Giving Portland’s Green mayoral candidate what he asked for

When Tom MacMillan first told me last summer that he was going to run in Portland’s 2015 mayoral race, I wasn’t thrilled.

MacMillan, a local Maine Green Independent Party activist, is someone who I’ve considered a friend since he recruited me to join the party back in 2013 when I was running for Portland city council as an Independent.

Tom MacMillan in November 2013. Photo- Troy R. Bennett, BDN.

Tom MacMillan in November 2013. Photo- Troy R. Bennett, BDN.

I was hesitant to join the party back then, but the values that the Greens claim to hold align very well with my own, so I enrolled. Two years later, the party is in shambles at the state and local levels, and MacMillan — chairman of the local party committee — shares a big part of the responsibility for that sad and frustrating fact.

Since July, members of the party have been locked in intense debate stemming from censorship on the MGIP Facebook page regarding party members supporting Democrat Bernie Sanders’ campaign for President.

MacMillan played a major role in said censorship, but rather than mending wounds among party members and apologizing, he chose instead to lash out at those Green Party members who already felt ignored, disrespected, and victimized.

Just days after the conflict erupted within the party, MacMillan announced his candidacy for mayor.

Portland mayoral candidate Tom MacMillan speaks at the debate in the University of Southern Maine's Hannaford Hall in Portland on Wednesday night. Photo- Troy R. Bennett, BDN.

Portland mayoral candidate Tom MacMillan speaks at the debate in the University of Southern Maine’s Hannaford Hall in Portland on Oct. 7. Photo- Troy R. Bennett, BDN.

Since then, I’ve watched as other local Green leaders have either endorsed Ethan Strimling — one of the two Democrats running — or no one at all, and wondered why MacMillan would have chosen to run with such poor support from his own local party members.

In speaking with several Greens — some of whom have years of dedicated service to the party — it became clear that I wasn’t the only one who was disappointed with his decision to run for mayor.

The general feeling among local party members is that MacMillan has no realistic chance of winning, and would have been better served either running for city council — a seat that he probably could have won — or focusing his efforts on the referendum to raise minimum wage in Portland to $15 per hour — a drive that he helped to initiate and has trumpeted to his own credit — rather than abandoning the referendum campaign for a self-serving (and hopeless) mayoral run.

But, even with all that happening behind the scenes, I’ve chosen to give MacMillan a break and have avoided writing about his campaign. After all, he stands no chance of winning anyways, so I figured it pointless to beat a dead horse— until now.

On Tuesday night I watched the televised debate between the three mayoral candidates, MacMillan, Strimling, and incumbent Michael Brennan, and felt increasingly appalled with my fellow Green Party member’s performance as he made every apparent attempt to bring his chances of winning from non-existent to delusional.

At one point he even went as far as to sell out the untimely death of his own mother in an attempt to garner more votes.

(You can find that moment at 23 minutes into the video below, when he answered how he’ll vote for Portland’s referendum question on minimum wage).

Then, on Wednesday I read in The Portland Phoenixin which I write a weekly column — that MacMillan had called the newspaper irate to complain about his picture not being included on the previous issue’s cover along with his two opponents.

The cover of the Oct. 22 issue of The Portland Phoenix. Image from portlandphoenix.me.

The cover of the Oct. 22 issue of The Portland Phoenix. Image from portlandphoenix.me.

“If the media just makes it seem like there are two people in the race, well, yeah, I’m definitely not going to win,” said MacMillan in the phone call to Phoenix editor David Carkhuff.

He has a fair point regarding equal media coverage. So, in light of his complaints, I figured it would only be fair to give him what he’s asking for.

See, if a candidate from the Democrat or Republican party had pulled some of the stunts that he’s pulled, it would have been front page news.

So if he wants to complain about not being treated equally as a candidate, he should do so with the understanding that equal treatment means being held accountable for his mistakes as well as being credited for his successes.

And I’m not just talking about his controversial decision to run for mayor, or his terrible mismanagement of the local party committee, or the disturbing censorship of party members in which he played a major role — there’s much more to it than that.

Following the endorsements for Strimling by Green Party members John Eder, Anna Trevorrow, and Holly Seeliger — who all serve on the Portland school board — MacMillan was incensed.

Portland School Board members (from left) Holly Seeliger, Marnie Morrione, John Eder and Sarah Thompson endorse Ethan Strimling for mayor on Aug. 19 outside City Hall. Photo- Troy R. Bennett, BDN.

Portland School Board members (from left) Holly Seeliger, Marnie Morrione, John Eder and Sarah Thompson endorse Ethan Strimling for mayor on Aug. 19 outside City Hall. Photo- Troy R. Bennett, BDN.

In retaliation he went after Seeliger, the only one of the Green school board members running for reelection this year, at the party’s endorsement meeting.

On Wednesday, Seeliger, who is running unopposed and has done a wonderful job of carrying the torch for the party in her first term, gave her take on MacMillan’s behavior at the endorsement meeting:

“I was chastised so hard at the meeting, it was really awkward and felt like I was on trial because I endorsed Strimling,” she said on Wednesday.

“(MacMillan) stacked the meeting with his fiancée’s family to try and vote against my endorsement. I’m running unopposed for goodness sakes.”

