There is a curious and unexplained condition that sometimes occurs naturally inside the walls of the State House.
Let’s call it Politix Importunus.
It is a condition afflicting elected officials who come to believe political shuckin’ and jivin’ for position is more important than the issue over which they battle.
Happens every day.
Right now, Politix Importunus has infected the looming investigation of the Warden Service following a recent Press Herald report on an undercover operation and massive 2014 raid by wardens in Aroostook County.
According to the newspaper’s report, a number of people in the Allagash accused undercover Warden William Livezey of plying them with alcohol and then urging them to commit crimes, even committing crimes himself to coerce them to follow. And, once they did, they were charged and later convicted of a variety of poaching-related crimes.
Livezey was part of a two-year investigation that ended with a raid involving dozens of officers at multiple homes. That raid was filmed by a crew from the since-canceled “North Woods Law” program and broadcast on Animal Planet last year.
The subjects of the raid say wardens, with the knowledge of their supervisors, played up the danger they were under when raiding the homes for the benefit of the TV audience.
Not so, the Warden Service immediately and emphatically said.
The undercover operation was carefully planned to address what the Warden Service described as a “small isolated area of northern Aroostook County (where) a lawless attitude toward game laws by a small group of the town’s citizens had prevailed for many years.”
The Press Herald stands by its report, including its assertion that the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife violated the state’s Freedom of Access Act by refusing to provide access to public documents.
The public outcry has been loud, clear and consistent.
There’s been both support and criticism for the newspaper. Likewise for the Warden Service as the public has demanded answers.
While lawmakers were initially cautious about launching an investigation into undercover tactics and potential public access violations, there will be an investigation and the Warden Service has agreed to fully cooperate.
Here’s where Politix Importunus comes in: deciding who will investigate and how it will be done.
Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville, who co-chairs the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee with Democratic Rep. Robert Duchesne of Old Town, sought special consent from legislative leaders for his committee to hold hearings on the matter, which means an inquiry can begin immediately and not wait for the Legislature to reconvene in January.
He has gone further, though, and already met privately with IF&W Commissioner Chandler Woodcock. They spent hours going through the newspaper report “line by line.”
That’s a problem.
Sen. Davis is a 23-year respected veteran of the Maine State Police, an agency that works closely with the Warden Service. There is no doubt that, at some point in his career, Davis had contact with wardens, maybe even some of the same IF&W supervisors who could be pulled into this investigation to answer questions.
That’s not to say that he can’t or won’t be impartial. But, at the base level, we have a call to consider accusations that wardens overstepped law enforcement procedures and that Maine’s IF&W failed to comply with public access laws. And public perception has weighed in, taking names and picking sides.
In order for this very significant controversy to be resolved, the procedure has to be completely clean, unfettered by the perception the process is anything less than wholly transparent and thorough.
Davis believes the IF&W Committee has jurisdiction here, and intends to proceed alone. The initial hearing — which will be open to the public — is set for 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 1.
If more investigation is needed, IF&W co-chairs are willing to bump it along to a different committee for a second review.
Others believe jurisdiction stands with the Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over criminal procedure, including law enforcement investigations and FOAA compliance.
Why pick? The Politix Importunus tussle over jurisdiction is not the end goal here. It is resolving very serious accusations in a straightforward, non-political, respectful and responsible way.
To that end, we join in Judiciary Committee Reps. Jeff Evangelos, Charlotte Warren and Kim Monaghan’s formal and forceful requests for a joint investigation by IF&W and Judiciary.
The Warden Service has a proud and strong history of honorable and trusted service in Maine. If this investigation is not approached with clarity and cooperation, the public will forever doubt the results. No matter what they are.
jmeyer@sunjournal.com
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