Media finally chimes in on the Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling divorce story

For quite some time now, it’s just been one man at The Bollard: Chris Busby. He has now published two articles questioning the divorce of newly elected Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling and the interesting timing of everything. The official story goes that Mayor Strimling was happily married to Mary Beeaker and has been for eleven years, but after the election, decided to split and the Mayor was in a relationship with a woman who managed his mayoral campaign. After spending months with Clifford, only after the election concluded did Mayor Strimling fall in love with this woman and decide it was worth breaking eleven years of marriage. That’s it.

Busby offered a different perspective, which he details here and here.

After that, the coverage has been minimal. I have here and here, and Al Diamon has for The Portland Phoenix here.

The Portland Press Herald, which previously had endorsed Mayor Strimling during the election, had been noticeably silent. On the one hand, are journalists supposed to be peddling gossip and is a publication a gossip column? On the other hand, shouldn’t the leading publication in the area have an interest in their Mayor possibly being involved in some potential conflicts and deceptions?

Social media has chimed in on both sides, but the media has been noticeably silent.

The Portland Press Herald has finally spoken up regarding the issue regarding their preferred candidate for Mayor. Staff writer Randy Billings has put together a detailed article discussing the divorce itself, found here. While the divorce itself is certainly a story, there is more there.

What exactly is there? It’s hard to tell, because many questions aren’t being asked. But should they be asked?

Diamon tackled the question of why this is relevant, in his Portland Phoenix article:

According to a story posted on the website of The Bollard magazine (where I was once a freelance media critic), “Clifford is a partner and president of Baldacci Communications, a public relations and lobbying firm. One of her two co-partners is Bob Baldacci, the former governor’s brother and a real estate developer who previously led a high-profile effort to redevelop the publicly owned Maine State Pier. The firm’s lengthy client list includes Cate Street Capital, Central Maine Power, the National Resources Council of Maine, and numerous political figures of the past and present. Baldacci Communications continues to do work for Strimling, but the mayor said their role is now limited to filing campaign finance reports.”

The Bollard also noted that Strimling, without disclosing his romantic link to Clifford, has recently raised the issue of again seeking a developer for the State Pier. Do you suppose his paramour’s business partner would have any interest in such a proposal?

Whether or not it’s public record that these connections exist or not is irrelevant. These points should be investigated, and they don’t appear to be to any real degree. Why?

Chris Dixon

About Chris Dixon

Chris Dixon is a libertarian-leaning writer and managing editor for The Liberty Conservative. In addition to his political writing, he also covers baseball for Cleat Geeks and enjoys writing on a number of other topics ranging on Medium.