Governor also nominates W. Donald Hudson Jr.
BRUNSWICK —  Former 1st Congressional District candidate Adam Cote will make a second attempt to join the board overseeing the redevelopment of Brunswick Naval Air Station.
Cote, who last summer withdrew from consideration because of a scheduling conflict, was nominated again by Gov. John Baldacci this week to serve on the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority.
Cote, along with nominee W. Donald Hudson, will be reviewed by the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Business, Research and Economic Development before undergoing an official confirmation by the Senate.
MRRA is the organization overseeing the implementation of the BNAS master reuse plan. In contrast to its predecessor, the Brunswick Local Redevelopment Authority, the MRRA board of directors has members from the region and the greater Portland area.
The board has also experienced several unanticipated vacancies and turnover due to the resignations of several members.
If confirmed, Cote and Hudson would replace former members Beth Nagusky and Jennifer Stowell Norris. Nagusky resigned last summer while Norris resigned nearly a year ago.
Even with the appointments of Cote and Hudson, the MRRA board will be short one member.
Cote, a former attorney at Pierce Atwood in Portland, was nominated to fill one of the three vacancies last summer.
His nomination was not without controversy, as Democrat Stan Gerzofsky, a former state representative now serving in the state Senate, expressed concern that Cote, also a Democrat, was too political and lacking the credentials to serve on the MRRA board.
Ironically, Gerzofsky, who has spoken on behalf of previous MRRA nominees to the Economic Development committee and the Senate, in 2007 found himself responding to similar charges by Sen. Jonathan Courtney, R-York. That triggered speculation that some Democrats were worried Cote was using MRRA as a springboard for his political career and a possible run for governor.
Cote denied that in an interview last summer. However, he admitted he has further political aspirations after a primary campaign that saw him finish second to eventual U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine.
David Farmer, Baldacci’s deputy chief of staff, defended Cote’s nomination last summer, pointing to his career at Pierce Atwood where “specialized in renewable energy and real estate development matters.”
Cote now works at Global Relief Technologies, a Portsmouth, N.H., company that specializes in assisting emergency responders and relief organizations during humanitarian crises.
Hudson, meanwhile, has served 26 years at The Chewonki Foundation and been its executive director since 1991. The Arrowsic resident has a doctorate in ecological and evolutionary biology from Indiana University.

Steve Mistler can be reached at 373-9060 ext. 123 or smistler@theforecaster.net.


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