Walk the Talk

here is one West Michigan Value our campaign has sought to embody, it’s that of fiscal responsibility.

We can’t hold Lansing to fiscal accountability if we don’t exercise it ourselves. We have run this campaign on a shoe string.

We have not paid for big-name, out-of-town consultants. You will not find a line item for hired staff. Instead, we built this campaign with volunteers. What we can do for ourselves, we do. We lick our stamps, we handle our yard signs, we wear out our shoes. And we talk to voters in every part of our district.

Now we’ve raised and invested a respectable amount to accomplish this: $45,000. Other campaigns this year have raised far more: over $60,000 for one, and nearly $80,000 for the other. Why do they need so much more (Glen Steil Jr. in 2002 only raised $52,000)? It’s a matter of experience. There’s nothing like running your business for twenty years, or serving on a school board to teach you that every dollar counts, that if you want to do good, you had better be smart.

Lansing is not about raising money (aka taxes), it’s about what you do with it. If we are not careful with our finances, how can the public expect us to be careful with their finances? Fiscal responsibility is a matter of integrity and it starts at home, with our campaigns.

Number Five Thousand

Sometime last week I shook my 5,000th hand in this campaign.

The values on our doorstep are the values we need in Lansing.

That also means I had my 5,000th conversation about our State, what makes it great, and what we need to do.

I’ve been carrying on this conversation for more than five months. The conversations took place across our district: the young family starting out in Gaines township, a worried single dad over in Kellogsville trying to do right by his kids; a very smart, very concerned manager out in Cascade; the elderly couple in Leisure Estates in Kentwood.

The variety of people I met at the door continues to amaze me. I count myself blessed to have met so many of you. My shoes may wear out, but my spirit is revived by this campaign.

And after a few thousand conversations, some topics keep coming up:

• What do we do with Lansing?
  The same old way of doing business just won’t do. We will need new approaches.

• What can we do for our kids?
  They’re our future, but our schools struggle to fulfill their promise. yet far too many are moving out of the state.

• How do we get our economy moving again?
  When one third of small business owners can’t find something good to say about Michigan’s business climate, you know we have work in front of us. Almost everything the State does affects business. Taxes, regulation, benefits – there’s a lot we can do.

They’re great questions. Tough ones, too. We have a leadership logjam in Lansing. It’s going to take a different style of leadership, and a renewed commitment to working together. Here in West Michigan we know something about that. We know that we need to listen to one another if we are to work together.

I believe the values I find on the doorsteps are the values we need in Lansing. That’s why I’m running. We can call them West Michigan Values, or simply call them what they are, common sense.

Trying to Make it Better

Last week during the Kentwood parade, I met a woman who was amazed that I was on the school board. I could understand, the folks in Kentwood don’t pay attention to what happens in Caledonia. But it wasn’t that. She was amazed that I was serving on a school board at all.

Amazed about the Caledonia school board? Honestly, I thought I was just stepping up to a task.

Eight years ago when I first began thinking about the school board, I began with a simple notion: how can I make this community better? After all, I grew up here. This is my home. I had the opportunity to help, so I took it.

That was what also had motivated me to serve on committees with the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association. I wanted to share the gifts I’ve received. And this idea that we are to be a blessing to others also lies at the heart of my campaign for the State House.

And that’s one of the big differences in this campaign. Over the years, I’ve lead real organizations, shared my time and talent with others, shouldered the responsibility, and sought to improve our life together. That’s a record of public service very different from some who run for office with little record of leading or taking responsibility in their community.

It’s a hands-on public service. In Lansing, I’ll bring that same commitment to my tasks in the Legislature to make things better for our community and for our State.

How to keep up with Lansing

If you are ever wondering about just what’s going on in Lansing, you can check up on line. If you haven’t discovered Michigan Votes, you owe it to yourself. On the site you can find the voting record of every legislator, plus a record of every vote cast. This is an incredible tool for citizen participation, and not surprising it is sponsored by the Mackinac Center.

Accountability and participation: these are core values for our campaign, the values that will help us re-shape Michigan.