WATERVILLE, Maine – A Republican candidate for the Maine House says he was removed from an advisory role at a public technical school program after his campaign website listed his service on the committee, even though the information had reportedly been public for roughly seven months before anyone objected.
Shawn Packard, a media professional and Republican candidate for State Representative, says he was dismissed from the Media Design Advisory Group at Mid-Maine Technical Center after serving officially on the committee for just over a year.
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But Packard’s relationship with MMTC goes back much further.
Packard attended MMTC as a high school student, graduated from its EMT program, and went on to work as an EMT. In the years since, he says he has continued supporting the school and its students through mock interviews, events, mentorship, and other volunteer efforts.
According to Packard, his campaign website listed his advisory committee role for approximately seven months before Media Design Instructor Dave Boardman removed him from the committee.
“At any point during that time, someone could have simply asked me to remove it as a courtesy, and I would have done so immediately,” Packard told The Maine Wire. “Instead, one decision made by one individual representing the school has now reflected poorly on everyone involved, which is unfortunate.”
In a May 14th email, Boardman thanked Packard for his service.
“I wanted to thank you very much for serving on the Media Design Advisory Group this past year,” Boardman wrote. “The insights from members like you and support for events like Skills has been much appreciated.”
Boardman then said he was making “changes to the make-up of the committee” and no longer needed Packard’s assistance going forward.
But a follow-up email sent the next day offered a sharper explanation.
“Cheap move Shawn,” Boardman wrote. “I no longer needed you involved because you put my program name on your political site without asking, a very simple courtesy I would expect from any professional, regardless of politics.”
Packard says that explanation does not square with the timeline or his conduct inside the school.
He said he never talked politics inside MMTC or around students and that politics was never the purpose of his involvement with the program.
“My intent was simply to show the community that I was actively serving and supporting future leaders,” Packard told The Maine Wire.
According to Packard, other people connected to the advisory board have previously run for office as Democrats while continuing to serve. That, he says, raises an obvious question.
“Why do Republicans get treated differently than Democrats?” Packard asked The Maine Wire.
The Mid-Maine Technical Center, based in Waterville, provides career and technical education programs for students across central Maine. Its Media Design program focuses on broadcasting, communications, graphic design, and digital media production, while advisory committees are designed to connect students with professionals and workforce voices.
That is what makes the dispute so troubling.
Packard was not claiming MMTC endorsed his campaign. He says he was listing a community service role, one that had already been public for months. If school officials had a concern about how the committee position appeared on a political website, they could have asked him to remove it before taking the more drastic step of cutting him from the advisory group.
Instead, according to Packard, a volunteer relationship built over years of student support ended abruptly after he ran for office as a Republican.
Neither Boardman nor MMTC leadership has publicly identified a formal policy barring advisory committee members from running for office, participating in politics, or listing volunteer service in campaign materials.
The issue now facing MMTC is not whether a school should protect its programs from political misuse. It should.
The question is whether that standard is being applied evenly.
If Democrats were allowed to run for office while remaining involved, why was Packard removed after running as a Republican?
Until MMTC answers that question, the controversy will continue to look less like routine committee management and more like another example of conservatives being treated differently inside Maine’s public institutions.
