A new legislature was sworn in on Jan. 1, and on Jan. 2, a new governor was inaugurated. Janet Mills, former Attorney General, became Maine’s first female governor. Mills was inaugurated at the Augusta Civic Center. Former governors John Baldacci and Joseph Brennan attended.

Wesley McNair, Maine’s Poet Laureate from 2011 to 2016, wrote a poem for the event, “Song for the Unsung,”  which celebrated Maine’s everyday people. McNair earned laughs memorializing an unnamed town official who, when forcefully calling out a warrant, lost his front false teeth, caught them in his hand, put them back in his mouth without missing a beat, and continued reading out the warrant. “That person deserves a song,” McNair told the audience. 

Also earning applause were Shy Paca,  11, and Natalia Mbadu,  10, who sang “This Girl is on Fire” to the governor-elect’s clear joy. Also performing were the Franklin County Fiddlers, with a series of country dances,  and the Portland String Quartet,  with “Simple Gift,”  a Shaker hymn.

During her inaugural address, Mills reminded the audience that while inaugurations are about the change of a person in power, it  is  also “the bright torch of the  peaceful  transfer of power.” Making light of beingthe first woman elected governor  in the state’s 199-year history, Mills drew laughs when she also pointed out it was the first time Maine elected a governor from Franklin County.

Discussing her upbringing in the rural west of the state, Mills said the river she lived near  and played in as a child, the Sandy, a meandering stream in the foothills, gains power and joins other streams until finally joining the Kennebec River, streaming down to Merrymeeting Bay and the sea. So too, she said, the people of the state come from everywhere and come together as a mighty tide of people with their Maine heritage in common.

“We are joined together by water, woods, and land,” she said, leading into her address’s first topic, climate change. “Our woods are becoming less and less suitable for spruce and fir and more suitable for ticks,” she said. She pointed out the issues Maine faces – the warming Gulf, sea level rise, higher carbon emissions, and said, “Enough. We must embrace clean energy.” She vowed to set a goal of 50 percent of all energy from Maine renewable resources, which, she said, would add good-paying jobs and protect the environment.  To demonstrate that government also plays a role, she said she was adding solar panels to the Blaine House.

Her second theme was the expansion of Medicaid, or Mainecare. “Health care is for everyone,” she said, pointing out the collection jars many convenience stores have on their counters, for neighbors to help collect money to pay their neighbors’ medical bills. She also discussed the death of a friend, Patty, who died of breast cancer while uninsured. “Every person will have health insurance,” she said. “We will rein in the costs of insurance and prescription drugs.”

Mills said she would also tackle what she called the opiate epidemic. “If anyone in the sound of my voice is about to take opiates, I say to you, ‘We will confront this disease together, not pass judgment.’” She said 418 people in Maine died last year from drug overdoses. She said she will name a Marshal of Opiate Response as a point person to identify and work toward solutions.

Economics and education go hand in hand, Mills said. She announced Maine would have a “world class workforce” under her administration. “Education is key. We need to keep our young people and bring home those who felt they needed to leave. She said she would change the sign at the border from “Open for Business” to “Welcome Home.” She also promised full and fair funding for schools.

Children are a top priority, Mills said, and in addition to changes at the Department of Health and Human Services and other programs around the state, she also said she is bringing back the Children’s Cabinet.

She said she would take a leaf from the pages of Kurt Vonnegut, who long advocated a “Department of the Future.” “I will create a Department of Innovation and the Future,” she said. ”Let’s look ahead for a change.”

Finally, she said differences of opinion make Maine strong. “We need to find common ground and make Maine one again.”

Sen. Dana Dow (R-Waldoboro) said he heard nothing in the speech that addressed Lincoln County specifically. It’s the oldest in Maine, and little was said about aging. “We need more consideration for our hospital,” Dow said. Still, he said he was happy to work with Mills and expected to be able to work cooperatively, including compromise, with the majority in the legislature. He said he would be interested in speaking to Mills about his ideas about education, and said he didn’t feel throwing money at the problem was a solution. “We need to encourage business,” he said.

Mills has named several key commissioners and staffers during the transition phase. Some hail from the Midcoast, including Pender Makin, former Brunswick Assistant Superintendent, for Commissioner of the Department of Education.