Jon Reisman

Representative Kathy Javner (R-Chester) passed away in early January. Kathy was a 52-year-old wife, mother, public servant, and advocate and defender of rural Maine and freedom. 

When she was first elected in 2020, her district (141) included a wide swath of rural Maine, including the Penobscot County towns of Burlington, Carroll, Chester, Drew, Kingman, Lakeville, Lee, Lowell, Mattawamkeag, Prentiss, Whitney, Springfield, Twombly, Webster, and Winn, and the Washington County communities of Alexander, Big Lake, Brookton, Codyville, Cooper, Crawford, Danforth, Day Block, Dennysville, Dyer, Fowler, Forest City, Forest Twp., Grand Lake Stream, Greenlaw Chopping, Kossuth, Lambert Lake, Meddybemps, Princeton, Talmadge, Topsfield, Vanceboro, Waite, Berry, Cathance, Edmunds, and Marion.

In 2020, Kathy was my district’s representative, and she agreed to submit legislation to cap public land at no more than 33% of the state and 50% of any county and to require a county-by-county report/inventory. There was also a provision for legislative override of the cap. 

The bill was co-sponsored by legislators from Washington, Piscataquis, and Somerset counties. Those three counties have the highest percentage of public land (almost 30%) and are also the state’s three poorest. The legislation was a response to Gov. Mills’ Climate Action Plan 30% Public Lands goal and the opacity of the state in revealing the scope and distribution of public lands.

Kathy’s bill was defeated by the environmental left, but similar legislation has and will continue to be submitted. In 2025, Republican leader Billy Bob Faulkingham was the lead sponsor. Redistricting split up Kathy’s district, removing all the Washington County towns, and fracturing her Penobscot County base, but Kathy persevered and was re-elected. She continued to be an advocate for rural Maine. Kathy and Billy Bob both understood how Gov. Mills’ climate and energy policies are damaging rural Maine while yielding no averted climate change benefits whatsoever.

Icing and Insurrection

The protests, division, and dysfunction on display in Minnesota are very likely to similarly develop in Maine as ICE comes to Lewiston and Portland. The phrase/meme that somewhat ominously comes to my mind is cold civil war.

Contemplating the likely consequences of a protracted cold civil war is a bit depressing, so perhaps it’s not surprising that my distressed psyche began playing games with “ICE.” I remembered that in hockey, icing involves illegally driving the puck across two lines, including the center red line, and delaying the game. Center-Red lines have indeed been crossed, and the consequences the players, teams, and fans face will be vastly more unpleasant than a simple icing call/face-off.

Bougie Factor

I’ve been inventorying the contents and culture of a house that holds 40 years of memories. That process has led me to consider developing a bourgeois or bougie factor metric. I noted three major bougie indicators: hot tub, heated mattress pad, and attached garage. Adoption of an AI assistant would probably elevate me to bougie Hall of Fame status.

Jon Reisman is an economist and policy analyst who retired from the University of Maine at Machias after 38 years. He resides on Cathance Lake in Cooper, where he is a Statler and Waldorf intern. Mr. Reisman’s views are his own, and he welcomes comments as letters to the editor here or to him directly via email at jreisman@maine.edu.