~by Mary Weaver
We are familiar with the adages, “All politics is local,” from former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill; from Benjamin Franklin in 1867, “ A republic, if you can keep it”; and “Democracy is not a spectator sport”, from Michael Moore.
I used my voice last week by calling a Greene County Community Schools board member. I readily identified my qualifiers: I do not have children in school, but I remain committed to our young people. I communicated with her to express my concern about the upcoming decision our school board will have to make about arming teachers and school staff. She graciously listened to my thoughts, and encouraged me to call anytime, and to share with others that she could be contacted about policy issues.
I was grateful for that type of response, but I also want to receive that willingness to listen from other elected public representatives.
I frequently look to the dictionary when trying to get to the very basics of comprehension. I was intrigued by Ben Franklin’s response about “republic.” Democracy and republic seem to be interchangeable, both meaning a government in which the people vote for their leaders. An article written in 1967 by Pitkins( 57 years ago, but still relevant) defines representation in two areas – first, representing according to what the constituents express, or second, what the representatives themselves judge is in the best interest of the citizens.
Most recently, on June 4, I was dismayed to read that our Sen Joni Ernst promised to oppose judicial nominees, spending bills and other major legislation to protest Donald Trump’s recent guilty verdict. This guilty verdict was in the STATE of New York, delivered by a jury of his peers after listening to the evidence found him guilty. The verdict had nothing to do with our elected senator not representing me and her constituents in the United States Congress.
The abortion decision for Iowa will soon be handed down by the Iowa Supreme Court. It is expected that Iowa will have no legal abortions after six weeks, no matter what the circumstances. The Des Moines Register reported in a Mediacom Iowa Poll in 2022 that 85 percent of those in the poll thought abortions should be legal in the cases of rape or incest, and 89 per cent if the pregnant person’s life is in danger.
Jesse Green, the Iowa senator who represents Senate District 24, which includes Greene County, was interviewed in 2021. He reflected on changes in voting procedures. “Evil exits and there’s bad things that happen. I think there is voter fraud, a little bit of voter fraud that happens in every election. But that’s the beauty of the Electoral College[which] ensures that the will of the people, as a whole, is realized,” Green said.
That voting bill decreased by one hour the time for voting, decreased the early voting days from 29 to 21, and limited those allowed to deliver ballots to the courthouse to the individual voter or a relative. Jane Huen, Greene County auditor at that time, and then deputy auditor Billie Hoskins, stated they were not contacted by Green, or Rep. Thompson before they voted on the legislation, and in their tenure no voter fraud has been identified in Greene County.
Greene County sheriff Jack Willams stated in an interview with Raccoon Valley Radio he was never contacted by Green or House District 47 Representative Carter Nordman while the proposed arming of teachers was going through the legislature. When questioned Green said, “The topic is so complex, I felt lawmakers needed to push on this bill, especially after the tragedy in Perry earlier this year.”
The above mentioned examples of our elected representatives choosing not to learn from or listen to their constituents is a form a democracy, the type when the elected representative chooses the earlier mentioned second approach, or when they deem their own decision to be best for the electorate.
During the campaigns of Nordman and Green, I did not hear them advocate for banning books, or diminishing the Area Education Systems. We as constituents do have a responsibility to provide our thoughts and opinions to our elected officials during their tenure in office. We must use our voices. If we remain dissatisfied, we must then vote.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
Mary Weaver writes VIEW FROM MY WINDOW from her home in rural Rippey.
