By Scott Dolan
Portland Press Herald
PORTLAND, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage on Monday appointed one of the state’s three associate commissioners of the Department of Corrections to become the acting head of the agency, filling a vacancy left by outgoing Commissioner Joseph Ponte.
LePage named Joseph Fitzpatrick to take over for Ponte, who starting in April will become the commissioner of New York City’s jails, the second-largest jail system in the country with six times as many inmates as Maine.
“Dr. Fitzpatrick’s background and experience in the state’s prison system makes him an excellent choice to lead the department,” LePage said in a statement announcing his decision. “He has demonstrated strong leadership skills during his tenure at the Maine Department of Corrections, and I am confident he will continue his commitment to public service in his new role.”
Fitzpatrick has worked for the Department of Corrections for 20 years and is currently the department’s clinical director and associate commissioner for juvenile services.
Democratic leaders of the Legislature’s joint Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, which has oversight of the corrections department, reached across party lines to applaud LePage’s decision.
“That would be my choice,” Sen. Stan Gerzofsky, co-chair of the committee, said of Fitzpatrick’s appointment. “I don’t think he would have any confirmation problems. I couldn’t give any higher recommendations.”
Gerzofsky, a Cumberland Democrat, said he has known Fitzpatrick for all 14 years he has been a legislator and trusts his understanding of the relationship between incarceration and treatment to make sure people leave the correctional system better than they came in.
“I don’t have to worry about him bobbing and weaving to get around a question,” said Gerzofsky. “He’s been a very strong proponent of the direction we’ve been going in with rehabilitation and treatment.”
The other co-chairman, Rep. Mark Dion, D-Portland, also said he was pleased with LePage’s selection, though he acknowledged that some might question Fitzpatrick’s background, which is clinical rather than in corrections.
“He’s straight forward. He doesn’t over promise. He delivers,” said Dion, the former Cumberland County sheriff. “He doesn’t have a corrections background, but I think that may be an asset.”
Fitzpatrick is a clinical psychologist trained in pediatric and adult mental health. Before moving to Maine in 1990, he was on the staff at Boston Children’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and a member of the adjunct faculty of Harvard Medical School.
Fitzpatrick started in Maine as a staff psychologist at the Maine Correctional Center. As the department’s clinical director for the last few years, Fitzpatrick worked in the adult and juvenile divisions.
“I appreciate the tremendous opportunity and responsibility Governor LePage has entrusted to me,” Fitzpatrick said in a release. “Commissioner Ponte has made significant reforms in the MDOC statewide system, and I look forward to continuing this progression through a balance of treatment and security advances. The MDOC administrators, supervisors and line staff are a very talented team of professionals and I have no doubt that together we will continue to move the department in a positive direction.”
Fitzpatrick oversaw the opening of the intensive mental health unit at the Maine State Prison, which serves the DOC, county jails and state Department of Health and Human Services.
By statute, LePage can appoint an associate commissioner to fill a vacancy in the commissioner’s office for up to six months before confirming a replacement or selecting another acting commissioner, according to Adrienne Bennett, a spokeswoman for the governor.
Fitzpatrick will oversee the opening of the young adult offender program at Mountain View Youth Development Center in Charleston. He lives in North Yarmouth with his wife, Patti, and their four children, Shannon, Molly, Joseph and Emma.