Down East Mag.: Millinocket rafting guide turned developer

---->Polstein and his wife, Wendy, also opened one of the best restaurants north of Bangor. Perhaps even more important, however, is the fact that this college dropout employs some two-dozen local Mainers in a town hard hit by a declining timber industry. The Portland native also serves on the Millinocket Town Council, where his ideas for rebuilding the local economy have earned him some vicious hate mail, in addition to just blank stares.<----

This article does not mention that Polstein is part of the problem that had turned the 2nd largest employer in Maine, who employed about 4300 people into a devastated company employing about 300 people. Now he is doing a good deed by employing 2 dozen people and making Millions of dollars doing so. The liberals are suppose to be anti establishment and anti rich but that is who Polstein has become.

Study the discussions at Katahdin Area Community BBS http://forum.magic-city-news.com/ and you get a real picture of the issues that surrounds this liberal puff piece in the Downeast Magazine.

It's fun to watch all the jealous folks in the Millinocket area whine about Matt. Here's a guy who made something from nothing by being smart and ambitious. Meanwhile all the "natives" of the area who were sitting on a goldmine twiddling their thumbs sat back and let their mommy, Great Northern Paper, take care of them. Now he's parlaying his earnings into another venture that will bring jobs and dollars into the area, yet they still whine. Kind of pathetic, really.

Polstein certainly will capitalize on the Down East Magazine Featured article.

Flatlandahs have no clue.

democrat, since you obviously do not know the full details of the history behind Polstein's career in the region, I think your comment is nasty and uncalled for. One should instead ask, Who bankrolled whom? When? For what? Who was groomed to aspire to certain positions? Under whose mentorship?... Investigation is a powerful tool.

Questions that you apparently can't answer. Interesting tactic, pretending that you know some secret info, but don't reveal it. Sounds like you've been listening to the local rumor mill. I happen to know Matt, and have known him for about 20 years. I also know people from Millinocket and talk to them regularly. Matt got where he is because he had vision and worked hard. He saw opportunity where others didn't. It appears that jealousy is the main reason why some folks don't like him. The opinion isn't universal, however, since he was obviously elected to public office there.

I don't know how much you know, but perhaps you can tell us about a certain Canadian citizen who has been involved in Millinocket for some time. What's his role in Matt's career and evolution as a political figure on the local scene? How can this same Canadian citizen remain on the board of local organizations? What is the scope of his influence in recent events in the area? Yes, it's interesting that folks in town trust him, but there's more to the story.

I seriously hope that we are not having out AMG luncheon at the Polstein place this weekend. The guy makes me sick.

Tony

Bluejay, give me a break. Rumor, innuendo. Why beat around the bush? If you know so much, let's hear it. If you don't, shut the ol' piehole. Just which "Canadian citizen" are you talking about? What nefarious character is pulling the strings in Millinocket? Conspiracy theories? This guy wins elections in town. You're starting to sound like xj.
Tony, whether the lunch is at Matt's place depends on whether you want really good food or not.

He also testified against the Big A, which did indeed start the downfall of the mills here.

Oh. And has anyone mentioned his illegal meetings and/or conflict of interest? Nah. I didn't think so.

It's not a resort we object to. It is the unethical -- and some, including myself, say illegal -- acts which he did while going about getting that resort.

dupe

Tony

*ROFL*

No, we're not eating there. We're eating at a great new restaurant called Roosters. The owner, a young woman, is running it sans "help" from the greens up here. And doing quite the job of it! Her food surpasses that other place by far, and for less money.

Tony

*ROFL*

No, we're not eating there. We're eating at a great new restaurant called Roosters. The owner, a young woman, is running it sans "help" from the greens up here. And doing quite the job of it! Her food surpasses that other place by far, and for less money.

Great, I like to help people who need it. I hope Polstein is able to see us an knows that people willingly went out of there way not to spend money at his place because he is a first class goon.

Tony

Cripes, some people like to live in the past. The Big A was defeated 20 years ago. Do you really think that the mill would have survived if the Big A had been built? Poor management and lack of investment killed the mill, not the liberals or environmentalists. Heck, your representatives supported legislation that allowed the mills to sell their most valuable asset, hydro generation. The legislative charter required that power to go to the mills on the cheap, but you folks talked your reps into letting it slip away. Big A would have gone with it. Now Brascan is in the power business and making money while the mill dies.

Hmmm....

We can assume that people haven't quit using paper. For all of the talk about paperless workplaces and homes, I think we're using at least as much paper now as we did 20 years ago.

So there's a reason why paper mills can no longer survive in Maine, and for the GNP mill, in particular, going under. Certainly those reasons are larger than Matt Polstein but, in acting as an intervenor, and in his lobbying to kill the Big-A project, Matt Polstein played a part in the demise of GNP. Why would it matter that this occurred 20 years ago? I don't understand the significance of that? Certainly, Matt Polstein and his allies have used 20-year-old events against people who have dared defy them. Why would he get a walk on something as tragic as the demise of what was once the largest pulp and paper mill in the world?

:: dupe ::

Has any TV media picked up on the controversy or even the Down East article?