TABOR. As I said, pretty thin soup and easy to refute - even for the irrationally fearful.
But just who and what is Maine Equal Justice Partners? MEJP is one of the non-profit groups listing itself on the Maine Can Do Better website and is one of the "control" organizations listed on the EngageMaine site. In fact, MEJP boasts in its annual report that it helped found Maine Can Do Better. Both are fronts for Maine non-profits that largely subsist on $550 million in contracts with the state Department of Health and Human Services. MEJP is a "social justice" organization with some strange bedfellows, which don't necessarily concern us in this post.
What does concern us, however, is MEJP's 2007 Form 990, which shows income of approximately $750,000.00, one-third of which consists of government grants. Its board of directors seats several lawyers - and here the irony grows thick.
Jerrol Crouter of the Portland law firm of Drummond Woodsum & MacMahon is a director as well as MEJP's treasurer. It should be noted that Mr. Crouter's firm has earned millions in legal fees representing Maine school districts, including $108,000 billed to the Portland School District during one three-month period in 2007. If fact, the firm has pretty much captured the Maine market on school district representation.
Does anyone but me find it ironic that an organization attacking TABOR for its supposed detrimental effect on schools should have as its treasurer a lawyer whose firm generates millions in fees from the very same schools?
David Crocker, Chairman
TABOR NOW