Polarizing Figure Making Run for Blaine House (Kevin Scott )

[Crystal Clarity]

I must admit that I knew very little about this guy until today. I wonder how much traction he'll get despite his apparent personal volatility....Sorry guys for the length of this... I sniped out ALOT, but it was a very long article to begin with...

ANDOVER -- Independent candidate for governor Kevin Scott and his wife, Susan Merrow, moved to this small western Maine town from Portland in 2004, bought the old post office and began to renovate it from the foundation up as their home and office.
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To some in Andover, they are a young, energetic couple who pumped some needed life into town. To others, they are outspoken outsiders who stir up trouble, and who have sparked public shouting matches, accusations of assault and dueling requests for protection for harassment filed in the local district court.

In May, Scott, 42, filed the 4,000 signatures necessary to qualify for the November gubernatorial ballot. He joins four other candidates: fellow independents Eliot Cutler, of Cape Elizabeth, and Shawn Moody, of Gorham; Democrat Elizabeth Mitchell, of Vassalboro, and Republican Paul LePage, of Waterville.
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Scott graduated from Mexico High School -- now Mountain Valley High School -- in 1986, and earned a degree in government and politics from George Mason University in Virginia in 1990. Today, he owns a company called Recruiting Resources International that matches engineers with high-tech firms. He believes his combination of business experience and his degree in politics qualifies him to be governor.

"My vision is, the best thing for Maine in the future is a local mentality, a small-government mentality, making those decisions with your neighbors," he said. On the issues, he describes himself as a fiscal conservative and social liberal. He has reached out to a Maine tea party group, the Maine Refounders, by responding to its questions online. On gay marriage, he says that, as governor, he wouldn't push for it but that, if voters approved it, he wouldn't stand in its way.
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Scott's activities in town government, however, have often intertwined with those of his wife, Merrow, who is a selectman. In September 2008 and again in May 2009, a group of Andover citizens tried to recall Merrow from office, saying she neglected to perform her duties and displayed behavior unbecoming a public official.

In July 2009, two women who had signed the recall petition said the effort was aimed mostly at Merrow's husband and "the ruckus he tends to cause," according to a report in the Sun Journal of Lewiston. Neither of those women -- Deb Cayer nor Judy Tabb -- would comment on Scott or his run for governor when contacted. Merrow eventually survived both recalls -- the second effort being defeated by a wider margin than the first.
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Don Wardwell, a 40-year resident of Andover and retired iron worker, credited Scott for taking on the fire department budget -- a sensitive topic for many in town. "He's a go-getter," Wardwell said. "He can straighten stuff out. He's done a lot for this town."

But Scott's outspokenness -- and outbursts at public meetings -- have also earned him critics. At a meeting on May 27, 2009, Scott tried to convince selectmen to reject the second recall effort against his wife. Published reports said Scott "was repeatedly interrupted by people trying to shut him up." "Well, I thank you for being rude and obnoxious to me," Scott said, before an unidentified woman interrupted, shouting, "Well, nobody can possibly be as rude and obnoxious as you can, Kevin."

Philip Milligan, who's lived in town for 25 years and organized one of the recall attempts against Merrow, called him "a loose cannon." "I personally have no use for the man," said Milligan, whose father-in-law is the former fire chief. "There have been employees who were with the town for 20 or 30 years who have given up because of his constant weekly harassment. He flips (like) a switch."
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Town politics in Andover led Scott to file three protection-from-harassment requests in 2008 with the District Court in Rumford against various people in town. Two were immediately denied. The other was put in place until August, when Scott failed to appear in court and it was dismissed.

In January of this year, Carl Scot Gisseman, of Andover, filed a request for an order against Scott. Gisseman, the former vice chairman of the town's ambulance coverage committee, alleged Scott "blocked my egress at the Andover General Store with intent on provoking a response," and that he once stood in the middle of the road to taunt him. Gisseman's request was dismissed in February when he was unable to appear in court because of a deployment to Afghanistan, according to court records.

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Scott said while he has been threatened, he has not crossed the line with those who disagree with him. Scott admits knowing that some in Andover just don't like him. He named some of his gubernatorial opponents, and former longtime Democratic House Speaker John Martin, as examples of other people who get things done, but aren't always popular in doing so. "You look at any of the people who have done things over the years -- a John Martin for example, does he have any enemies?" Scott said. "Does Libby Mitchell have any? Paul LePage has a couple. If you're going to improve things and do better for people, you're going to ruffle some feathers. That's what a leader is."


http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/polarizing-figure-making-run-for-blaine-house_2010-08-07.html

[RBInMaine]

1. Sounds like an agenda-driven loose cannon to me.

Sounds like an agenda driven loose cannon fringe type to me.