Over the past few months, I have gotten plenty of feedback from constituents on the results of the 2009 Legislative Session. From quick conversations at the farmers' market or local coffee shop to more formal input at a town hall or online, the people of District 46 remain my most important critics. Here is what I learned.

For the past 4 months, I have accepted input via my one-question questionnaire. Nearly 200 neighbors took a moment to share their thoughts. Just over half ranked the session with a score of 7 or higher. Good news. But, it also means that nearly half ranked my colleagues and me at 6 or lower. We have room for improvement.

The vast majority of folks who took the time to score our performance also added comments. From those comments and from various conversations over the past few months, a few themes emerge:

1. Most people thought we did a good job given the budget shortfall and international recession. As one constituent put it, "You did the best you could under the circumstances." Several people noted that we passed a budget and passed it on time, while many states were failing to do one or both. People were supportive of most of the concepts mentioned in my 2009 Legislative Report and were downright excited by the health care reform package.

 

2. While most people were positive in their feedback, the most criticism revolved around the failure to take bolder steps on the environment, revenue reform, education, and health care. I am with those folks on all counts. As another constituent noted, we made "progress, just not enough." As another neighbor framed it, the Legislature "seemed to nibble at random edges without any overarching vision for the state."

 

3. Other concerns revolved around too much "chasing of warm, fuzzy ideas," the role of money in politics, "big brother government bureaucracy," partisanship, and a general lack of collegiality.

 

4. Several folks suggested new ideas - an estuarine sanctuary, for example, or blower door tests for all new construction in order to prove energy efficiency. Other ideas included better integrating mental health and addiction treatment funding and delivery and better incentives for physicians who take OHP patients. I am already working on the latter, as well as another idea from a constituent: looking at the use of food stamps to purchase soda.

 

5. Many of you gave feedback about my work as a legislator, particularly regarding my efforts to stay in touch with my district. Most of this was complimentary - I am glad that so many of you think that I am communicating effectively. But, a couple of folks raised concerns: "Not responsive to your constituents, instead pushing forward set (your?) agenda," said one person. Another mentioned that "you really don't care what people think who do not agree with you." While it is impossible to make every constituent happy, both of these comments were important food for thought and I appreciated the candor.

 

6. Finally, there were some surprises: very few were upset about my vote in support of tax increases, for example. Also, while my dialogue at the conclusion of the 2007 session was much lengthier, we received more responses. Go figure!