Public Service

This post is essentially a promoted comment (yes, my own) from last week.

On June 9th, I received a phone call from Rep. Sheila Jones’ (D-44) campaign asking me to vote for her in the July 20th primary. I was actually surprised that she had primary opposition because I hadn’t heard anything about this race.

After the phone call, I went to her website to see what she’s been doing the last two years. Unfortunately, her “News” section had not been updated since 2007.

The same day, I sent her an email and after introducing myself said, “I went to your site and was disappointed to learn that the most updated information was from 2007. Can you perhaps tell me what you’ve done in the last two years to earn my vote again.”

I received a response a few days later that stated she had stopped updating the site after her mother became sick in 2007, but that she had sent out “emails as updates” and “held meetings.” She then said she would be updating her site soon.

There was not a single mention of what she’s been doing for the last two years as my Representative. Her mother, by the way, passed away in July of 2008.

After reading JasonC’s post, I checked her site again and her “News” section is now blank. Not to mention, her Welcome message still states, “During my four years as the people’s representative..” even though she’s been the “people’s” representative for six years.

If you can’t tell me what you’ve done to earn my vote, then I’m not giving it to you. Hell, she could have simply copied and pasted a portion of her last constituent email to let me know what she’s been working on.

And so when I looked to see what she had sponsored in the last two years, I found that she sponsored 33 pieces of legislation, 24 of which were to recognize, commend or offer condolences. One of the substantive pieces, relating to health and morals, would have made it a crime to sell a cell phone to a person under the age of eighteen without parental consent.

All this being said, I probably agree with the vast majority of Rep. Jones’ positions. But, I’m voting for Steven Lee because representatives should listen and respond to their constituents.


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6 responses to “Public Service”

  1. Tony Avatar

    I object to this comment as being non-responsive.

  2. parker404 Avatar
    parker404

    I think we could all learn a thing or two from Buckhead folks re: demanding something from our elected officials.

  3. Jen B. Avatar
    Jen B.

    “When the legislature is in session, she increases those emails to weekly and highlights what legislation has been debated, passed and defeated.”

    My old representative, Ed Lindsey (R-54), did that and actually asked for our thoughts, opinions. I suspect that Buckhead residents expected their representatives to listen to them because they had money. Ha.

  4. siri Avatar
    siri

    Good luck Jen! Hopefully if some new blood gets into the seat it will shake things up, or at least nudge things forward. My state rep (Elly Dobbs) just finished her first term, and while I was nervous about who may truly have been representing by running, and her running as a Dem while declining my offer to have her speak at a FDCP meeting, I am very happy with her. She sends out monthly emails with information about what is going on with the city and county. When the legislature is in session, she increases those emails to weekly and highlights what legislation has been debated, passed and defeated. All our reps, whether new or old can take a cue from that.

    And to her credit (I suppose, considering how many contested seats there are around the city), she received no opposition from either party for 2010.

    On the other hand, my state senator, Horacena Tate is being primaried by a young (30-year old) man named Michael Adams. I believe there’s a Republican running too, but either Dem candidate should win by a pretty good margin.

  5. JMPrince Avatar

    In other notes on public service, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, the longest serving member of Congress ever, died last night, he was 92 and had represented his beloved W.Va. in the Senate for over 50 years:

    http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/201006280099

    In other sad but much anticipated news, Nobel Prize winning economist & champion blogger Paul Krugman now calls it a Depression, possibly the first notable economist to do so:
    nytimes.com/2010/06/28/opinion/28krugman.html?hp

    JMP

  6. Sara Avatar
    Sara

    She sounds like someone who needs to be primaried.

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