From the Front Room: Chatting with Kevin L. Scott; Hopeful Independent Candidate For Governor In November

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Kevin L. Scott at the Front Room yesterday

Kevin L. Scott at the Front Room yesterday

By Carol McCracken (Post #387)

There are 13 candidates running for Govenor of Maine this November and if Scott gets his way, he’ll be the 14th candidate. With the tell-tale clipboard in hand, Scott sat down at the bar at the Front room for lunch yesterday. Following lunch, Scott left the crowded restaurant looking for people to sign his petition so he can earn a spot on the ballot for Governor this fall. He needs 4,000 signatures to qualify to be on the ballot. So far, he’s collected 500 names of registered voters.

Business and the lack of it here in Maine appears to be the major plank in his platform. Scott cites major companies like VW and Boering Aircraft that established plants in southern places rather than here in Maine. “Where was Maine in this?” he asks MHN. No one is encouraging businesses to move to Maine. “I don’t know why this is,” he says. “Maybe it’s a case of energy costs or workers’compensation or infrastructure problems.”

The affable Scott was reluctant to talk about wind energy, but he acknowledged that it’s a “hot topic” these days. “Wind is coming whether I like it or not. I’s not viable financially. It requires tax subsidies like other businesses don’t. If Maine voters want it, we should at least work to attract manufacturers and R&D companies here in Maine. He objects to the fact that the State and the Federal government has no comprehensive plan for energy. On another controversial subject – that of tourism Scott said: “I support tourism, but not at the expense of other industries. Industries we don’t have because we focus too much on tourism.” Scott was appalled that a few years ago the State’s office on tourism tried to lure tourist from the mid-west to Maine rather than concentrating on tourism in Europe – where the euro had just risen in value and the cost of gasoline was high.

Scott, 42 years old, lives with his wife, Susan Merrow, in Andover, which is near Rumford. “I’m a mill town boy,” he said. He’s currently the president of the Water District up there. He has his own business, “Recruiting Resources Inc.,” which employs engineers all over the country. Susan is in the same field for a different company. Scott has a B.S. in government and politics from George Mason University, Fairfax, Va. (MHN’s alma mater as well.)

“I am a fiscal conservative,” he says as he prepared to leave the Front Room, clipboard in hand, looking for registered voters to sign his petition. “We are pet owners,” he said. “Maybe we’ll at least get the pet owners vote,” he said laughing.

Please visit www.mainesbestchoice.com for more on Scott.

P.S. In an email just received from Scott, he said he picked up another 100 signatures toward his effort to get on the November ballot.