Blogging for the MyMissourian.com

Hi Everyone!

MyMissourian.com is a collection of blog posts sponsored by the Columbia Missourian. From now on, some or all of my blog messages will be posted there. At some point, I expect my opponents will do it too. Pretty cool, huh? A big part of my goal in this race is to set a new standard for constituent communications -- more, better, more direct, in more ways. Anything I can do to get voters more informed and involved is going to happen.

Today I was talking to a voter about a variety of concerns. One was that he lives near one of MU's farms (used largely for research and teaching). Both his home and the farm are on a gravel road (yes, the 25th district has large stretches of gravel road -- it isn't all colleges and downtown Columbia!) and, particularly in the Spring and Summer, there is often a great deal of traffic going to and from the MU farm. As a result, a not-so-minor dust storm can be created that envelopes the voter's front porch and yard. Very unpleasant, as you can imagine. Apparently, there is a slightly less convenient but paved road that also leads to the farm that the voter says could be used instead of the gravel road, eliminating the "cloud 0' dust" problem. The voter says he has asked for this to be done, and has gotten no cooperation. He also says the county can't even treat the road with sealant (to dramatically reduce dust) because there is not enough traffic to meet county requirements for this kind of work.

Okay, now that I've layed out what the voter told me, let me say that I don't have any idea what the University's or county's perspective is -- but I'm going to find out. The commitment I've made to the voter is to gather information and let him know if I can help or have any suggestions. Who knows what I'm going to learn? I may or may not be able to help when I learn more; heck, I may not even think helping is the right thing to do when I get more facts. But I've promised to do some digging and report back on what I find. Then, if I think I can help, I'm going to try.

That, my friends, is what I think a state representative -- or any elected official -- is supposed to do. If I'm elected, my job will be to try to get the facts when a constituent asks for help, offer that help when I can, and admit the truth when I can't help or think I shouldn't try. That's the commitment I made to this voter, and that's the commitment I'll make time and again if I'm elected.

On a separate note, here's the question of the day (inspired by the aforementioned conversation):

Should farmers be required to tag their animals (cattle, particularly) with electronic ID tags? If so, should their be limits or restrictions? Anything else that needs to be done related to this?

Thanks for reading. See ya!

- sean

Sean Spence
Candidate, Missouri's 25th Legislative District
www.SpenceCampaign.com
seanspence@earthlink.net
573-823-1308