On The Money Trail: The Maine Wire - Luxury Hotels, Magicians, and Massage: Maine Housing Vendor List Reveals Questionable Expenditures

by Sam Adolphsen
What do social justice groups, professional DJs, massage therapists and luxury hotels have to do with affordable housing? That question is one of many which remain unanswered as the Maine State Housing Authority continues to delay the release of key expenditure details more than six months after a Freedom of Access Act request — for vendor records — was filed by the Maine Heritage Policy Center. Even minus the details, the skeletal vendor list obtained by MHPC reveals a pattern of questionable expenditures that will likely increase pressure on the quasi-state agency to open its books to public scrutiny.

The released list, which contains no dollar amounts, no transaction dates and no explanations for why money was paid, includes, as expected, thousands of landlords, contractors, and other vendors seemingly in keeping with MSHA’s mission to provide affordable housing to impoverished Mainers. But the list also contains hundreds of vendors that appear outside the scope of the Housing Authority – including hundreds of luxury hotels and bed and breakfasts, from Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas to The Black Point Inn in Scarborough.
Of the hotel listings, many stand out for their opulence, such as the Harbor Court Hotel in San Francisco, touted on its website as “San Francisco’s premier waterfront boutique hotel.” The Wyndham Miami Beach Resort asks guests to “indulge in beachfront accommodations and breathtaking ocean views.” Others include The Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas, The Ritz-Carlton in Boston, The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel in New Hampshire, The Caribe Royal in Orlando, Florida, the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans and “The George” a D.C. boutique hotel that promotes itself as, “a modern masterpiece of lodging and lifestyle amenities in the heart of the Capitol Hill business district.”

Beyond the hotels, the vendor document also includes a listing for The Theatre at Monmouth, promoted as the “Shakespearean Theater of Maine,” where MSHA Director Dale McCormick has performed onstage, including a 2008 singing role in the chorus of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado.” McCormick also announced at a September 21, 2010 MaineHousing board meeting, according to the minutes, that “she would be performing in ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ at the Monmouth Theatre in dual roles of a policeman and a pirate.”

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