The Maine Republican Party announced today that the head of the Maine Turnpike Authority plans to step down.

Turnpike Authority spokesman Scott Tompkins, however, said that Paul Violette, the Turnpike’s executive director, has not resigned and there are no plans for any such announcement.

Violette, who has headed the agency for 23 years, has come under fire from Republicans for lavish spending practices. 

Today is the deadline for the Turnpike Authority to produce documents that explain who received gift cards and gift certificates to expensive hotels from the authority. Republican Sen. Roger Katz of Augusta, the committee’s Senate chairman, criticized the authority for the $157,000 in gift certificate expenses disclosed last month in a report on turnpike activities by the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability. 

In a memo to government investigators, Violette wrote that “records were not kept that would allow the MTA to describe in a comprehensive manner what organizations received donations and in what amount.”

Today at 4 p.m. the Turnpike Authority’s Board of Directors is scheduled to meet in executive session to discuss a personnel issue.

Shortly before the meeting began, the Maine Republican Party issued a press release stating that Violette will step down next week. The press release did not name the source of its information.

“Maine Republicans have been trying to get to the bottom of this kind of nonsense for years,” said Maine GOP Chair Charlie Webster in the press release. “Now that we’re in control of state government, we’re finally seeing some results.”

Sen. David Trahan, R-Waldoboro, who sits on the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee,  in an interview today called for Violette’s resignation.

Trahan said Friday that a “clean slate” at the authority will help restore confidence in the agency.