Raylene Pert Profile

by Sandra Dinsmore

Sandra Dinsmore Photo

In the mid-1990s, Raylene Pert, a tall, natural blonde Viking wife and mother of two youngsters, at the suggestion of outgoing Brooklin shellfish warden Richard Eaton, applied for his job. Asked why Eaton thought she’d be good, Pert replied, “He said I had a good personality and I didn’t put up with much.” She worked Brooklin’s mud flats. Stonington’s, too, briefly. Then, after resigning the Brooklin job, she became the Stonington shellfish warden in January 2009.

Kathleen Billings-Pezaris, that town’s manager, can’t praise Pert enough. “[Pert’s] standards are probably higher than a lot of shellfish wardens,” adding, “She’s an excellent role model.” She then said that to achieve what Pert has doesn’t mean you have to go to the Criminal Justice Academy: …“You can do it on your own.” She then said, “I can’t say enough about the diligence of her work ethic. She really keeps on top of all her court cases. She doesn’t miss anything. She puts 150 percent into her job all the time.” Billings-Pezaris added that Pert has an excellent working relationship with summer people and noted, “If she sees something that’s not right, she’ll report it.”

Pert also took on the Deer Isle job in April 2010.

Last October, Deer Isle’s Marine Patrol awarded the industrious shellfish warden the State of Maine’s Certification of Appreciation in Recognition of the Invaluable Contribution to the Department of Marine Resources Bureau of Marine Patrol. Asked what she did to achieve this honor, Pert said if she sees something going on that she knows is wrong, she tells the Marine Patrol. In other words, she provides the thinly stretched Marine Patrol with another pair of eyes.

Those eyes, though, work primarily to bring perpetrators of the island’s shellfish conservation laws to justice. After spending one whole October day in Ellsworth District Court waiting for a case to come up, on December 30, a commercial shellfish harvester whom Pert had charged with four counts of harvesting without a license, finally appeared before Judge Bruce Mallonee. Pert said that under Deer Isle’s former warden, the perpetrator, Edward Hutchinson, “Had 39 convictions.” Asked how someone with so many convictions could still be at large, Pert said, “This is because these are civil violations, not criminal violations. And he owes the Town of Deer Isle thousands of dollars. This is all since 2008. And he digs every day.” Asked how she can make these charges criminal, she said, “When I have a conviction, I can put in to the state for a suspension of his state shellfish license. If he was caught clamming without his state commercial shellfish license, it would be a criminal offense, and he could go to jail.”

At 11 a.m. Hutchinson’s case got under way for driving with his driver’s license under suspension. This also involved Pert because she and state police officer Daniel Ryan had been talking just before Ryan drove off in pursuit of Hutchinson. Because Pert had mentioned to Ryan that Hutchinson was driving without a license, Hutchinson’s lawyer, Eugene Sullivan, claimed “There’s a history” between Pert and his client.

Deer Isle Municipal Clerk Rebekah Knowlton then took the stand and explained the current shellfish ordinance for conservation. There are several types of licenses, she said. For commercial shellfish licenses, there's a complicated formula that determines who gets them. Ten percent of commercial licenses are held by non-residents. Licenses are available ten days before the season opens on May 1st and harvesters can apply for a license any time during the season.

Hutchinson, who lives in Blue Hill, is a non-resident of Deer Isle. Asked if he had a shellfish license in 2011, Knowlton replied, “No, he did not meet eligibility requirements.” In addition to having a $133-dollar state license, the non-resident license is $600. She said, “August 1 he came in and offered me $200.” She said she could not accept his $200 and could not hold a license for him. August 2 Hutchinson again tried to get a license, but Knowlton said another non-resident was waiting in line ahead of him. Sullivan asked if licenses are highly sought after, and Knowlton replied that applicants wait in line early.

