Advertisement LePage to meet with those close to him, Westbrook town hall cancelled LePage under fire for leaving profanity-laced voicemail for lawmaker Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Republican leaders met with Gov. Paul LePage Monday evening to discuss the fallout from the obscenity-laden voicemail LePage left on the cellphone of a Democratic lawmaker.Senate President Mike Thibodeau, House Minority Leader Ken Fredette, and Assistant House Minority Leader Ellie Espling participated in the discussion.Fredette said it was a cordial meeting and that they'll be speaking with other Maine Republicans in the coming days.LePage is expected to talk with family and close friends following Monday's meeting and issue a response within the next 24 to 48 hours.In the meantime, a source close to the situation tells WMTW News 8 that LePage's Westbrook town hall event scheduled for Wednesday has been cancelled.An announcement about the town hall was met with strong criticism on Monday.Westbrook City Council President Brendan Rielly said the My Place Teen Center, which is where the town hall was supposed to be held, decided to call it off.We've reached out to the governor's office for confirmation, but have not heard back.During their private meeting with LePage, legislators were clear in their "disappointment and expectation for some changes" during their conversation with LePage, according to Thibodeau.LePage is the spokesman for the State of Maine, according to Fredette. "We expect him to behave in a certain way," he said.Thibodeau expressed frustration about the situation earlier Monday and said LePage should take "corrective action" for his "unacceptable" conduct. He said he hopes legislators don't have to censure the governor, but later acknowledged that it's always a possibility."No. I don't think our caucus is talking about impeachment. We're talking about corrective action," Thibodeau explained. Thibodeau and Fredette previously said they wanted to meet with LePage before deciding what to do.They will now wait to hear back from LePage to determine the best course of action going forward.House Republicans said they have no plans to meet with Democratic leaders.A Republican state senator said Sunday that leaders in the Legislature were discussing whether to hold a special session to censure LePage."I share your deep concerns regarding the governor's behavior," Sen. Amy Volk, of Scarborough, wrote on her Facebook page Sunday. "What I do not know is whether it is due to substance abuse, mental illness or just ignorance. I certainly hope that his family and small circle of close staff are considering how best to address the issue. Things definitely appear to be out of control. Leadership is considering whether we need a special session of the legislature. Some sort of censure would seem appropriate and I would welcome the ability to go on the record with a vote."Democratic legislative leaders released a statement in response to Volk's Facebook post, saying censure does not go far enough."We were heartened to see that Sen. Volk recognizes the severity of the problem presented by the governor's current state, whether it is caused, as she puts it, 'by substance abuse, mental illness or just ignorance.' However, we want to make one thing clear: Censure is not an option. The governor has displayed behavior that indicates he is not in control of himself and is unfit to carry out the serious duties of his office. That is the fundamental problem, and it can only be resolved by his stepping down from office."Democratic Sen. Justin Alfond said the state should consider a constitutional amendment to allow for a recall of LePage. Alfond said Monday that the process of changing the Maine Constitution to allow for a recall would be long and arduous but could be worth it to try to remove LePage from office.However, Alfond said LePage should step down immediately anyway.The governor told a town hall audience Wednesday that he was keeping a three-ring binder of photos of people arrested for drug dealing in Maine.LePage told the group that 90 percent of the suspects were African-American or Hispanics who traveled to Maine from Connecticut and New York to sell drugs.41410860A leader in Maine’s black community is calling for LePage to resign."I think I'm deeply offended,” the Rev. Kenneth Lewis, of the Green Memorial AME Zion Church, said Sunday. “I think the community is deeply offended. I think the governor is offensive."Lewis is the former vice president of Portland’s NAACP chapter.The governor’s political opponents said the comments were racially charged.When leaving his office for lunch Thursday, WMTW News 8's David Charns asked LePage what he thought about people saying he was racist. LePage asked for specific names. Charns said he had interviewed Rep. Drew Gattine minutes before, but did not say Gattine had called the governor racist."These kinds of racially charged comments from the governor don't do anything to solve this problem," Gattine said."Black people come up the highway and they kill Mainers," LePage told WMTW News 8 Thursday. "If I am a racist for trying to get black people and Hispanic people and white people and Asian people who come up 95 with heroin that will kill Mainers, then I plead guilty."LePage then left an angry voicemail for Gattine, calling the Westbrook lawmaker a "(expletive) socialist (expletive)" and challenged him to "prove I'm a racist."The governor spoke with reporters Friday afternoon and said "racially charged" is the same as calling him "racist."He then implied people coming from out-of-state with drugs are an enemy."Bad guy's a bad guy. I don't care what color it is," LePage said. "When you go to war, if you know the enemy, the enemy dresses in red and you dress in blue. You shoot at red. Don't shoot. Ken, you've been in uniform. You shoot the enemy. You try to identify the enemy. And the enemy right now, the overwhelming majority of people coming in are people of color or people of Hispanic origin. I can't help that."LePage referred to House Republican Leader Ken Fredette, who was also in the room.Lewis questioned why LePage is mentioning the race of the arrested drug dealers in the first place."You typically refer to the governor as the honorable. I think he's dishonorable,” Lewis said. “I think Maine can do better. I think Maine must do better. We're not known for our lobsters. We're not known for our blueberries. We're not known for our potatoes. We're known for LePage and that's a travesty."The governor has repeatedly said he is not racist, but that his binder shows factual data.The ACLU of Maine said studies show black and white people use and sell drugs at similar rates, and questioned whether police are profiling.LePage said he would only resign if Democratic and Republican leaders join him.Get the WMTW App9234718