Locked in Cumberland County Jail, Craig Babbidge last week became the first South Portland Planning Board member to resign his post while incarcerated.

The three-term board member granted a 90-minute interview to a Current newspaper reporter to come clean about his struggles with alcoholism and drug abuse as well as his new sobriety. He was drafting his resignation letter on a legal pad at the time of the interview.

At no time, Babbidge said, was he under the influence while deliberating as a Planning Board member. Babbidge served on the board for eight years.

Babbidge described himself as a “functional alcoholic” who drank only after work – and at one point tried illegal drugs – prior to entering a substance-abuse treatment program in 2007.

“I am in the recovery process. Alcoholism never goes away,” said Babbidge, a 46-year-old project manager at Maietta Construction.

Babbidge has been jailed since Dec. 21 on a probation violation stemming from his March 2007 conviction for drunk driving and criminal speeding.

During the newspaper interview, Babbidge admitted to some of the violations against him. But, Babbidge said, events leading up to his arrest point to problems with the criminal justice system, not with him.

“In my eyes, I’m doing everything I can,” Babbidge said. “We alcoholics tend to lie – we do lie. Then all of a sudden, after we’re sober, we are not lying anymore… But everyone still thinks we are.”

Babbidge allegedly failed to report to his probation officer, tested positive for illegal drugs and drove with a suspended license.

He was scheduled to appear at a hearing in Cumberland County Superior Court on Wednesday, after The Current’s deadline. A judge was to determine whether he would get more jail time or be released on probation.

“I can’t describe the feelings I have about being here,” said Babbidge, seated in an interview room at the Portland jail, guards standing outside. “I have nine kids and a wife who loves me very much.”

Babbidge said he has not had an alcoholic drink since Aug. 1. In 2007, Babbidge said, he sought treatment and counseling through Mercy Hospital’s intensive outpatient program and “graduated” after seven weeks last summer.

He said he also receives counseling through Catholic Charities. He regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Substance abuse counseling was ordered by the court as a condition of his probation.

Lori Babbidge, his wife, says her husband wants to straighten out his life. “He really is trying so hard. He’s been sober. He’s not drinking,” Lori Babbidge said. “If he does anything to a fault, he works too much.”

Babbidge believes an unfortunate chain of events led to his incarceration. He said work obligations kept him from reporting to his probation officer for face-to-face interviews, which is a violation of his probation.

“Probation is made for people who don’t have jobs and responsibilities – who can sit around and wait all day to see their probation officer,” Babbidge said

“I left him six phone messages in October and November, but I never received a call back,” Babbidge said, referring to his probation officer. “He’s not exactly trying to integrate me back into society.”

Dave Redmond, his probation officer, said Babbidge “left me two voice mails over four months – one in September and one in October – saying I can’t make it. That is not acceptable.”

Babbidge was placed on probation in June 2007, and was supposed to start checking in with Redmond weekly. But Redmond said Babbidge did not show up at first or contact him.

“We can’t supervise him, if we can’t see him. That is the whole thing,” Redmond said.

After Babbidge missed five weekly interviews, Redmond and his partner visited the Babbidge home in July and spotted beer on the porch and cold beer in the back of Babbidge’s truck.

Under the terms of his probation, Babbidge was not supposed to have alcoholic beverages in his house or on his property.

Lori Babbidge said the beer was for visitors, not her husband.

Craig Babbidge also failed to inform his probation officer about his arrest in Farmington in August for driving with a suspended license – another probation violation.

“I was stone cold sober when they stopped me, but my license was still under suspension,” Babbidge said.

“I shouldn’t have gotten behind the wheel of a vehicle. But I needed to take a long drive. I needed some quiet time to get my head in a better place.”

On Oct. 17, Babbidge tested positive for methadone and THC, a chemical compound found in marijuana, after undergoing a random drug test.

Babbidge acknowledged that “I do smoke a little weed,” but denied using methadone, a synthetic form of heroin. “I don’t even know what it looks like,” he said.

Lori Babbidge said her husband voluntarily took another drug test the following day, and the results were clean.

Redmond said he has not seen information about a second drug test, nor does he know anything about it.

On Nov. 14, Babbidge failed to appear for a hearing in Cumberland County Superior Court to determine whether his probation should be revoked. The court issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

Babbidge claimed that he never got notice in the mail. “If I had known about the court date, I would have been there,” he said.

On Dec. 21, police pulled over the vehicle Babbidge was riding in near Maietta Construction. He was arrested, jailed and later denied bail.

Babbidge said the last five years of his life have been stressful. “I lost both my parents and my grandmother,” Babbidge said. “I also lost my home to foreclosure. I was drinking at that time and also occasionally drugging.”

Babbidge’s 2007 conviction was his second for drunk driving. He also was convicted in 2004 in Farmington.

Babbidge said alcoholism led him to “make poor choices” and sometimes use illegal drugs.

He said he cut back on drinking after Lori Babbidge threatened to leave him in January 2007. He entered the intensive rehabilitation program last summer.

“She gave me an ultimatum,” he said. “She said, ‘No, you’re not gonna do this anymore.'”

Babbidge attributes his turnaround and new sobriety to Lori, whom he married 18 months ago. He described her as “my true soul mate in life.”

Babbidge said the public needs to look at his achievements, not just the mistakes.

He noted his role as a Little League baseball coach, his steady employment with Maietta Construction for 17 years and his work on the Planning Board.

“I shouldn’t be here,” he said, referring to jail. “This place is made for people who want to be here. I’m going bonkers.”

His wife added, “I see the day-to-day struggles and the accomplishments. He’s had a lifetime of alcoholism, but that part is over. He’s done with drinking.”