Maine’s LUPC Confirmation Hearing Once Again Becomes an Unusually Contentious Issue

Maine’s Committee on Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry (ACF) failed to confirm the nomination of yet another member of the state’s Land Use Planning Committee (LUPC).

The ACF met on Monday for a confirmation hearing intended to re-confirm Oxford County’s representative on the LUPC, Lee Smith.

This followed a controversial meeting of the ACF on Jan. 8th, meant to be a simple confirmation hearing for Tom Dubois, Franklin County’s nominee for the LUPC, but which turned into an environmental debate about the Pickett Mountain Mine, a proposed metal mine in Maine’s unincorporated territories.

[RELATED: Green Activists Block Franklin County LUPC Nomination in Proxy Fight Over Pickett Mountain Mine Project…]

Democrats, particularly the ACF chair Sen. Henry Ingwersen (D-York), opposed the confirmation because Dubois refused to testify under oath that he would recuse himself from a coming vote on the Pickett Mountain Mine.

The committee failed to confirm Dubois.

At Monday’s meeting, Smith received markedly different treatment from Democrats than Dubois did.

Smith, unlike Dubois, did not even attend the meeting in person, and gave her testimony via Zoom.

Unlike Dubois, who, in an unprecedented request by Sen. Ingwersen, was required to make his testimony under oath, Smith was not sworn in before her testimony.

Sen. Russell Black (R-Franklin) asked Ingwersen about this discrepancy.

“As chair, I just must say that the integrity of the confirmation is really important to me,” said Ingwersen, “I’m not going to be asking to put nominees under oath going forward unless there are exceptional circumstances.”

After a brief caucus, Sen. Black decided that he would not, as he originally planned, move that Smith be put under oath, saying that “two wrongs don’t make a right.”

Ingwersen opened his questioning of Dubois at the earlier AFC meeting by asking about his knowledge of the Pickett Mountain mine, and demanding that he recuse himself from the coming vote because he was not on the committee during the public hearings on the issue, and was only able to review transcripts and watch recordings.

Ingwersen did not ask Smith anything about her knowledge or position on the controversial mine.

In contrast to his treatment of Dubois, Ingwersen comforted Smith before she gave her testimony.

“Don’t be nervous, you’ll be fine,” said Ingwersen.

Smith, however, also did not attend the public hearings on the mine, and only watched a recording and read the transcripts of the meeting.

Ingwersen and other speakers believed that Dubois could not have an informed opinion on the issue despite reviewing the records, while Ingewersen had no objection to Smith missing hearings while a sitting member of the LUPC.

Ingwersen did not bring up Smith’s absence from the meetings, and it remained unmentioned until Sen. Black asked her about her attendance at hearings, and she was forced to admit that she had been absent.

Following the committee’s questions for Smith, a few people spoke in her favor without mentioning the Pickett Mountain project.

Many representatives of environmental groups spoke against Dubois because of his failure to recuse himself from the mine decision.

No one spoke against Smith.

Following the hearing, Black requested a 15-minute deliberation before the ACF voted on the confirmation.

All Republicans, except Rep. Danny Costain (R-Plymouth), who was absent from this and Dubois’ hearing, voted against the confirmation.

The independent member of the ACF, Rep. Bill Pluecker (I-Warren), voted with Democrats in the previous confirmation hearing, but voted with Republicans against Smith’s confirmation.

All the Democrats supported the confirmation, except Rep. Rebecca Jauch (D-Topsham) who was also absent.

The final vote was five “yes” votes, six “no” votes, and two absent, with the meeting ending with the ACF failing to re-confirm Smith to the LUPC.

The two recent hearings have now left both Franklin and Oxford counties without LUPC representatives before the approaching vote on the Pickett Mountain mine, which will take place on February 24.