The city manager wasn’t pulling punches with the mayor

Things don’t seem to be getting any better between Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling and City Manager Jon Jennings.

The two have publicly disagreed in the past, but today the feud boiled over again as Jennings went on the radio and accused the mayor of being a liar, the Portland Press Herald reported today.

Strimling has said Jennings, who’s the supervisor in charge of city employees, has undermined his work on new policy proposals by blocking his access to city staff.

“Ethan Strimling is the last person on this planet I would take advice from as far as what is appropriate,” Jennings said during his interview on WGAN radio, according to the Press Herald. “If I’m going to be attacked repeatedly by the mayor, I’m going to respond and I’m going to respond aggressively and so the time has come to do that.”

So now we know: If there’s an apocalyptic event that wipes out the human race except for Jennings and Strimling, the city manager may ask the mayor’s advice on appropriateness.

Jennings also said that, despite media coverage that has cast the dispute as being between him and Strimling, the larger City Council is also on his side in this thing.  

For his part, Strimling told the Press Herald’s Edward D. Murphy that Jennings opposes the mayor’s progressive reforms, and is doing all he can to obstruct them.

Strimling and Jennings are scheduled to air their grievances (again) in front of the full City Council on July 31, almost a full month before Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor go at it.

Other stuff:

What we’re talking about

The city of Portland is seeking donations from the public to help pay panhandlers. Portland has a program which pays panhandlers to do work for the city, and those who participate qualify for job training and other help finding more permanent employment. Now, the city is making it easier for the public to donate money to support the program. You can text the word “crew” to 91999 to make a donation.

Ambulances have crashed twice in the last three days in Maine. According to WCSH television, a Delta Ambulance hit a guardrail and went airborne on its way through Bowdoinham on Interstate 295 this morning after its driver fell asleep. A nurse in the back suffered minor injuries and taken to a nearby hospital — hopefully in a private car, for her sake. Just two days earlier, an ambulance rolled over in Aroostook County, and thankfully, nobody involved up there suffered any life-threatening injuries, either.

The Portland Museum of Art is one of five places in Maine the BDN’s Kathleen Pierce suggests visiting on a tour of Andrew Wyeth destinations. The birthday of the late iconic artist was 100 years ago this week.

In the ongoing saga of Rep. Scott Hamann, South Portland, House Speaker Sara Gideon of Freeport yanked him off of two prominent legislative committees as punishment for his vulgar Facebook tirade earlier this week. In his social media rant, Hamann suggested he’d harm President Donald Trump if got close enough to do so. The Secret Service announced late in the day that it’s opening an investigation into the remarks.

Tweet of the day

From @DJNoRequest:

The Big Idea

Are we finally nearing the end of the Tiny House Craze? There was a stretch there in which everywhere you looked, someone was crowing about how they were living in a tiny house. It was a “live simple” novelty idea, and I’m sure some people who went that route are still loving it. But in a recent survey, nearly a third of all people said they want more square footage, while less than one in 10 said they wished they had less. People magazine makes the leap that this is a sign of the end for the tiny house movement.

Got any interesting story ideas, suggestions or links to share? Email us at jbleiberg@bangordailynews.com or skoenig@bangordailynews.com or tweet @JZBleiberg or @SethKoenig.

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