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Legislator to Be Active Participant

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 November 2005, 00:00 CST

By Patricia Smith, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.

Nov. 1--MOREHEAD CITY -- Nearly as soon as state Rep. William Wainwright found out that he had been appointed to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, he heard about the annual meeting in New Jersey this week.

Though he was told he could send a proxy, Wainwright cleared his calendar instead and committed himself to attending as many meetings as he can.

"If I'm going to be on the commission, then I need to be an active participant," said Wainwright, D-Craven.

It is something that could hardly be called rare, but yet is not the norm among legislative members on the interstate fisheries management board.

While Sen. George Gunther of Connecticut regularly attends meetings, most of the legislators from the 15 different states that make up the commission send someone in their place, said Damon Tatem, another of North Carolina's ASMFC members.

The reason is obvious, Tatem said.

"It's time consuming," he said.

With a four-day annual meeting, plus travel, it takes a whole week out of your schedule, Tatem said. There are also periodic committee meetings -- most of which occur out of state -- and public hearings to go to, he said.

But Wainwright said he is excited about the opportunity to attend these meetings and learn more of how fisheries management works.

His stint as co-chair of the state's Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture for the past several years peaked a personal inquisitiveness on the subject, he said.

"I have constituents who talk with me from time-to-time about fisheries issues, but it's something that I really have an interest in myself," Wainwright said.

State Fisheries Director Preston Pate, who also chairs the ASMFC, said he welcomes Wainwright's involvement.

"I think it's good that legislators have the time and the interest to attend the meetings," Pate said.

Having Wainwright sitting at the table, hearing all the discussions and give-and-take that goes on between the states, will help more effectively relay those matters to the N.C. legislature, Pate said.

Wainwright's appointment to the ASMFC fills a vacancy that has existed since former Rep. David Redwine, D-Ocean Isle Beach, lost his House seat to Rep. Bonner Still, R-Oak Island, in November 2002.

At that time state statutes required the legislative Commission on Interstate Cooperation (an entity that disbanded in the early 1990s) to designate one of its own members to fill the state's legislative seat on the ASMFC.

The General Assembly changed that law in 2003, authorizing the governor to choose, but Gov. Mike Easley did not appoint anyone until this year.

The long-term vacancy did not result in any lost votes for North Carolina because the ASMFC charter gives each state one vote that it must cast as a delegation.

Redwine had held the seat since September 1994, but beginning in 1998 appointed Melvin Shepard of Sneads Ferry as his proxy. Prior to that, Tatem said, different people often served in Redwine's place.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.

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Source: The Daily News

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