ABOUT DAVID
Growing Up in Old Town
David was born in Bangor and raised in Old Town by his mother Gail and maternal grandparents, Alfred and Pauline Pelletier Baillargeon. David’s father John, an Army veteran and AFL-CIO organizer, died in 1968 at the age of thirty-one.
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David is the grandson of French and Irish American shoe, textile, and railroad workers. And like many in Maine, he was the first in his family to attend a four year college and to earn a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree – having worked his way through the University of Maine, George Washington University, and London School of Economics and Political Science.
A Career of Service
David has more than twenty-five years of senior-level state, local, and federal government experience.
Inspired by participating in picket lines as a boy, David became active in politics in his late teens. Leaving college at the age of nineteen, David served on Senator Ted Kennedy’s national field staff in 1980. He subsequently worked on two additional national presidential campaigns and locally on U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Maine gubernatorial campaigns into the early 1990s.
David visiting a village in northeastern Haiti to assess a community water project (1995).
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David with Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator William Hathaway, and Boston Bruins Wayne Cashman and Johny Bucyk (1980).
David served as a top aide to Maine Secretary of State Bill Diamond in the early 1990s, helping to develop and implement elections, campaign finance, and motor vehicle administration and safety reforms.
Between 1993 and 2001, David worked primarily abroad for the U.S. government, responding to political, humanitarian, and economic crises in conflict-torn Cambodia, Haiti, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo.
David being sworn in as a Deputy Secretary of State by Maine Secretary of State Bill Diamond (1989).
David, Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister, U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia, and local Serbian and Albanian leaders sign community improvement grants in Serbia's conflict-ridden Presevo Valley (2001).
David crossing the Mekong River in Cambodia following an election coordination meeting in Kampong Cham (1993).
David inspecting a Kosovar Albanian home that had been destroyed by Serbian nationalists in western Kosovo (1998).
In the early to middle 2000s, David served as a top aide to the Mayor of Baltimore directing collaborative efforts to improve the City’s schools and address the needs of Baltimore’s at-risk children, youth, and families.
Between 2007 and 2011, David worked as a senior aide to the Governor of Maryland, managing state efforts to devise and implement cross-agency plans and programs to achieve ambitious job creation, crime reduction, workforce development, student achievement, substance abuse treatment, environmental protection, clean energy, and sustainable development goals.
David, Mayor Martin O'Malley, and public works staff participate in a Baltimore City school improvement project (2004).
David and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley discussing agenda items at an economic transition event (2011).
David with Delaware Senator Chris Coons and EPA and Delaware officials highlighting upgrades to a sewage treatment plant in Delmar, Delaware/Maryland (2014).
From 2011 - 2015, David served as a Deputy and Acting Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) helping to manage MDE’s 1,000+ employees, various programs, and $380 million annual budget.
In addition to his government work, David more recently directed two non-governmental climate action projects in Maryland and served as an interim climate and clean energy program director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM).
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David participating with senior Maryland officials at a Chesapeake Bay restoration status meeting in Annapolis, Maryland (2010).
Family
David resides in Brunswick with his wife, children, and beagle Stella.
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