When Bill Pepin had problems with the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, he approached his local legislators—state Rep. Cheryl Coakley-Rivera and state Sen. Stephen Buoniconti—who filed bills that would dramatically reduce the agency's power.
At a House committee hearing on the bill last month, Pepin sat with Coakley-Rivera and testified about his experience with NHESP. Pepin had also sought, and obtained, meetings with a number of lawmakers to make the case for the bill—which several legislators, on both sides of the issue, refer to as "Pepin's bill."
The attention paid by legislators to Pepin's battle with Natural Heritage has raised some eyebrows (one critic within state government described it as "distasteful"), as well as questions about whether he would have been accorded the same access were it not for his position: Pepin is the general manager and vice president of WWLP, Springfield's top-rated news channel. While the station covers news throughout the Valley, it particularly focuses on Hampden County and Springfield.
Pepin is also a significant political donor who's contributed to a number of the bill's sponsors. Since 2006—the year he and his wife began looking into buying a parcel of land in Hampden, which NHESP has mapped as a protected habitat—Pepin has made $1,225 in campaign contributions to several western Mass. legislators. Sponsors of the bill who received donations from Pepin are state Rep. Rosemary Sandlin (D-Agawam), who received contributions totaling $250, and Reps. John Scibak (D-South Hadley) and Angelo Puppolo (D-Springfield), who each received $100. Pepin also made a $100 donation in 2008 to Hampden Superior Court Clerk Brian Lees, a former state senator who submitted a letter supporting the bill to the committee hearing. A lawsuit filed by the Pepins against the state will be heard in that court.
The biggest recipient of Pepin's contributions has been Sen. Gale Candaras, whose district includes Hampden; she received $675 from Pepin between 2006 and 2008. According to Senate records, Candaras has not signed on as a sponsor of the Senate bill, which still bears only the name of Buoniconti, the filer.
Scibak said he doesn't believe that Pepin's issue is getting more attention because of his prominent media role. If Pepin's professional achievements are helping at all, Scibak suggested, it's because they give him the financial resources needed to hire consultants and attorneys to help with his case.
"If Bill Pepin was Joe Pepin who worked at the Home Depot, he may not have the resources to pursue this the way he has," Scibak said.
In fact, Scibak said, Pepin is challenging NHESP on behalf of landowners who lack the money to do so, and developers who are hesitant to challenge an agency they will likely have to deal with again in the future.
"He's the Don Quixote of this battle," Scibak said.
Pepin describes himself as a regular person who is taking on the fight for all the nameless people he contends have been wronged by NHESP. "Believe me, I didn't ask for this. I didn't go out and say, 'I'm looking for a cause,'" Pepin said. "I'm not a person who stirs the pot just to stir the pot. That's not my nature." Still, he added, "I have the tenacity, the drive" and the economic resources and time to devote to the fight.
But, Pepin said, those resources do not include WWLP. "I have not used my television station, nor will I use my television station, as a soap box," he said.
Pepin's station did cover the Oct. 7 hearing on Coakley-Rivera's bill. An online version of the story, by reporter Jaclyn Cashman, said the bill "would change the Natural Heritage Endangered Species Program and remove red tape so roads can be built and homes can go up across Massachusetts." Cashman's report disclosed Pepin's connection to the bill, describing him as a "supporter." She quoted two supporters of the bill and two environmental activists in opposition.
Asked if local legislators might be more inclined to support his bill, knowing that his station covers them on its news programs, Pepin said, "There is no conflict of interest, because there are legislators that are supporting this from across the state that are not from my area." (Of the 16 sponsors of the Coakley-Rivera bill, 13 are from Hampden and Hampshire counties. The remaining three come from Franklin, Berkshire and Worcester counties.)
"I personally felt no added impetus to support this bill because it's of interest to Mr. Pepin," state Rep. Peter Kocot (D-Northampton) said. In his district, Kocot said, he hears from farmers and others who've had problems with the program. "I think if Bill hadn't wanted to file this bill, then ultimately someone would have," he said.
