Bellying Up to the Public Trough, Part 1

Launching a Quixotic Quest to Elicit an Explanation from My Apparently Self-Interested State Representative

THIS IS THE BEGINNING of an exercise in citizenship, and in what the mainstream media condescendingly refer to as "citizen journalism." With a mortgage, which brings with it the burden of paying property taxes, and a four-year-old, which gives me a much bigger stake in where my school taxes are going, I find that it's time for me to extend my personal notion of citizenship beyond its previous boundaries of voting, keeping up with current events, and reporting for jury duty. It's time to start practicing a more active brand of citizenship.

Last July, the Pennsylvania legislature approved a very sizable pay raise -- 16 to 34 percent -- for itself, the governor, and state judges. This is hardly news. What is news is that the vote came at 2 a.m., with little to no public debate, as the members were about to head out on a recess. What is news is that legislators, prevented by a state constitutional provision from accepting their raises until next year, voted to allow themselves to collect "unvouchered expenses" this year, in essence doing an end run around the commonwealth's charter. What is news is that the governor signed the pay raise into law, and the head of the state Supreme Court, who was instrumental in putting the legislation together, publicly defended it and derided critics who dared question it.

And what is news is that Pennsylvanians, beaten down by decades of poor state government, whipped into docility by massive patronage, corruption, and cronyism, said, "Enough." Surprising everyone -- the politicians, the media, themselves -- the citizens of the commonwealth started demanding answers. They wanted to know what they were getting for their money, and why this raise was slipped through without their prior knowledge. They warned there would be retribution at the polls next November.

I'm with them. I want answers. I'm paying a lot of money to fund this state's operations, and I'd like to know why I didn't deserve the courtesy of an explanation -- a public presentation of why this raise was deserved.

The Philadelphia Inquirer helpfully published a list of local legislators and their votes on the matter. There, I discovered that my state senator, LeAnna M. Washington, voted no; bravo, Senator Washington. But my state representative, Lawrence H. Curry, not only voted yes, he also opted to accept the unvouchered expenses a year early. Tsk, tsk, Representative Curry.

I've yet to find any newspaper stories online in which Mr. Curry explained the reasons for his vote. And here begins my new active citizenship. I thought I'd reach out to him directly and ask for an explanation. I'm a constituent, after all, and if he won't talk to the media, he'd better talk to me. I think I deserve that.

And so I headed to Representative Curry's Web site in hopes of securing an address to which I could e-mail my request. Amazingly, late in the year 2005, when electronic communications has become an accepted -- even a preferred -- method of communication, there was no e-mail address posted anywhere. It's almost as if Mr. Curry doesn't want to hear from his constituents. That couldn't be right, could it?

So in the days and weeks to come, I'm going to start calling his office to try to speak with him. I'll fully identify myself as a constituent and a blogger who intends to post his answers in a public forum for all to see. Every instance of contact will be documented here. There will be no sneaky tricks. Shallow Center headquarters isn't based in Harrisburg, after all.

Let the citizenship begin.

Comments

[Mrs. SC]

I am outraged. I think I'll climb to the top of City Hall and "reflect."