Open Government Call To Action

Filed in National by on November 17, 2008

From the Progressive Democrats for Delaware’s indefatigable Rebecca Young:

As with everything else in politics, appearances aren’t always what
is really happening on Open Government in Delaware. Let me tell you
a story my friends . . .

In January 2009 a new session of the Delaware General Assembly will
convene and during the opening day the Senate will vote to elect
their leadership and ratify their rules.

Except, they will really vote to elect their leadership and ratify
their rules in a meeting of the Democratic Caucus that will take
place behind closed doors sometime before the G.A. convenes —
probably during the week of Thanksgiving.

Now, as we have learned over the past several sessions, if Thurman
Adams is elected Pro Tem the odds are very long that Open Government
will ever see the light of day for the next two years. At least, not
without a big effort on our part. So any Senator who votes for
Thurman is voting against Open Government. It’s a sneaky way to be
for it before you are against it. We need to call them on this.
Both literally and figuratively.

Each of you needs to call your State Senator and have a conversation
about Open Government and how the Senate leadership impacts this
issue. It may be that your senator intends to vote for the status
quo but he/she can barter that vote to include a commitment to Open
Government. If he/she ran on an Open Government platform remind them
that the voters are watching. These conversations cannot be “in your
face” but rather a more sophisticated give and take. You might start
the conversation by saying “We want Open Government in Delaware and
how can we get past the Thurman road block?” The caucus could vote
for Thurman but also vote to take away the desk-drawer-veto. They
can do that. If this is the best we can get, then this is where we
should be going. Here are home phone numbers for the members of the
Democratic Senate Caucus. We need to make these calls THIS WEEK.

X-Note: Please note that those are home numbers, so be very, very polite. Yelling at a state senator’s wife or husband or leaving enraged voice mails will not help our cause.

1 – Harris McDowell – 302-656-2921
2 – Margaret Rose Henry – 302-425-4148
3 – Bobby Marshall – 302-656-7261
4 – Mike Katz – 302-540-5603
7 – Patty Blevins – 302-994-4843
8 – Dave Sokola – 302-239-2193
9 – Karen Peterson – 302-999-7522
10 – Bethany Hall-Long – 302-378-8386
11 – Tony DeLuca – 302-737-4929
13 – Dave McBride – 302-322-6100
14 – Bruce Ennis – 302-653-7566
15 – Nancy Cook – 302-653-8725
17 – Brian Bushweller – 302-382-6351
19 – Thurman Adams – 302-337-8281
20 – George Bunting – 302-539-2229 (recovering from transplant
surgery)
21 – Robert Venables – 302-856-9559

About the Author ()

Jason330 is a deep cover double agent working for the GOP. Don't tell anybody.

Comments (8)

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  1. X Stryker says:

    Please note that those are home numbers, so be very, very polite. Yelling at a state senator’s wife or husband or leaving enraged voice mails will not help our cause.

  2. nemski says:

    I love it that Charlie Copeland is no longer my State Senator. I LOVE IT!

  3. P.I. says:

    Also, if you’re in Sen Peterson’s district, please know you are preaching to the choir. She is co-sponsoring HB 1 being introduced by Gilligan. She has lead the charge for open government for the last 6 years. The House bill will mirror her bill.

  4. June says:

    The Republicans aren’t listed here, but they should be called also–not just the Dems.

  5. R Smitty says:

    While Open Government is the concern, I think the point was the caucus vote on Democratic Senate Leadership, which has proven in the past to be the final roadblock to passage. That, I believe, is why you don’t see the Republican Senators on this list.

  6. June says:

    I guess you’re right, Smitty. I was thinking (dreaming, I guess) that if the 5 Republicans got together with enough of the Dems who aren’t spineless, maybe they’d be able to unseat Thurman. Thurman treats them like s*** anyway. Maybe they have nothing to lose.

  7. Susan Regis Collins says:

    I am certain Harris McDowell will be pleased to get a call from me. We will have a meaningful discussion on open government.

    Afterward, I will try to make to the bathroom so I don’t puke on the floor.

  8. Another Mike says:

    Susan, somewhere in this mess I call my house I have a letter from Sen. McDowell (from July) in which he acknowledges that there is strong sentiment for more open government in Delaware. He said he would be willing to support open government legislation, but likely not anything that goes as far as Karen Peterson’s past efforts.

    He also wrote that he was behind efforts to open up the general assembly years ago. I have not had the chance to ask him if those efforts had anything to do with the general assembly exempting itself from FOIA.

    McDowell would never challenge Thurman Adams as pro tem, but I will ask him if he will support the end of the desk-drawer veto. He needs to be asked these questions.