Why not Maine? Vigue shows politics only interfere

It certainly appears that Peter Vigue, Cianbro Corp. president and CEO, is positioning himself to run for governor in 2010. In the wake of the past five years of misgovernance by the incumbent governor and legislative leaders in Augusta, it would be refreshing to have a real businessman with Vigue’s intellect and vision in the Blaine House. But I share the sentiments of those who are beseeching Vigue to steer clear of the political arena and focus on his work in the Dreaded Private Sector, or DPS.

I attended a business breakfast last month in Orono where the Caribou native outlined his vision for Maine, and I can assure those who weren’t there that the Bangor Daily News report in the next day’s paper didn’t come close to conveying the dynamism of his presentation or the energy in the room.

The Brewer manufacturing facility scheduled to begin production next April will create 500 full-time, good-paying jobs with excellent benefits and profit-sharing, but that ambitious project is just a small part of Vigue’s vision for Maine and its people. “Why not Maine?” was the title and recurring theme of his talk. The unspoken subtext was clear: If you’re waiting for Maine’s political class to fix our underperforming economy and stop the brain drain, you will still be waiting 50 years from now.

The best course of action for voters is to tell Maine’s politicians to get out of the way and let Maine’s entrepreneurial class do what it does best: create the jobs and economic opportunity that will allow the next generation of Maine young people to put down roots in the state where they grew up.

Vigue’s proposal for a privately financed east-west toll road is a case in point. Politicians have been talking about building an east-west highway for decades, and they will probably still be talking about it for the next 30 or 40 years. Vigue has already received a thumbs-up from financiers for the $1 billion highway project, so it would appear that the only remaining obstacles are the alphabet-soup constellation of regulatory bureaucracies and their constituent special-interest pleaders who are sure to find fault with any proposal that might involve the cutting of trees or the laying of asphalt.

I suspect that Vigue has the stamina and determination to break through whatever roadblocks are thrown in his path by those whose vision of Maine is a welfare state with vast expanses of roadless wilderness areas where the natives subsist by tending their organic vegetable gardens and selling trinkets and T-shirts to affluent ecotourists.

Vigue concluded his presentation with a photo of his four grandchildren, and acknowledged that he is blessed that they all live in close proximity to his home in Pittsfield. Many Maine parents and grandparents are not so blessed, given the lack of employment opportunities for young people graduating from colleges and trade schools.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Vigue’s passion for Maine, especially the people who live in the northern half of the state, was evident. He spoke of his commitment to transforming Maine’s anemic economy so that everyone who wants to work and do business in Maine can do so, even in northern Maine. And he never uttered the words Democrat or Republican or liberal or conservative, though it was clear to me that he regards the politicians as such clueless, shortsighted Lilliputians that if you really want to get something done, you better do it yourself.

So I would propose a different albeit more lengthy bumper sticker to compete with those that have appeared all over eastern Maine in recent months: “Peter Vigue, please DON’T run for Governor; just keep doing what you’re doing in the Dreaded Private Sector (DPS).”

Lawrence E. Lockman lives in Amherst.