The top elected official in Maine’s largest city called on the governor of his own party – who badly defeated him eight years ago – to stop criticizing federal immigration-enforcement police.
Portland Mayor Mark Dion, appearing on Maine Wire TV, criticized Gov. Janet Mills for hyping up the politically-popular public rage against ICE officials in his democrat-socialist city.
“I don’t think it’s helpful,” Dion told Maine Wire Editor-in-Chief Steve Robinson. “The job of a political leader is to keep everyone’s tempers down.”
In trying to silence the governor’s political rhetoric Dion was addressing a one-time political opponent. Mills trounced the-then state senator in the 2018 Democrat primary for governor.
So it may be sweet revenge for his lecture Thursday to the two-term governor to zip it on blasting ICE agents.
“You want to de-escalate,” Dion instructed his ex-gubernatorial opponent. “If you want law enforcement to be perceived appropriately you need to de-escalate emotions on both sides.
“What the governor said, what Secretary (of State) Bellows said, they have to own it, explain it,” he added.
Dion said that he had “urged people to express their protest if they wanted to, but not to engage.”
The mayor was responding to Robinson’s question as to whether political officials such as Mills, Bellows, and U.S. Democrat Senate candidate Graham Platner should be “openly stoking the tensions of the federal government, basically echoing Civil War rhetoric.
“How much blame do policy makers in Maine get for raising the temperature of the dialogue and also signaling they wouldn’t cooperate with ice officials?” Robinson asked Dion.
Robinson added, “You don’t see the confrontations in states where police cooperate with ICE and turn over violent offenders at the jails.”
Dion then said to Robinson, “is that a question or is that a statement?”
“It’s a statement,” Robinson said. “You can disagree with it if you want or not – your opportunity to say something about the governor and the statewide leaders.
“Very clearly,” Robinson added, “they see a political benefit from raising the temperature on ICE. And I’m wondering if you think that’s helpful to what’s going on in the city.”
Dion, despite pretending to take offense at Robinson’s politics, was clearly enjoying the chance that the editor gave him to call out the state’s top officials in his own party – including the female then-attorney general who stood in the way of his gubernatorial dream eight years ago.
“Part of the problem with non-cooperation,” the mayor said, regarding Mills et al, “is the federal agencies were not providing us with any updates surrounding when they were going to do things and how they were going to do it.”
Dion, an ex- Portland cop and the former longtime Cumberland County sheriff has actually himself been on both sides of the ICE equation.
The mayor who once said ICE had no place in Maine later, a month ago, seemingly switched positions.
Dion, who previously had said that federal immigration cops “have no place in our neighborhoods,” reversed himself just days later.
He suddenly seemed to be now embracing ICE officers for their measured enforcement tactics.
“Their conduct, at least as it is currently in Maine, seems to be focused,” he said during a press conference last month. “They’ve identified a party, they have an address, they know who they’re looking for specifically, as opposed to this random, ‘show me your papers’ kind of experience we’re seeing in Minnesota.
“So by doing so, I don’t think we’re gonna see groupings of agents just patrolling the neighborhoods,” Dion said.
The mayor didn’t limit his political advice to trying to rein in his rhetorical nemesis the governor.
He also urged another fellow Democrat candidate in this election cycle – U.S. Senate hopeful Graham Platner – to show how he is going to translate his rhetoric into governing.
“I get the speech but what happens after that?” Dion asked. “You know, how do you put together a governing package? I mean clearly he demonstrated a certain style of campaigning and it seems to resonate with a body of Mainers but I want to know about governing.
“I don’t need to hear the commercial. I want to know specifically what you plan on doing for the city of Portland.”
Asked by Maine Wire reporter Jon Fetherston whether Platner is “more of a showhorse then a workhorse,” Dion said, “I want him to convince me of that. It’s like the speeches are great – it takes more than a speech.”
The mayor was unable to explain to show host Tom Shattuck why he has yet to meet Platner.
“So far you’ve been snubbed by Graham Platner,” Shattuck said.
“Well, they say we’re going to talk – I haven’t seen it happen yet,” Dion said.
Mark Dion is trying to save face after Ice took their detainees out of Maine jail. Lost money!
Makes you wonder what the state is hiding amongst other things ie; FRAUD. Don’t people realize
that ICE was active during Obama and Biden. Look at the number of deaths during their presidency.
Where was the outcry then? Brainwashed!! You sow what you seed!