A frequent question I receive while talking to local residents has been: “How do you feel about term limits and/or transforming the legislature in Michigan to a part-time structure?”

Often times when I make these posts, I feel like I am opening the floodgates to opponents and positional opposition to attack me before they personally make statements on the issues themselves. Nonetheless, when I make an important purchase, I want to know what I am buying…so choosing your next State Representative should prove equally transparent. You deserve to know what you’re going to get!

My position on this issues has evolved somewhat in recent years but I feel quite secure in my sentiments these days. I believe that term-limits are a useful force in assuring that elected officials do not become warped politicians and remain more accountable to their constituents. It assures that the decisions they make are on the basis of what is truly best for their constituents, district, and state. Otherwise, there is potential for their political compass to direct their decision making and to potential to become too complacent in their seat. There needs to be a revolving door in Lansing to assure a continuous flow of leadership each five to ten years with fresh perspectives and views.

However, I feel that the three terms currently allocated to State Representatives has proved detrimental to Michigan. I feel it has led to relatively inexperienced legislators serving as chairs of influential and powerful committees after one or two terms. In my opinion, terms limits would best be served after a max of ten years in office or five two-year terms. Three terms is simply not enough time. I feel that ten years is long enough to learn the job well and make a substantive difference while serving.

Best I could find, there are currently 11 full-time legislatures in the country. Only four are considered strong full-time legislatures because of their pay and number of sessions held each year: California, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania. Collectively, the average legislator from these states spend 80% of their time on the job which includes: time in session, constituent service, interim committee work, and election campaigns. The average compensation is $68,599 and each legislator has approximately 8.9 staff members. In Michigan, legislators are paid $79,650 per year and are provided with a $12,000 yearly allowance.

Do I think the pay is high? Yes. However, I do feel that turning the legislature into a part-time system will prove detrimental to enabling average citizens from seeking public office. It would reserve the ability to serve to those with flexible enough professions, such as: doctors, lawyers, or business owners. Forget about any person that holds a job from 9 to 5 and cannot afford to work part-time in Lansing while supporting a family. Most citizens from our state do not have the luxury of flex-schedules and serving your state should not be reserved to the social elite. How many friends and family members do you know that possess jobs that could take three to four months off to serve in Lansing?

Summary on the issues:
Do I believe in maintaining term limits? Yes.
Is a three-term system the way to go ? No.
Should there be more terms? Yes, two more.
Should we become a part-time legislature? No!
Are legislators in Michigan paid too much? Yes.

In case you are curious about compensation for legislators around the Nation, check out this link from the National Conference of State Legislators:
http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=14785

To learn about which states are part-time, go to:
http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=16701

Hey Friends,

Just wanted to post a friendly reminder that we only have this week to vote for Kalamazoo Central’s bid to have President Obama speak at their June commencement. As a former K-Central Giant, I am so excited and proud of the school and its students. First, we have the 2010 Basketball State Champions and Mock Trial Team and now we have the potential to bring President Obama to our community.

There are two ways to find where to vote:

www.votekalamazoo.com

Or go to: www.whitehouse.gov/commencement

Please be sure to spread the word via email, word, or social networking means. We need to rally our community to win this!

Just wanted to write a quick post to thank everyone that either contributed and/or attended our big fundraising event at the Radisson this past Saturday. We still have some contributions rolling in from the event, so hopefully we’ll know soon how we made out financially. If you still are interested in personally investing in our campaign, please still consider contributing by clicking on the “Donate” tab at the top of your screen. We raised nearly $1500 on ActBlue alone in the last two weeks.

We were extremely pleased with Fifi and the Dogs. Fifi and the Dogs is a local blues band that performed at our event and truly did a top-notch job. You can find them on MySpace to hear some samples of their music.

We will be posting pictures and hopefully a few clips from our speech from the night. Next step, our neighborhood canvassing kick-off…

As a candidate in the upcoming election cycle, I have already had a large number of people ask about my sentiments regarding the proposed arena and 1% tax. I recently read the Phase Two (58pg) Report on the arena and have attended a couple info sessions on it. I’m curious to hear what you think about it. Post your thoughts below on the comment section.

I’m curious to hear what you have have to say about the follow questions:

1) Should the arena be placed on the ballot for the general public to decide its fate?

2) Do you think the arena project is a good idea and worth the money?

3) Do you think a 1% tax on restaurant bills is a fair way to pay for the arena?