sen david goodman says hi

Sen. David Goodman Says Hi

One of the most interesting aspects of keeping this blog is that,

despite the almost unimaginable wealth of information now available on

the web, it's actually not that easy to find basic political

information about one's own district and elected officials.

By basic political information I mean such things as an accurate map

of the Ohio 21st's boundaries. I found one by happenstance, but have

since discovered that they're not that easy to come by. And even with

that map, I discovered, it is not so easy to be sure, at the

boundaries, which streets lie within the district and which are just

outside. It seems a small matter, but it makes a difference if you're

canvassing a neighborhood.

Like most things in life, this isn't an accident. It's not a

conspiracy, either. Or if it is a conspiracy, it's a conspiracy

between, on the one hand, politicians, activists, and lobbyists, who

like to keep easy access to this information to people like them; and

on the other hand, average citizens like myself, who for the most part

could not possibly care less about the identity, much less the

actions, of the public officials who supposedly represent us (and, I

insist on believing, often actually try their best to do so).

It's a conspiracy, in short, of citizens who don't much act like

citizens and politicians who have come to accept the ignorance and

passivity of most of their constiuents as a fact of life.

Which is why, in low-profile races, so many campaign ads simply a)

repeat the candidates' last names as many times as possible, in order

to achieve name recognition; b) emphasize the fact that they are good

family people who like children and pets, so you'll feel comfortable

about them; and c) show their opponents in unflattering, shadowed

black and white photos, preferably with ominous background music, so

you'll feel uneasy about them.

It's not that our state legislators and local officials can do no

better. It's that this is the best our limited attention spans permit

them to do.

Still, sometimes that assumption of constituent passivity can get a

little overdone. I will give you an example.

My state senator is David Goodman, a youthful-looking Republican. His

3rd Senate district includes most if not all of the Ohio 21st--it's

hard to be certain, because I've not yet found a detailed map of his

district--and then extends to incorporate the entire eastern third of

Franklin County. From my sharply limited knowledge he seems pretty

energetic and bright. He was a city councilman in Bexley, a small but

affluent suburban community, from 1995 to 1998; then representative of

the Ohio 25th district from 1998 until 2001. Since then he has been a

state senator, though in November 2004 he ran unsuccessfully to unseat

Mary Jo Kilroy as one of three Franklin County commissioners. (The

normally pro-Republican Columbus Dispatch endorsed Kilroy over

Goodman, praising her "steady and pragmatic voice" and noting that

Goodman "failed to make a case for replacing her.")

A couple of weeks ago I emailed Sen. Goodman about good ole SB 24,

Sen. Larry Mumper's bill to tame irresponsible tenured radicals like

myself. Sen. Goodman must be deluged with mail on all sorts of

subjects, but in due time he replied. I found his letter awaiting me

last evening when I got home:

Dear Mr. Grimsley,

Thank you for contacting my office regarding your opposition to

Senate Bill 24. I also agree that hearing different viewpoints is

an important part of the higher education experience. Students at

our state colleges and university should be free to hear different

viewpoints and form their own beliefs.

It's wonderful that Sen. Goodman feels that way. So do I. So does Sen.

Mumper. The question is whether we need a state law to enforce this

happy state of affairs, and on that point Sen. Goodman is silent.

Gee, what a shock. This is a form letter--a form letter written so

that it would placate proponents and opponents of the bill alike.

The form letter I don't mind. That's understandable. But am I alone in

thinking that even a form letter should provide some inkling of the

legislator's own opinion of the bill, whether it's "I'm for it," "I'm

against it," or "I'm thinking it over"?

But of course, why should Sen. Goodman stick his neck out, even a

little, for the likes of me? I've risked only the time it takes to

compose an email. He risks an erosion of political capital and

popularity that could, in time, mean the loss of his office. I have

tenure. He doesn't.

No, there's absolutely no reason for Sen. Goodman to stick his neck

out.

Unless citizens like me oblige him to stick his neck out.

Which is why I am now on record as saying that I will contribute $100

to Sen. Goodman's opponent next year (in any race for which he's a

candidate: due to term limits, he cannot run for a third term as state

senator). It's not that I dislike Sen. Goodman. But I dislike the

system that we have all conspired to create. And the first step toward

changing it is to change my own behavior.

But to be fair, Senator: I'll make you a deal. If you or your staff

happen to stumble across this post, and you favor me with an honest

statement of where you stand on SB 24 and why you stand there, the

hundred bucks is yours.

This isn't about politics. It's about creating a better environment in

which politics can operate. The pols, the lobbyists, the activists

quite obviously won't create a better environment. They are used to

this one. They understand it. It works for them.

No, it's up to ordinary people like me. We will never change our