As God is my witness, I am starting to agree with Gov. LePage.

As an independent, I have been a fan of Angus King, Dick Woodbury and Eliot Cutler. As someone with a libertarian streak, I support the NRA and I admire newly elected state Senator Eric Brakey. As a social progressive (sort of), I marched for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. As a fiscal conservative (kind of), I have expressed dismay at bond issues in Gray, Cumberland County and statewide.

In other words, I try to be practical and principled at the same time. This is tricky business.

I admit that I have disagreed with the governor’s tone and viewpoints on many occasions. But recently, I think Gov. LePage has been spot on. Let me offer three examples.

The governor’s recently announced tax reform package is very welcome. Moving the mix of taxes from income and property towards consumption is a great idea. The proposal will pull more from out-of-state visitors and part-time residents to the extent that they are here in Maine using our services. It will reduce income taxes and will provide property exemptions to lower and middle earners in order to make the cuts less regressive than they would be otherwise.

The proposal encourages more local decision-making by eliminating state revenue sharing and by taxing nonprofits. Admittedly, this will be problematic for a town like Gray, which stands to lose $300,000 due to a lack of nonprofit properties. The town may very well decide to raise the tax rate in order to maintain the services that its citizens enjoy, but the decision will be local.

The Legislature will no doubt be trying to figure out who may be hurt, and refine the proposal. An example to be discussed will be the deductibility of charitable contributions.

Despite the fine-tuning required, statewide tax reform is a real step forward. Visitors to our state need to be paying for a greater share.

In a second announcement, Gov. LePage seems to have read my mind. The governor is trying to force a decision by the Legislature about how to fund county jails. When I was a county commissioner, I complained about the truly impractical system imposed by the state in 2008. The counties are supposed to run the jails and the state is supposed to have paid for any cost increases since 2008. The state has not kept up, of course.

I strongly believe that responsibility and authority should go hand in hand. Either the state should run the jails, or the county. Whichever entity is responsible should have the budget (and taxing) authority to do so. I think the counties have the better experience, but I could also accept state-run facilities.

The third recent announcement by the governor is his complaint that he can’t appoint his own cabinet. I believe that when the citizens choose a governor, they expect him or her to bring in a team, which will be able to put into effect the policies that were promised to the voters. That’s not the case in Maine.

Certainly, those constitutional officers should meet professional qualifications. It also seems fair to require consent from the Legislature on cabinet appointments. However, I believe that the chief executive should nominate the Attorney General, Treasurer and Secretary of State rather than the Legislature choosing them. This is the way to achieve the will of the electorate.

I have lots of opinions just like anyone else. I don’t expect to be an objective observer of life. But someone like me, who claims to be an independent moderate, must examine all ideas as they arrive, regardless of the messenger.

I commend our governor for these thoughtful and practical proposals.

Mark D. Grover has served as a Cumberland County commissioner and as a member of the Gray Town Council.