Pulse of the Community
Delegate Kenneth R. "Ken" Plum
 
 All states but Nebraska have a bicameral, two-house, legislative branch of government.  The smaller of the two houses is always called the Senate or the State Senate.  The house with the most members of the two legislative chambers is most often called the House of Representatives as is the case in the federal Congress.  In Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia the larger legislative chamber is called the House of Delegates.  I cannot bring myself to call one house the upper house and the other the lower house as the two chambers are sometimes referenced.
 
Regardless of the terms used, the elected members are delegated the power to represent their constituents, or they are representatives of the people.  The challenge for elected officials is to be able to discern the will of the people.  As issues become more complex, the media becomes more saturated, and partisanship and special interests play a greater role, it is even more complex to take the public's pulse and find out where people stand on the issues.
 
Just as the media can mix the message, advances in media technology can help elected officials to stay in close touch with constituents.  Last week I used an older technology, the telephone, enhanced by computer technology to conduct a telephone community meeting.  In a matter of a couple of minutes this new technology made calls to more than 21,000 telephone numbers in my district.  For the phones that were answered by a message machine, a message I recorded earlier about the telephone community meeting was left.  For those who answered the phone and stayed on the line I was able to discuss current issues, answer questions posed by listeners, and have the listeners respond to questions about issues through the use of their telephone keypads.  I was able to see immediate tabulated results to my survey questions.  At one point there were more than four thousand people on the line.  You can listen to a recording of the meeting on my website at www.kenplum.com. 
 
What I learned during the course of answering constituent questions and conducting the telephone survey was that most people do not like the plan to privatize liquor stores in the state.  There is an understanding that the proposal is not a good economic deal for taxpayers; the state will lose a valuable revenue stream that it needs during this time of economic recession.  Also, most people do not seem to like the idea of tripling the number of liquor stores in the state.  I also learned from constituents that I am delegated to represent that if additional revenues are needed for transportation projects that the gasoline tax should be increased and not the sales tax or an increase in the number of toll roads.
 
The strongest sentiment expressed by listeners on my call was in favor of an independent, non-partisan redistricting commission to redraw legislative boundaries as a result of the new federal census.  I have introduced a bill in many sessions that would have set up such a commission, but it has been killed in the committee that has the power to redraw district lines.  Partisan self-interests drive the current approach that badly needs reform.  Although distractions are the major cause of automobile accidents, half the participants on the call opposed a ban on cell phones while driving.  Over 80 percent of participants have take action to reduce energy consumption in their homes.
 
My next low-tech way to hear from constituents will be at the Reston Community Open House at the new headquarters at 12001 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston on Thursday, September 23, 7:30 to 9:00 pm.  Stop by this informal meeting that will give us an opportunity to talk together about whatever is on your mind.  In order to be an effective delegate, I need to have the pulse of the community.  

 

Many thanks to the hundreds of citizens who participated in my Telephone Community Meeting on September 16.  I especially appreciate the participation of those who asked questions and registered comments about a large and interesting range of issues facing Virginia government.  Your opinions count -- thank you for sharing them with me! 

 

Thanks also for the outpouring of positive feedback about this live telephone meeting.  People appreciated the convenience of being able to "attend" a community meeting without leaving home.

 

Email me at kenplum@aol.com if you have suggestions for making future meetings of this type even more informative and effective.

 

 The General Assembly will likely be called into special session this fall to consider some government reorganizations.  Let Delegate Ken Plum know your opinion on these issues by taking his 2010 Special Survey.  Go to www.kenplum.com and click on the link to the survey.  Email kenplum@aol.com or call 703.758.9733 with your name and home address if you would like a paper copy of the survey to be mailed to you.

 

Entire buildings can now be recycled.  The former parsonage and most recently youth activities center at the United Christian Parish, 10506 North Shore Drive, Reston, was taken down to make room for an expansion of the church building.  All the materials from the structure including the metal, bricks, concrete, and wood were recycled for use in other projects.  Type or paste the following address into your browser to learn more: