Jackson Free Press

Linda St. Martin got Gov. Haley Barbour's attention Tuesday when she stood up at the inaugural Gulf of Mexico Commission meeting. She soundly criticized the governor for failing to include commercial fisherman and shrimpers on his hand-picked panel addressing recovery on the Coast from the BP oil disaster.

St. Martin made headlines in The Sun Herald and WLOX for her protest during the meeting.

While addressing the commission in Gulfport, Barbour expressed concern for those who had made their "living from fishing. "

"And none of them have a seat at this table," St. Martin said loudly, interrupting him. "... I apologize governor, but there is not a single commercial fisherman, Vietnamese person, or conservationist at this table."

Martin continued her criticism for five minutes, calling the commission a "bogus board."

After the press conference, Barbour told WLOX that excluding commercial fisherman on the board was an oversight.

Martin, a Gulfport native, has been organizing community meetings, working with the Mississippi chapter of the Sierra club and speaking out on issues relating to the April 20 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

She told the Jackson Free Press today that she did not like having to yell at the governor, but she was frustrated by his response to the oil spill.

"I hated having to do that," she said. "You don't know how distasteful that was to me. ... But, there is not a single shrimper or workboat person on that entire 34-member panel and they are the ones who are going to be the most directly affected."

Martin, who declined to give her age, is a property manager, consultant and former shrimp-boat owner. She said she would continue to speak out about issues on the Coast.

"This is my home and these are my people," St. Martin said. "This is going to affect our children and grandchildren, and the entire region for years to come. How can someone not stand up and fight for their home when it is threatened by eminent peril?"

Previous Comments

ID

159439

Comment

I'm proud to know you, Linda. Good job. It is too bad that it takes some ranting and embarrassing of our political leaders to get things changed, but sometimes that is the only thing that works.

Author

mims

Date

2010-08-19T16:03:47-06:00