AUGUSTA – John E. Baldacci assumed office as the state’s 73rd governor Wednesday night and delivered a unifying Mainer-to-Mainer speech he hoped would resonate from Fort Kent to Kittery.

“We live in Maine because we choose to live in Maine,” said the Bangor Democrat. “We could live anywhere, but who would want to? We live in Maine despite the hardships, despite the challenges, despite the burdens. We’re hardscrabble people, resilient, resourceful. And that is our strength.”

As more than 4,000 spectators packed the Augusta Civic Center for the event, Baldacci’s inaugural address touched upon a number of topics that were common themes in his campaign, not the least of which was his desire to dispel the notion of “two Maines.”

Acknowledging that regional differences abound, the governor emphasized it is the similarities and desires of all Mainers that define the state’s residents. Whether those goals are good schools or safe communities, Baldacci said, all Mainers are united in their desire to make the state the best that it can be.

“The set of values we share are the same, whether you live in Kittery or Madawaska, Calais or Fort Kent, Lewiston or Lubec,” he said. “The values of family and community, with tolerance and neighborliness, with hard work and respect for nature – these are universal throughout Maine.”

Preceded by musical selections from the 195th U.S. Army Band and the Bangor High School Band, the inauguration was conducted during a special joint session of the 121st Maine Legislature. After an invocation offered by the Very Rev. Frank J. Murray of Bangor and a ceremonial smudging ceremony performed by Reuben “Butch” Phillips, a Penobscot elder, Baldacci was sworn in to office by Maine Senate President Beverly Daggett as he rested his hand upon his mother and father’s family Bible. Both of the governor’s parents, longtime proprietors of Baldacci’s restaurants in Bangor, are deceased.

In a 33-minute speech interrupted by several rounds of applause and standing ovations, Baldacci devoted a significant portion of his presentation to the challenge posed by dwindling state revenues and a looming $1 billion budget deficit. Calling on minority Republicans, a handful of independent legislators and the lone Green Party representative, Baldacci predicted the solution to Maine’s budget problem would be neither easy nor painless. He used the opportunity to reiterate his opposition to a proposed tribal gambling casino.

“A tax increase is definitely not the answer, but neither is a gambling casino,” he said. “Both of these are shortsighted, short-term remedies that in the end will only make our problems worse. … In the next few weeks, I intend to submit a plan to deal with Maine’s fiscal problems and balance the state budget without a tax increase.”

Streamlining, consolidation and a re-emphasis on the delivery of state services were common strategies in Baldacci’s message. Whether discussing his plans to merge the Department of Human Services with the Department of Behavorial and Developmental Services or revamping the mission of the state’s technical colleges into a “true community college system,” Baldacci repeatedly underscored the need to reduce and eliminate duplication among publicly funded agencies and institutions – not simply at the state level but within county and municipal governments as well.

“No one should sit and wait for Augusta alone to solve the state’s tax and budget problems, including the mounting property tax burden, because the solution is right there in your own community,” Baldacci said. “Tonight, I am calling on municipal and county officials, school board members and community leaders to help lead the way out of our budget difficulties. It will require creativity, resolve and leadership. But it can be done.”

Baldacci also promised to convene a number of task forces and commissions to identify administrative savings, assess the state’s natural resource-based economies, increase the numbers of high school students going on to college, and examine accessibility to affordable health care.

“It was a great speech,” said Sen. John L. Martin, D-Eagle Lake. “Even the Republicans liked it.”

House Republican leader Joseph Bruno of Raymond had to agree. “He laid out a plan; I think we want to work with him and we’ll see what the details are,” he said.