Deer Isle Municipal clerk Rebekah Knowlton explained that for commercial shellfish licenses, after she issues the first six residential licenses, she is able to issue the first non-residential license. Then after she issues the next four residential licenses, she is able to issue a second non-residential license. After those first ten licenses, for every ten residential licenses after that, she is able to issue one non-residential license. ©Photo by Sam Murfitt

Knowlton explained that for commercial shellfish licenses, after she issues the first six residential licenses, she is able to issue the first non-residential license. Then after she issues the next four residential licenses, she is able to issue a second non-residential license. After those first 10 licenses, for every 10 residential licenses after that, she is able to issue one non-residential license.

Stonington Town Clerk Lucretia Bradshaw, next on the stand, attested to license reciprocity: shellfish licenses are valid in both towns. Hutchinson, she said, does not have a Stonington shellfish license, but he wouldn’t need one if he had valid state and Deer Isle commercial shellfish licenses. Asked if she knew Hutchinson, Bradshaw, a Stonington native, said she knows who he is and has seen him around.

Pert then stated for the record that the four license violations took place in Deer Isle on June 8, July 15, September 2, and October 14. The violation for operating without a license occurred on November 11.

Pert explained that in order to harvest shellfish, harvesters must have either a recreational shellfish license to harvest as much as 1 peck of clams per day or a commercial shellfish license to harvest as many clams as they want.

On June 8, she reported Hutchinson had 15 lbs. of clams and did not have either kind of shellfish license.

On July 15, Pert said that although she did not observe Hutchinson harvesting that day, she suspected as much. She called a dealer who told her Hutchinson sold him 37 lbs. of clams. Again, Hutchinson had no Deer Isle shellfish license.

On September 2, Pert saw that Hutchinson had 75 lbs. of clams and had no Deer Isle shellfish license.

On October 14, Pert attested that she saw Hutchinson with 75 lbs. or more and that he did not have a shellfish license.

Asked to describe how she normally patrols, Pert replied that she works for both towns. “I check all the shores and flats where people clam,” she said. (Earlier she had confided, “I don’t like anybody to know my routine because they pick up on it and then they think they’ve got [me] buffaloed, and I don’t let them do that to me.”)

When Hutchinson took the stand, he stated that after he changed dealers to whom he sold, his former dealer threatened his life. He said he was on disability and had moved out of state in 2008, but had returned for family reasons. He said he feels he will never ever get a town license because his former dealer was on the local shellfish committee, but resigned. He charged that he believes there is prejudice and bias against him, and that it is, “Not fair.”

Judge Mallonee said, “Discrimination is not a defense,” but said he would allow Hutchinson’s lawyer to continue if he could offer proof.

Hutchinson’s lawyer said, “Pert goes out of her way to harass his client.” The state’s attorney chose not to respond.

Although Judge Mallonee initially appeared to have some sympathy for Hutchinson, after Assistant District Attorney Mary Kellett handed him a sheaf of papers, each page a list of Hutchinson’s previous convictions, Mallonee said the real issue was that “[Hutchinson] repeatedly takes the law into his own hands” and said, “I find that Hutchinson is guilty of the four cases.”

Because Hutchinson told the court he was paying $50 a month on his fines from the previous clamming convictions, for the first case of driving with his license under suspension, Judge Mallonee fined Hutchinson the minimum of $300, but because he appeared disgusted with Hutchinson’s flagrant disregard for the law, Mallonee upped the fine by $50 for each of the other four cases, ending up by fining Hutchinson the maximum of $500 for the final case.

And because Hutchinson already owes Deer Isle so much money for prior infractions, he said, “There is every legal option that will be explored. If you don’t pay, we can change the fine to jail time.”

Afterwards, asked what her next step would be, Pert said, “I’m going to apply to DMR to get [Hutchinson’s] state license suspended. If he is caught clamming after they take his state license away, that will be a criminal offense, and, yes, he can go to jail.”

On January 5, Pert applied for a suspension of Edward Hutchinson’s state commercial shellfish license.