AUBURN — Gov. Paul LePage will have a choice when it comes time to fill a soon-to-be-empty seat on the Androscoggin County Commission.
Former Auburn City Councilor Ronald Potvin has become the second person to seek the governor’s appointment to the seat that will be left by Jonathan LaBonte, Auburn’s mayor-elect.
By state statute, LaBonte will vacate his seat when he takes his oath as mayor, leaving LePage to name a replacement for the final year of LaBonte’s four-year-term.
Former Republican congressional candidate Jason Levesque of Auburn also has notified the governor’s office of his interest in the county job.
Now Potvin, also a Republican, has joined him.
“I feel that I am the most qualified,” said Potvin, who served as an at-large city councilor from 2007 to 2009. ” I have no learning curve. I can take the place and work in the blink of an eye.”
Potvin is also familiar with the county, having served as a guard at the Androscoggin County Jail for 12 years.
The position represents not only Auburn on the commission but the towns of Minot, Mechanic Falls and Poland.
Potvin feels so strongly about the commission seat that he is prepared to leave his job, he said. Rules prevent him from working for the county as a guard while serving on the commission.
“I’ll do something else,” he said. “That’s how committed I feel about it.”
The commission job carries an annual salary of $7,273 for two commissioners and $8,492 for the chairman. It comes with a benefit package that includes health care insurance.
Levesque, the owner and CEO of Argo Marketing in Lewiston, said Nov. 18 that he doesn’t need the money.
“This is a civic responsibility,” he said. “If it does pay, the county can have their money back.”
In 2010, Levesque ran for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District seat. He was defeated by incumbent Democrat Michael Michaud.
Levesque said he has been following county issues, including discussions over the need to renovate the Civil War-era courthouse and who should answer emergency calls throughout the county.
He figures his work ought to give him some insight into the 911 issue.
“I own a call center,” he said in the earlier interview. “I know telephony, cost structure, staffing and so forth.”
Potvin said he has closely followed county talks, even attending meetings of the state’s Board of Corrections in Augusta.
“I love local government,” he said.
During his tenure on the City Council, he served as the council’s representative to the School Committee.
Potvin headed the Small Property Owners of Auburn, served on the citizen budget committee of 2006 and served on the Auburn Zoning Board of Appeals from 2005 to 2008.
dhartill@sunjournal.com
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