Legislature has responsibility to investigate Saviello

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

The Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices let the Maine people down badly last week when, following a closed-door meeting, members decided not to investigate Rep. Thomas Saviello.

Saviello, an independent from Wilton, is environmental compliance manager for the International Paper mill in Jay. He has been accused of using his influence as a legislator and a member of the Natural Resources Committee to pressure the Department of Environmental Protection for special treatment for the Jay mill.

To his credit, it was Saviello who asked the ethics commission to investigate whether he had crossed any ethical boundaries. He also temporarily stepped down from the committee after the controversy broke.

Unfortunately, Saviello changed his mind last week, rescinding his request for the investigation, and the commission, despite requests from environmental groups for an investigation, let the matter drop.

Members of the commission said they were reluctant to investigate Saviello without complaints from other lawmakers.

For his part, Saviello has always maintained that he has done nothing wrong.

A legislator from a district of small central Maine towns that have lost hundreds of manufacturing jobs in recent decades, Saviello has said that he doesn't fight for the interests of his employers, but does fight for the hundreds of paper industry workers in his district.

Given that one of those jobs belongs to him, at the very least Saviello should have been more careful.

Legislators should not act like lobbyists, nor should legitimate questions about their conduct go unanswered.

The decision by the ethics commission not to investigate Saviello because he changed his mind is unacceptable.

The Legislature is not a club. Legislators are not accountable to each other, they are accountable to us.

If there is the possibility of a conflict of interest, they must investigate, partly to settle any questions related to that particular legislator and partly to better clarify how our public servants should navigate the large gray areas that are part of their job.

Maine's part-time legislators have always faced a difficult balancing act, splitting their time between Capitol and career.

When they bring expertise to Augusta, whether it be on environmental issues or marine resources, it makes sense for them to sit on committees where their knowledge can be most useful.

That system works because Maine people trust their legislators to work not for industry, not even just for their constituents, but for all of us.

Any allegation that trust has been violated must be investigated.

Saviello is accused of pressuring the department to drop a violation notice in return for his support of environmental legislation to clean up the Androscoggin River. International Paper is a major source of industrial pollution in the river.

That violation notice was written by an inspector from the department in October 2003. In December of that year, Saviello met with then-Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Dawn Gallagher to discuss both the environmental legislation and the violation notice.

Stories differ about what was actually said at that meeting, but afterward the violation was downgraded to a letter of warning, which was never sent.

Gallagher resigned in December after reports of the meeting caused controversy.

Notes and memos released after Gallagher's departure show that both the violation notice and the environmental legislation were discussed at the meeting.

Saviello is a hardworking lawmaker who is, by all accounts, popular with his constituents. He is not accused of any crime.

But following Gallagher's resignation, the Wilton legislator has a clear responsibility to clarify his role.

An investigation must take place and the results of that investigation must be made public.

Maine people deserve the facts.