To the editor:
The Secretary of State is now finally admitting, after previously denying, that his office did call the police on me. I believe that public officials are (as the name implies) trustees of the public good. That should go, obviously, almost without saying. Citizens’ mistrust of public officials appears at near a record high. Although I am an optimist, lemonade out of lemons type of individual, I’ve also grown a bit more wary (not jaded) by some of the things I’ve seen as I run for political office (http://hammer2010.com/).
Certainly our country (and our world) has made advances over the years – societal, technological, etc. It’s been argued that while we have numerous TV station choices, almost unlimited choices (it seems) in music, huge selection of book choices, and almost every conceivable flavor of coffee from which to choose, we’re still limited, by and large, to only two major choices in politics — Democrats and Republicans.
Politics, that is, being one of the last bastions of top-down, rather than consumer-driven domains. Maine has 39 percent Independents, but guess how many Independents currently serve in the Maine legislature?
Not yet reported (but known by the Maine media) in my ballot efforts (I’ve collected over 5,900 signatures to have my name on the ballot for Governor) is that the Secretary of State’s office appears to have called the police on me after I simply very politely declined to take back a portion of the submitted petitions which the Secretary of State’s office wrongly wished to not accept (or to even review to consider to accept). Although we have over 3,200 signatures already verified by the towns and cities across Maine, the Secretary of State has now presently banned all Maine towns from verifying our remaining approximately 1,500 or more signatures.
Information in regard to the towns being prohibited by the Secretary of State’s office from examining these signatures in regard to the verification process can be read, if interested, at our Facebook page and in interviews (MPBN so far, others in process).
I found out that the police had been called when I was back in Bangor when I received a call at home from a Capitol police officer. He wanted to know if I had been in the building (where the Secretary of State’s election division resides) today. I explained that yes I had been there to turn in my signatures to the Secretary of State’s office as is required. (I’d also had a friend accompany me). The officer asked if I’d been agitated. I explained that I hadn’t and that, again, I simply politely declined to take back a portion of the signatures I was submitting, explaining to the officer briefly why.
As far as I know, the Secretary of State’s office is the only one that could report to the police that I was in the building (no one else I can think of in Augusta would know this) and be able to provide my phone number to them.
I feel that them apparently doing this, calling the police on me, is an egregious and serious matter, and frankly a bit scary as well. We do not live in a police state and it was extraordinarily wrong for the police to be called.
My interviewer (MPBN) told me that the Secretary of State, when questioned about this, made reference to Security routinely being in the building, but not only did I not see any Security personnel during my visit but someone must have given the police my phone number for the officer to call me. This may have been done later on as I did not receive the phone call (and there was no phone message on my answering machine) until I was back in Bangor after traveling back from Augusta.
The same interviewer later said that the Secretary of State had denied that anyone from his office called the police.
This matter should be investigated.
Reasonable people do disagree, and a single incident should never be overgeneralized, but I am writing about it due to the major Maine media’s failure (so far anyway) to mention it to date.
Independent
gubernatorial candidate
Bangor
