When Waldo County Sheriff Jeffrey Trafton first spotted his invitation to the White House, he was understandably skeptical.

“When I first saw [the invitation] in my email I thought it might be a scam or something,” Trafton said.

Before completing a required security protocol to accept the invitation, he called the 800 number provided to ensure the email was the real deal.

Trafton was invited to participate in a program that has been going on for the last few years, whereby community leaders from all over the country are invited to discuss issues affecting their communities.

The group that attended the Oct. 16 meeting at the White House consisted of leaders from Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts, including sheriffs, county commissioners, municipal officials, and several mayors.

Other Maine attendees included Auburn Mayor Jason J. Levesque, Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols, and Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry.

While there was no cost to attend the one-day event, Waldo County provided funding for travel and hotel accommodations for the stay.

Trafton said the White House wanted input from community leaders on what issues are affecting their communities and what the White House could do to help. A significant takeaway from the meetings was a list of different department contacts within the White House, as well as contacts from partnering agencies and groups.

“They had a whole page of email addresses and phone numbers from each department in the White House, and they encouraged us to call them and use those contacts,” said Trafton. “So I’m going to try it.... I’m going to test it out and see if they really are as responsive as they say they want to be.”

While there were a number of addressed topics, including education, infrastructure, and medical insurance, Trafton said the issues generating much of the conversation were the opioid crisis and prisoner reentry programs.

The meeting was attended by Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta, who was familiar with reentry programs, said Trafton.

“I was very encouraged to hear that,” he said.

Trafton said Acosta also talked about the shortage of employees to fill the seven million open jobs in the U.S. and how reentry center populations could help fill those roles.

“The reentry center is the perfect place to get treatment and reintegrating these folks into society… it was enlightening, it was encouraging, and I’m optimistic that we’ve got help coming,” Trafton said of the discussion about reentry programs.

“You get a picture in your mind of folks who work in the White House, you know, they’re far above me…. I guess as Sheriff of Waldo County, Maine, I’m not sure I put myself on that level or know how to relate to them, but let me tell you, they’re people just like us and they want to help just like us. That was really a lot of what I took away,” Trafton said.

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com