PORTLAND (AP) _ The executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority has stepped down amid questions about turnpike finances and his leadership.
Paul Violette (left) submitted his resignation today and the turnpike authority board unanimously accepted it. In his resignation letter, Violette said he felt that his leadership had been called into question and was becoming a central issue for critics in the Legislature.
Violette's future came into question last week as the Legislature's Government Oversight Committee continued to investigate the turnpike's distribution of $157,000 in gift certificate purchases in 2005-2006 from various hotel chains and restaurants.
The Maine Republican Party announced Friday that Violette would resign this week. Violette's resignation came amid proposals to abolish the turnpike authority or divert more control of the toll road to the Legislature.
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File photo courtesy of the Maine Turnpike Authority