Loring president Hamel to leave post Settlement to cost LDA close to $49,000

LIMESTONE – Ending months of speculation, Brian Hamel, president and CEO of the Loring Development Authority, left the LDA and the Loring Commerce Centre on Wednesday to start Hamel Enterprises LLC, a consulting firm in Presque Isle.

His resignation, effective Thursday, was submitted Wednesday to LDA Chairman Phil St. Peter, and approved unanimously by the LDA board of trustees after an executive session of the board Wednesday morning.

With Hamel’s departure, Carl Flora becomes president and CEO. He had been interim president and CEO while Hamel was on leave of absence last year, and designee of the job since Hamel returned to his position last December. Flora, who has been with the LDA since 1995, was previously vice president and general counsel of the LDA.

Ending the relationship with Hamel cost the LDA nearly $49,000.

Flora said he had been asked by the LDA trustees to negotiate “loose ends and engage Brian in discussion on terms of a financial settlement” in ending the relationship. He said Thursday the final figure was “hard to determine,” but it would be below the $49,000 figure.

Hamel had taken a leave of absence in March 2004 to run a Republican campaign for Congress in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. He lost his bid to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud.

After the loss, Hamel sought to end the leave of absence and return to his job. On Dec. 7, an agreement was reached where Hamel would return to his job, and Flora would be president and CEO designate, handling the day-to-day executive responsibilities.

Hamel had a five-year contract to head the LDA that ran through June 13, 2005.

There were some members of LDA board who wanted to end Hamel’s career with the LDA after the election.

In a letter to St. Peter last December, Hamel said he would resign at the time for a lump sum payment of $90,000. He maintained that his contract to June 13 was worth $133,826, including salary, incentive compensation, benefits and accrued vacation.

Hamel has been the only president and CEO of the LDA since its institution in 1994 when the former Loring Air Force Base closed.

“We will be forever grateful for Brian’s leadership and untiring commitment to excellence that was exemplified throughout his tenure at the LDA,” St. Peter said in a prepared statement. “History will show that, thanks to the effort of Brian and his team, we have survived what many thought would be an economic disaster for northern Maine with the closure of Loring Air Force Base.

“Today, the economy of Aroostook County is more diversified and vibrant,” he wrote.

In a prepared statement, Hamel wrote that the last 10 years of his life have been the most rewarding, professionally and personally. He and his family decided they wanted to remain in Aroostook County.

“I am extremely proud of the many successes that have been experienced at the Loring Commerce Centre,” he wrote. “The fact that over 1,400 people are now employed at Loring, and Loring’s development has contributed nearly $700 million into Maine’s economy, speaks volumes to the tremendous efforts of countless people.

“I will always reflect back on my days at the LDA with a sense of satisfaction that we made a difference in enhancing the economy and quality of life in northern Maine,” he wrote.

Maine Sen. John L. Martin, D-Eagle Lake, asked Maine’s attorney general last month to look into actions of the LDA before Hamel’s return to the LDA after the November election.

Martin claimed that the LDA had violated Maine’s Freedom of Access law in awarding Hamel a contract without having a public meeting.

The Attorney General’s Office agreed that there was a violation of the law by the LDA.

Linda M. Pistner, chief deputy attorney general, wrote Flora that while there was no change in Hamel’s contract and employment status, the LDA “engage[d] in discussions concerning the contract … without complying with the notice and public meeting requirements of the act.

“This activity violated certain provisions of the act,” she wrote.

Her conclusion was that the LDA made “one or more telephone conversations regarding Hamel’s employment and his continued employment after the end of his leave of absence.”

“Holding meetings by telephone violated the act,” she wrote. “We trust the LDA will work with its counsel to see that its proceedings conform to requirements of the act in the future.”