LePage labor, tech, housing picks clear 1st hurdle

Following resignations of three top state officials, a legislative committee on Tuesday gave the first nod to appointments of three of Gov. LePage's nominees to head the state's Labor Department and its housing and technology agencies.

Out of those hearings, Newcastle resident Robert Martin cleared the first hurdle toward an appointment as head of the Maine Technology Institute, which directs state grants and loans to companies researching and developing new technologies that the agency believes will help create jobs.

Martin will stand alongside John Gallagher, nominated to head the Maine State Housing Authority, and Jeanne Paquette, nominated to head the state's Department of Labor, for a final confirmation before the Maine Senate on Thursday.

Martin and Gallagher both received 9-0 votes in favor of their nominations from the Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research, and Economic Development; Jeanne Paquette's nomination was approved by a 10-0 vote of that committee.

According to a press release, Martin has worked in executive positions at: The Washington Post Company, The Strategy Group LLC, Dainippon Ink & Chemicals and Strategic Equity Partners. With his nomination, he would take over for Betsy Biemann, who resigned as head of MTI earlier this year.

Paquette, who has served as the deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor since July 2011 under former commissioner Robert Winglass, has spent her career in human resources posts, according to a press release. In 1999 she founded a group of media businesses, including the Employment Times, HR Times and MyJobWave.com.

Gallagher comes to the Housing Authority nomination after serving as executive director of the Westbrook Housing Authority since 1999. The agency was previously led by Dale McCormick, who resigned in March after what she called a "systematic attack" on the agency.

On Wednesday, legislators from five committees will take the first look at a slate of more than 70 nominations made by Gov. LePage, all of which will also be subject to confirmation in the Senate, the Portland Press Herald reported.