On April 26, approximately 50 Maine citizens attended what should have been a public hearing in Augusta, on LD 1761, a bill sponsored by Sen. John Martin of Eagle Lake and three other members of the committee which actually heard the bill, Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (ACF). It was another John Martin bill having to do with the publicly owned Allagash Wilderness Waterway.

This hearing, however, was really a lesson in public humiliation. Before any member of the public had a chance to comment, Sen. Martin slipped in a last-minute resolution which effectively pre-empted the public comment session. Sen. Martin then informed all present that he only did this to show the people from down south what “it” was like.

George Smith of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine was obviously primed for the last-minute change since he spoke, not of the bill, but of the resolution. The public was completely unprepared, but to their credit, they testified in good faith regarding the bill.

I am not certain what lesson was intended but I will offer what I believe most of the people in the room realized, including some of the other ACF committee members. Martin redefined “south” to mean anyone who does not agree with him as it applies to the publicly owned waterway. He showed that he is willing to make a mockery of our legislative process and the public’s right to participate meaningfully.; that he is willing to waste other legislators’ time and energies by proposing inept bills and dupe citizens into taking productive time and energy away from their jobs. With predicted budget shortfalls, this is time and energy the state can ill afford to waste.

Well-intentioned members of the public traveled all the way to Augusta to participate in the democratic process, and then, like old shop rags, they were unceremoniously discarded. These folks were from all over Maine but that apparently was of no concern to Sen. Martin who along with bill co-sponsor Rep. Michaud from Fort Kent, consumed the first hour and a half of the citizens’ time so that the committee members were already beginning to tire before the first taxpayer had a chance to speak.

Will many now wonder if Sen. Martin’s co-sponsor’s were a willing party? I hope their constituents and their colleagues will ask them if they approve of this irresponsible and unprofessional treatment of the public. Unfortunately, and worse, some may incorrectly assume that the others on the committee have the same attitude. The worst kind of collateral damage is that which is undeserved.

Do some of our elected officials actually believe the public is too ignorant to recognize when their intelligence is being insulted or their willingness to participate in state government is being debased? Perhaps the most damaging lesson, thanks to last Thursday’s stellar experience, is that some will begin to wonder if this is how all legislators view the citizens that elected them.

Based on the reaction in the crowd, I’ll bet there are more than a few who are wondering just that. This kind of conduct cannot occur without accountability and this willingness to insidiously ambush the public in their own supposedly hallowed halls is the reason why articles like this one become necessary.

From all over Maine we came, north, south, east and west. Yessiree bob. And we definitely learned a lesson.

Dave Hubley lives in Buxton.