Maine Rep calls for Office of Tourism investigation

In his ongoing ethical and now legal battle with inept state government officials and contractors, Lance Dutson has finally received meaningful public help from a State of Maine government official, some five months after his original reporting.

Today, Maine Representative Stephen Bowen (R – Rockport) announced he has asked Maine’s economic commissioner to suspend the contract of Warren Kremer Paino pending the resolution of the ad agencies lawsuit against Lance.

If you’re just joining this story, catch up here on Lance’s site.

Here’s Representative Bowen’s letter to the state economic commissioner, which does a nice job of summarizing this case. Here’s the biggest takeaway from his letter for me, a fellow resident and taxpayer in Maine:

“Working for the state means being answerable to the people,” said Rep. Bowen, who has been involved in the ongoing feud between Dutson and the state’s tourism officials since early this year. At the time, Dutson’s online criticisms of the tourism program brought on retaliatory emails to his business clients from one the state’s other tourism contractors, Nancy Marshall Communications. “Lance has the right to criticize state officials and contractors, and what has happened to him is outrageous and totally unacceptable,” said Rep. Bowen.

This is a commendable action by Representative Bowen, Lance’s state rep, and the only person on Maine’s payroll who has lifted as much as finger in Lance’s advocacy since the onset of this now national scandal.

As I’ve stated previously, when the dust settles here the real story will not be the clueless old-world ad agency that bungled themselves into a corner- those are a dime a dozen nowadays. Rather, it will be the abysmally poor behavior of the folks paid by and entrusted with our tax dollars. May they lose their jobs and be forced to find jobs in and meet the demands of the private sector, where intelligence, adaptation, and accountability all mean something.