In fact, Seeliger endorsed both Strimling and MacMillan.

“It’s an instant runoff vote,” said Seeliger, “I can endorse multiple candidates.”

MacMillan excused his behavior at the endorsement meeting in an interview on Thursday.

“I did speak at that meeting that candidates who do not support the full slate should not be endorsed by the party, which is a common occurrence when doing a slate card,” said MacMillan flatly.

MacMillan should count his blessings and be thankful that any Green with something to lose would stick their neck out and endorse him at all.

Outgoing District 2 councilor David Marshall, probably the Green with the most clout in Maine currently, refused to endorse him even though he’s thrown his support behind Rob Korobkin, a Green running to fill Marshall’s soon-to-be-vacant district seat.

(From left to right) State Rep. Ben Chipman (D-Portland), Portland School Board member John Eder, Portland School Board member Holly Seeliger, candidate for Portland City Council Rob Korobkin, outgoing Portland city councilor David Marshall, and Portland School Board member Anna Trevorrow posing for a mailer in support of Korobkin's campaign. Image from Korobkin's campaign Facebook page.

(From left to right) State Rep. Ben Chipman (D-Portland), Portland School Board member John Eder, Portland School Board member Holly Seeliger, candidate for Portland City Council Rob Korobkin, outgoing Portland city councilor David Marshall, and Portland School Board member Anna Trevorrow posing for a mailer in support of Korobkin’s campaign. Image from Korobkin’s campaign Facebook page.

And speaking of endorsements, MacMillan is touting support from the likes of fellow Green Party leader Asher Platts, who during the censorship debacle compared Greens who hope to see Bernie Sanders take the White House to racists touting the Confederate flag; Maine Libertarian Party chair Jorge Maderal, who is about as relevant to the Portland mayoral race as a cow fertilizing pasture in Aroostook county; and co-chair of the Portland Tenants Union Crystal Cron, who MacMillan neglects to inform is his fiancée and alleged co-conspirator in the attempt to block Seeliger’s party endorsement.

A poll aimed at gauging public support for the three mayoral candidates was released in August by the progressive Maine People’s Alliance. The poll had Strimling with a 46 percent to 21 percent lead over Brennan, with MacMillan trailing at a pathetic 4 percent.

The three candidates for Portland's mayoral seat (from left) Tom MacMillan, Ethan Strimling and Michael Brennan, at the debate at the University of Southern Maine in Portland on Wednesday night. Photo- Troy R. Bennett, BDN.

The three candidates for Portland’s mayoral seat (from left) Tom MacMillan, Ethan Strimling and Michael Brennan, at the debate at the University of Southern Maine in Portland on Oct. 7. Photo- Troy R. Bennett, BDN.

MacMillan told The Phoenix that the poll is “intentionally misleading,” and apparently believes that he’s going to win the race.

“If you listen to the political class of people, the people who are ultra-engaged in the race, they will tell you that, that it’s Brennan and Strimling,” said MacMillan to Carkhuff. “But the overwhelming majority of people, residents of Portland, aren’t thinking that way.”

“The political class is going to be very surprised because we’re going to see a big turnout of people who aren’t in that class of people,” MacMillan continued, arguing that he is the favorite of “working class people.”

In this race, MacMillan is the favorite of no class of people, not even his own political party or allies. What’s worse is that, based on his recent behavior and treatment of people who disagree with him, he’s severely marginalized his chances of ever winning any elected seat whatsoever.

Yesterday, in his weekly blog post for the BDN, Chris Busby endorsed MacMillan for mayor. He also technically endorsed Strimling, but he made some good points for MacMillan.

Busby credited MacMillan for his local activism efforts, his willingness to call the Portland Police Department out for suspect practices, and his progressive policy goals such as establishing a $15 per hour minimum wage and rent control in Portland.

To be clear, I would like to see policy like that in Portland, so I get the point that Busby is trying to make, but the reason that he wrote, “The second mark on my ranked-choice ballot would be for Ethan Strimling” is because he knows that MacMillan isn’t going to win.

The current state of affairs for the MGIP is saddening, and writing this article has not been fun for me.

I still believe in the values of the MGIP, I still believe in the potential of the MGIP, but I no longer believe in the leadership of the MGIP. In fact, I think that several of the people running the party would be disasters if ever elected to public office- particularly MacMillan and Platts.

I used to think that MacMillan was destined for a great political career. I envisioned him as a future leader, not only of the Green Party but of the political spectrum of Maine in general.

But censorship of those who disagree with him, bullying and intimidating those who defy him, and throwing temper tantrums when he doesn’t get his way are no indicators of leadership qualities.

Actually, that sort of behavior reminds me of a certain Republican who currently resides in the Blaine House.

The similarities are undeniable:

Chris Shorr

About Chris Shorr

Chris is a sixth generation Portlander who loves all things Maine. He has worked with mentally ill and marginalized adults at a Portland non-profit, on a lobster boat in Casco Bay, at several high-end Portland restaurants, and at a local meat packing plant. He also ran for Portland City Council in 2013, wrote a weekly column in the now defunct Portland Daily Sun, and currently writes a weekly column in The Portland Phoenix.