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Legislative update sessions are usually filled with give-and-take, particularly the ones with state legislators.
In 30 years or so as a reporter, the “town hall”-style meetings are among my favorite things to go to. (I know, I’m a news junkie.) It is as pure as representative government gets. U.S. senators and congressmen have thousands and millions of people to respond to. When’s the last time we had Richard Lugar or Evan Bayh drop by, anyway? Mike Pence will show up from time to time, but he’s also got constituents in Richmond and Muncie and Anderson and a couple hundred other burgs as well.
State Sen. Travis Holdman has a few counties, by comparison, and State Rep. Jeff Espich has an even smaller district. Not only that, they live here while they’re representing us there — in this case, the “there” is Indianapolis, 100 miles to the south.
The local leadership — county, city, and town officials — live here and meet here. You want to know what the Bluffton Common Council’s doing, go out and grab a hamburger for supper and show up when they meet at 7:30 p.m. every other Tuesday night. It’s a little tougher to make it to Indianapolis, and darned near impossible to watch things going on in Washington.
When Espich held a “Third House” meeting Saturday morning, he invited everyone to grab a chair and we all sat around a table. When I saw “we all,” I’m taking a little poetic license. There were 11 of us there. Friday night’s snowfall had probably put a damper on the attendance. (Wife to husband: “You’re going to go listen to some politician when snow is piled in front of our front door? What kind of a man are you, anyway?”) When the session was supposed to start, everybody fit around one table; as latecomers joined us, a second table was added.
The structure was completely different from the lecture format common at most meetings like this. Espich had brought handouts with him; he went over the handouts and explained the state’s precarious finances and his take — some fact, some opinion — on the various pieces of legislation in front of the General Assembly.
There were educators (Bluffton High School Principal Steve Baker, Northern Wells Superintendent Scott Mills, and Norwell Middle School teacher Jeanne Chavis), business types (Wells County Economic Development Director Mike Row, among others), and regular citizens, plus your (not-so-)humble reporter seated at the table. As Espich talked, someone would ask him a question. Espich would answer the question and it was back to the issues.
It was an hour out of our lives. We listened to other points of view, we heard from the man who represents us in Indianapolis, and we were out of the snow and cold for a while. Time well spent.
Others should spend their time that way as well.
I’ll admit it, I like this stuff. I enjoy exploring issues and finding out how they affect my community, my family, and me. I want to know what other people are thinking.
I don’t know how many “Third House” meetings are yet to come. Espich has had two this legislative session and Holdman has had one. Others may be coming up, particularly as things are decided by the General Assembly’s mid-March deadline for adjournment.
If I had one wish, I’d ask that others get as interested in these kind of meetings as well. I have three grown children; I don’t think they’ve ever attended a meeting with their state legislators. (Probably because they figure if there’s anything major, Dad will tell them about it.) But I would encourage you to attend for your own selves. Your input would be treasured; your mind could be expanded.
And it’s free. What a deal.
by DAVE SCHULTZ
daves@news-banner.com
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