'Tell Shumway' Forum
{Access 'Tell Shumway' Forum}
One of the planks in my platform is 'open government' and 'no form letters'. Too often when citizens try to communicate with their elected official they send a thoughtful and time consuming (to write) letter or email. In return they get nothing but a form letter. There is no indication that the elected official ever read, let alone saw, the thoughtful inquiry or opinion.
I can't tell you how many times I have written Senators Bennett and Hatch and got nothing back but a form letter. Soon the citizen thinks, "why even bother". This is of course diametrically opposite to what should occur in a democratic republic. The citizen must be able to communicate with their representative and know that their position is at least being considered. Of course the representative can not please all the citizens all the time but at least the minority have a voice. That is the way it's supposed to work.
And that is the way it will work if I am elected to our Summit County Council. I have established the forum (bulletin board) 'Tell Shumway' as a means for a public discussion of your opinions, a means to publicly contact me, and for me to respond publicly. The 'Tell Shumway' (http://www.tellshumway.com) forum is my effort to encourage 'open government' and 'no form letters'.
Of course the 'Tell Shumway' forum does not take the place of public meetings. 'Tell Shumway' is your communication with one of your representives (council members). You should also attend public meetings on the topics that interest you! Hopefully, the 'Tell Shumway' forum will encourage greater public participation at the public meetings.
Paid for by Citizens for Shumway
