AUGUSTA – State Rep. Thomas Saviello, a Wilton independent, said Thursday that he has no intention of taking himself off the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee despite that suggestion from one of the committee’s chairmen.
Committee co-Chairman Rep. Theodore Koffman, D-Bar Harbor, had said Saviello should move to a different committee to ensure the public regards the legislative committee as impartial.
But Saviello, who works as environmental manager at International Paper in Jay, said he wouldn’t leave the committee and would continue to represent paper workers in his district.
At issue is a potential conflict of interest with Saviello because of his position with IP and the panel that oversees environmental laws.
Koffman said he has no firsthand knowledge that there’s a conflict of interest with Saviello.
“But so many questions have been raised, I don’t want strong tensions or questions” when the committee begins its work when the new session starts next week, Koffman said Thursday.
“Tom has to be sensitive about his relationship to the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) and his job as environmental manager,” Koffman said. “If there’s a perception he’s gone over the line ethically or if there’s a conflict of interest, it not only affects him but the committee. … There’s been an accumulation of questions raised. We need to be regarded by the public as not having an agenda.”
During 2004 and 2005, environmentalists were unhappy with Saviello as he worked against a bill that would have placed greater restrictions on IP discharges into the Androscoggin River. The bill failed.
Working to kill that bill in committee meant “possible personal gains by Rep. Saviello,” said Neil Ward of the Androscoggin River Alliance. “This is a clear conflict of interest.”
On Dec. 20, the Natural Resources Council of Maine released DEP documents that the council said raised questions whether Saviello and Rep. Robert Daigle, R-Arundel, used their legislative clout to help industry.
Disagreeing with NRCM, Saviello said that in 2004 DEP Commissioner Dawn Gallagher acted improperly by offering him a deal: She’d drop environmental enforcement against IP if he agreed to pending Androscoggin River legislation. On Dec. 21, Gallagher denied that. On Dec. 22, the commissioner resigned.
Koffman said he cannot force Saviello to change committees. That power belongs to House Speaker John Richardson. If Koffman did have that authority, he’d talk to Saviello about a re-assignment. “He’s a talented man,” Koffman said. “There’s other ways he could serve.”
Richardson was unavailable Thursday. Earlier this week, he met with Saviello and Daigle about the NRCM report, said spokesman David Connerty-Marin. The speaker will make a preliminary determination next week, Connerty-Marin said.
Earlier, the speaker indicated he wasn’t concerned about a conflict of interest regarding Saviello. Legislators have “a very broad area of discretion” as far as their roles as lawmakers. “We all have other jobs,” Richardson said.
Saviello defended how he’s carried out his roles as legislator and mill employee.
International Paper is not in his district, but hundreds of paper mill workers are, Saviello said. It’s important for his district “to see IP prosper,” Saviello said. “I’ve got three things in my district: the mills, the school system and the university. If one of those goes away, it would be very tough for my district.”
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