>Local lawmakers spend summer responding to constituent emails
Matthew Bieniek
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Sat Jul 16, 2011, 11:20 PM EDT
CUMBERLAND — The legislative off-season, which includes the long, hot days of summer, isn’t a walk on the beach for local legislators.
Instead, it’s a languorous wade through hundreds of emails, a chomp through fire hall dinners, and the inability to go out to the grocery store without being cajoled by constituents about one matter or another.
“My schedule keeps me hopping,” Sen. George Edwards said. Edwards, though, said he enjoys talking to constituents.
“People expect you to be out there,” said Delegate Wendell Beitzel, who said he’s been at several picnics recently organized by political and civic organizations. It might be a picnic, parade or public forum like the one he recently attended on Marcellus Shale.
“Sometimes I look at my schedule and I’m completely booked,” Beitzel said. The forums can spawn ideas for legislative action, so they are valuable, he said.
“Believe it or not, most of my time is spent responding to emails,” Beitzel said when asked about his work when the legislature is on break. One recent email asked him to explain the cable issues in Garrett County. As an “orphan county” Garrett viewers can’t get many television stations from the Baltimore-Washington area.
There’s also a good measure of constituent service work thrown in, Edwards said. Edwards credited his staff with doing much of the work associated with the pleas for help dealing with the government and one bureaucracy or another. He has one full-time staffer based in his district office in Cumberland and a full-time staffer during the Maryland General Assembly session who is part-time when the legislature isn’t meeting.
“I have a great staff, Kim (McMillan) and Victoria (Clark) do a great job,” he said.
Delegate Kevin Kelly and Beitzel were equally effusive in their praise of staff members, who do much of the grunt work associated with constituent service.
“My secretary has worked for me for 28 years. I would be lost without her,” Kelly said.
All the legislators like to keep their hands on the work, though, and Kelly said he dictates all the letters he writes to assist constituents.
Kelly has a specific procedure in handling constituent work. He asks the citizens to write a letter describing their plight, then he writes a cover letter. He then mails the two letters together to the appropriate state official and asks for a follow-up report. Kelly said he handles about five constituent requests a day. Often, citizens just need to get in touch with the right person and Kelly can direct them.
“I help my constituents with their problems, no matter what they might be,” he said. Often, Kelly performs work similar to the work he’d do as a lawyer. Of course, he doesn’t charge, it’s all part of constituent service, he said.
There are, of course, some committee meetings and preparation for the next General Assembly session, but the focus is on spending time with constituents and working on their problems.
“I try to keep abreast of things,” Beitzel said, meaning keeping up with news and reports on statewide issues. And there are the committee meetings down state — he’ll be heading to an interim meeting on the 26th.
All three legislators now get far more emails than letters. Phone calls remain common, though, and Beitzel said he takes about an equal number of calls and emails.
Emails are simple for the constituent, Edwards said. Unfortunately, he does get a lot of emails generated from advocacy websites, which all read the same way.
“I try to respond to each letter or email from constituents, or from Washington County,” Edwards said. Since his district includes part of Washington County, Edwards feels obligated to respond to residents concerned about Washington County issues.
Some concerns require legislation, and ideas for legislation sometimes come from meetings with constituents, the legislators say.
Constituents appreciate it if Edwards can get some kind of answer to their concerns. “Even if it’s not the answer they were looking for,” Edwards said. It’s satisfying when a constituent problem is completely resolved.
“Of course, you feel good about being able to help someone with their problems,” Edwards said.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com
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