Two Quick Pre-Election-Day Thoughts

1) I endorse a YES on Proposal One, the call for a Michigan State Constitutional Convention. The rules under which we form our government are not working well for us right now.

Most especially I'd like to see us eliminate gerrymandering and term limits. The combination of those two items has created a toxic partisan environment in our state legislature. As a result, partisan warfare all too often seems to trump practical solutions in a state that has all too many problems that need practical solutions now.

There are a few other things I'd also like to see, including requiring a good deal more than 50% vote to pass a constitutional amendment. That 50% threshold makes it far too easy to amend the constitution, which leads all sorts of special interests to put their pet projects on the ballot. I watched that process slowly make California practically ungovernable, and I don't want to see it repeated here.

Our state government isn't working well right now. We have a chance to try to design a better one, and we should take advantage of it.

2) I think my village council campaign has been a good one, and I enjoyed it this year more than I expected. We've had a relatively quiet campaign in Wolverine Lake this year, but I'm glad that I got out on the streets, wrote and distributed flyers, and had to seek our local paper's endorsement. It let me hear from some folks in the village who aren't all that involved in everyday village politics. What they had to say has given me some ideas for things we might be able to work on to improve the village during the next four years.

Most of all, I want to say, "Thank you!" to Monique for all the work she has put in on the campaign as: campaign treasurer; literature designer, printer, and publisher; Canvasser #1; staff photographer; and all-around good egg.

Some might claim she does it all because she likes having me out of the house on Wednesday nights. I just think she's the greatest wife in the world.