Why Am I Dabbling in Politics

Two posts on the same blog in the same day. Not usual for me. Hmm. Need to check my blood sugar level. Just kidding. Well, not exactly kidding. I do need to check my blood sugar leve. I just don't know how to do it.

Anyway.

I just did something I never thought I would do. Not only didn't I think I would do it, but it was something that never occurred to me to do. I sent an email to one of our State Senators. Amy Koch, of District 19, to be exact. I don't know if she's even my state senator.

Why did I do this?

Well, I was eating a late lunch in front of the television. There is not a single program worth watching during the day anymore. I used to love those travel shows. There were about a half dozen of them. Steve somebody traveling through Europe. Some old guy for old people traveling through the Caribbean and Mediteranean. Some girl who liked to slog through remote areas. There were also several cooking shows. My favorite is America's Test Kitchen. I like those people. They have fun. There's an Italian woman who's dishes look scrumptious, too. And then there was the British comedy, Last of the New Wine. All gone. Replaced by - cr*p.

So what was I watching? A state senate committee meeting about Reverse Referendums. This is when citizens in a school district sign a petition to put an already passed referendum back on the next ballot in order to see if the public still supports it. Once, back in 1993, this happened and the referendum was overturned. (Wish I knew about this before they forclosed on us.) The Frazee School District in Minnesota has been struggling for six or seven years to get a referendum passed. They get a 60% voter turnout! Incredible when one considers the average turnout for such an election is less than 25%. Clearly, Frazee has issues. These people are not voting because they're civic minded. They're voting because there are two factions who absolutely hate each other.

But they finally got their referendum passed. Now, the anti-referendum people have hired a group of professional referendum beaters to come into the district and begin working on the 15% petition. So what Frazee has done is get their local State Senator to propose a change to the law which would up the required percentage to 30%. (They wanted 40%.) Some want to abolish the law entirely.

What amazed me (but shouldn't have) as I sat and watched with growing interest (began with "boorrriiiinnnnngggggg" and soon became a sense that I needed to say something) was that none of the people supporting this change had done their homework. They didn't know when the last time this law was used. (The Chair happened to know.) They didn't know how many districts are facing this. They DID know that 90% of all Minnesota School Districts are operating with a referendum that supplies as much as 25% of their annual budget. (Something is dreadfully wrong with that, but that's a different topic.) No one of them did their homework. Criminy! No wonder politicians make so many dorky decisions.

Clearly this is a knee-jerk reaction to head off opposition in the Frazee School District. As one senator (a Republican - I was surprised) pointed out, raising the requirement to 30% wasn't exactly fair for school districts in which only 15% of voters even vote.

Proponents argued the same old cr*p how voters had their chance to say no at the election. They had no problem stating out loud they didn't care about people who didn't vote. That's why politicians s*ck. They choose to not realize they're supposed to represent EVERYONE, whether they voted or not, and regardless of who, or what, they voted for.

But anyway, I was also amazed that no one came up with my idea. Maybe it's not legal. Maybe it's so stupid it shouldn't be proposed. But I emailed Amy Koch. Confessed I may not live in her district, but gave her my proposal to chew on anyway. (Gave her my city of - current - residence.) This is what I say.

The voters approved a referendum. Many people didn't vote. No matter. Their failure to vote was their way of saying they were comfortable with the decision either way.

Referendums cost school districts tens/possible hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get a vote. It makes no sense to frivolously force votes because 15% of the voting force doesn't like it. What if 35% (as was the case in one example) voted YES?

Economic climates change. What was a good idea in 2007 is not in 2009. What was affordable in 2007 is not in 2009. Voters should have a right to respond to changes in community economic status.

If 35% of eligible voters said YES in 2007, then why not require at least 35% of eligible voters to sign a petition to overturn that vote in 2009? That would certainly demonstrate the community's desire to rethink the decision.

If only 10% of voters passed the referendum, then only 10% should be required to overturn.

Seems logical to me, so I'm convinced Amy Koch will never even see my email. Someone in her office will get it, read it, and delete it. I may get a form email back thanking me for my interest in state government. But at least I was heard. Right?

Umm. Right?

EDIT: (2 hours later)

Amy Koch responded to my email personally. Oh, and she IS my representative. (Had I only looked at the state map link I could have confirmed this myself.)

So, to answer my question about being heard, the answer is: Right.

I confess to surprise.

Anyway, I hadn't realized they were actually going to vote on something and so I thought they had finished. Had I only waited another five minutes I would have got to see the vote.

They voted to abolish the statute even allowing voters to overturn a referendum. Amy Koch voted against abolishing it. She indicated that the issue is not settled and there will be further discussion. She also said she intends to bring my proposal to the committee.

Maybe government does work sometimes. I only know my faith in it has been waning for some years. I may not get my way, but if my voice can be heard I'll at least feel better about losing.

Second Edit: (one minute later)

Jennifer. I blame you for this. You and Sarah. Between the two of you, I'm becomming socially conscious. I know it's going to give me a massive headache.