Wendy Pieh (Elizabeth Walztoni photo)
In addition to her background in farming and education, Wendy Pieh hopes to bring a spirit of collaboration and cooperation to the Maine House of Representatives.
Pieh, of Bremen, is the Democratic nominee for the House District 45 special election on Tuesday, June 13. She faces Abden Simmons, R-Waldoboro, to take over the remainder of the two-year term formerly held by Clinton Collamore, D-Waldoboro, who resigned in February.
Pieh said a collaborative approach has been a central part of her presence in all elected offices.
“It’s amazing what we can do when we work together,” she said.
Pieh would prioritize protecting fishing, farming, and logging, affordable education, and health care if elected on June 13. She said she is running to represent residents, and her agenda is based on their concerns.
Pieh was previously a state representative for eight years in total, from 1996-1998, 1998-2000, and 2006-2010.
She was a member of the Committee on Marine Resources for two of those terms, a member of the Committee on Health and Human Services for one, and House Chair of the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry for two.
In Bremen, she has been a member of the select board since 2004 and currently serves as its chair. Previously, she was a legislative liaison to the Maine School Management Association and a member of the Bremen School Committee.
Outside of government, she worked with Outward Bound schools for many years and raises cashmere goats with her husband, Peter Goth. She is president of the Cashmere Goat Association.
She is particularly concerned about partisanship and division, which she feels is causing the country to fall apart.
“Neither way is completely right, but between the two, what we can get done is amazing,” she said. “My whole thing is to listen and to learn about people, because I really care about people.”
During her previous terms, she said she was proud of bills she supported that helped her constituents. Pieh was part of a bipartisan rural caucus, which advocated for local control over education and contributed to the creation of the AOS systems.
She also supported requiring insurance companies to cover emergency room visits for a person concerned they had a serious medical condition. The proposal was adopted into rule.
“That was huge,” Pieh said. “This is not a wealthy state.”
She sponsored two bills in particular which she said came directly from constituents.
One removed the fee for late registration of boats. At the time, a person six months late in registering their boat would have to pay the equity fee going back two years, while late car registrations were not charged.
A second bill added spouses to a federal law that paid persons taking care of homebound individuals needing care, which had previously excepted spouses.
“I put in other bills, but those are two of my favorite,” she said. “They mean a difference to the fishermen and they mean a difference to people that don’t have a lot of money.”
If she is elected, she said she hopes to start a municipal caucus for legislators who are also on select boards, protect fishermen and small businesses, and preserve industries and activities that are part of Maine’s heritage.
Among them, she said she would continue to advocate for lobstermen in the face of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposals for right whale protections that would restrict the fishing industry.
In 1997, during her first term, Pieh advocated to the National Marine Fishery Service to scale back proposed gear modifications for fishermen that would have come at high cost the lobster industry. That discussion ultimately led to the use of sinking ropes in place of floating ones.
She said she is interested in solutions, and feels focusing on lobster gear is not a solution that matches the problem.
“We must insist on more research on those issues and not allow the dismantling of an industry that has over 150 years of responsible stewardship,” she said.
Pieh said concerns like these are motivating her to run this year, because she has faced them in the past.
“I fought this fight before and am committed to fighting it again,” she said.
With these priorities in mind, Pieh said her agenda will develop as she hears from residents.
“I believe that understanding where your constituents are on various issues is what representation is all about,” she said.
Pieh said her view was informed by early experiences in the American south. When she was 9 years old, in the 1950s, her family moved to Montgomery, Ala., where she saw segregation in person and became involved in marches and activism as a result.
“Those things inspired me,” she said.
Pieh said she was encouraged to run by others in the Legislature when the seat opened. She is not sure yet whether she would run again in 2024 if elected this year.
She is currently seeking reelection to the Bremen Select Board in the town’s municipal election on Saturday, June 24. Pieh said that in her experience, holding both positions benefits both the town and the Legislature.
House District 45 consists of Bremen, Louds Island, and Waldoboro in Lincoln County and Friendship and Washington in Knox County.
For more information, go to wendypieh.com.
