King issues invitations to security conference 4-day meeting to establish terrorism policies

AUGUSTA – Gov. Angus King has invited several dozen Mainers to attend a four-day conference aimed at developing a state homeland security policy. But several lawmakers are questioning the scope and makeup of the meeting, which is closed to the public and designed to “develop the blueprint to secure Maine and its citizens from the threat of terrorist attack.”

In a letter to those being invited, King said the format is following a “proven process to bring together disparate interests” to arrive at a common set of goals. “I cannot overly stress the importance of this undertaking,” he wrote.

King will attend and his entire Cabinet has been invited. The list of groups and organizations invited to send a representative range from business organizations to professional groups and county and local government officials.

But Senate President Richard Bennett, R-Norway, compared the meeting to then-first lady Hilary Clinton’s closed-door efforts to craft a national health care policy in the mid-1990s.

“It didn’t work,” he said Monday. “This idea of getting the best and the brightest into a room and to decide what is best for the rest of us just does not work.”

Bennett and House Speaker Michael Saxl, D-Portland, are the only two lawmakers who have been asked to attend the meeting. Bennett called that “seriously flawed” and said there are many lawmakers who would be better suited to help draft such policy. He also said four days seems too long to ask people to participate, and he will not be attending.

“It’s important to have a policy,” he said, “but I am not sure this is the way to do it.”

Col. Mark Gilbert of the Maine National Guard is organizing the conference and expects 70 to 80 participants for the sessions, which will be held May 6 to 9 at the Bangor Air National Guard base.

In an introduction to the conference from the State Office of Homeland Security, invitees are told, “There are no neat battle lines on maps” in our fight against terrorism. “Ours is a conflict that requires the closest of cooperation among all levels of government, from federal to state to municipal,” the introduction adds. “It’s an effort in which the actions of law enforcement and alert citizens can be just as effective against our enemies as the actions of dedicated men and women who fight our shooting wars.”

Those attending the conference will develop a “strategic vision, key objectives, an action plan and the enduring commitment to achieve our jointly derived goals,” according to the letter.

Future meetings to review progress and refine objectives are anticipated about every three months.

Gilbert said many different groups and representatives, including the Maine Chamber of Commerce and the Maine Merchants Association, have been invited.

Representatives of news media organizations also have been invited to participate in the policy deliberations, but coverage by reporters of the meetings will be limited to the afternoon and evening of May 7, he said. National Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge has been invited to address the conference that evening.

“We have not heard from his people if he can participate,” Gilbert said, “but we are hopeful he will.”

Gilbert said news coverage of the conference was limited to allow participants to discuss issues openly.

“We did not want the participants to feel encumbered in making their inputs,” he said. “Let’s be honest, that would happen if the media were there.”

But House Majority Leader Patrick Colwell, D-Gardiner, believes there should be broader participation from members of the Legislature as well as the public.

“I have to say I have some concerns about this,” he said. “There might be some areas of security that should not be discussed in public, but I think we are talking about developing broad public policy here, and that should involve the public.”

Colwell agreed with Bennett that there are many lawmakers in both parties who have spent considerable time during this legislative session considering the package of homeland security bills King proposed.

Rep. Charles Laverdiere, D-Wilton, co-chairman of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, said all of those proposals were changed substantially during the committee process because lawmakers felt they were too broad and overreaching.

“I knew there was going to be some general discussion of policy,” he said. “But I thought they were going to be open to the public and I guess I am a little concerned. I plan to call the Governor’s Office on this.”

Bennett said lawmakers who have dealt with the issues would be better participants in the conference. He also said the best public policies are those arrived at in public.

Gilbert said he hopes a state plan can be arrived at during the meeting. He said it is needed to qualify for the significant amount of federal money Congress is expected to approve for homeland security later this year.