“What can one person do?”
One person, in union with enough others, can work wonders. For example, we hear the lament about elected officials, not only at the national level but at the State level as well, not being responsive to their constituents, the people whom they are supposed to represent.
You can change that -- simply by articulating what you expect of your elected representative, and then measuring his/her performance while in office in terms of how well (or poorly) he or she lived up to those expectations. One person alone may not make much of a difference, but as the Tea Party movement is proving daily, enough people acting in concert can. And everything you need on how to articulate your expectations and measure your Governor’s and State elected officials’ performance is contained or outlined in the pages below. You may need to change the specific issues and titles to comport with your community’s concerns vis-à-vis your Governor and State House, but the framework is there for you modify and adapt as necessary…
December , 2010
Mr/Mrs/Ms
c/o General Assembly
Annapolis, MD 20410
Dear :
Congratulations! You have been elected to the Maryland General Assembly for the period 2011-2014, to represent us, your constituents. Campaigning being what it is these days, there wasn’t opportunity to meet personally with you and your staff to discuss why the electorate should choose you and what we expect of you during your term in office.
Campaign promises are now part of the past; performance is what matters. That’s why we, a focused group of your constituents, are providing the enclosed Pledge/Commitment for your perusal and guidance – and execution. The Pledge lists, in brief, some of the major areas which we feel require the attention of you and your colleagues in this upcoming term. It (our document) represents the distillation and synthesis of many months of input from citizens across the State regarding some of the more pressing and important issues with which we will task you and your General Assembly colleagues – and against which we will measure both your efforts and your progress during this period.
Back here “at home,” a dedicated group of us, your constituents, will monitor and assess whether and how you and your General Assembly colleagues address and move to resolve these issues. That monitoring and assessment will affect both how we view your performance, and whether that performance merits your receiving our support regarding another term. It should come as no surprise that each and every member of this incoming Assembly will be viewed by the voting public as “on probation” -- regardless of prior service or past performance. The State’s needs are too great to ignore, and it’s imperative that this Assembly begin immediately the process of restoring and maintaining both Maryland’s sovereignty and its fiscal integrity, as outlined in the enclosure.
FYI, our names, addresses, and contact information are provided on the reverse of this cover letter. There may be some areas in the Pledge about which you may have questions or reservations; we invite your response. There may be some areas on which you disagree; we will note that – and monitor and assess regardless. You may choose not to respond; we will note that as well, and monitor and assess anyway. As noted above, our state’s needs are too great and too pressing to allow for delay, denial, or refusal not only to preserve, protect, and defend our national and our State Constitutions, but also to act both to preserve our heritage and to work toward building the kind of future that is consistent with (and operates strictly within) our national and State Constitutions and lives up to the Declaration of Independence and its ideals. We also stand ready to work with you and assist in any way we can to bring the needs, goals, and objectives identified in the enclosure to fruition.
Please direct your response and all subsequent correspondence to our monitoring group coordinator:
Mr/Mrs/MS
XXXX Main Street
Anywhere, MD XXXXX.
Thank you, and may God bless your efforts.
Monitoring/Assessment Group for Delegate/State Senator
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Maryland General Assembly Senator/Delegate Commitment to Constituents
As an elected member of Maryland State Government to and for the office of , and representing the District, I recognize and affirm the supremacy of the U.S. Constitution, and under it the Maryland Constitution, as the law of the State of Maryland, from which any lower jurisdictions’ constitutions, charters, compacts, etc., and all officeholders therein, derive their delegated legitimacy and authority, and I recognize the scope and limitations of that delegated legitimacy and authority. Therefore, I pledge:
1: I will not violate the servant-leader trust placed in me by my constituents.
2: I will preserve, protect and defend every U.S./Maryland constituent’s unalienable rights under these Constitutions.
3: I will cherish and defend these Constitutions as the law of the land and of Maryland, and the common standard against which all legislative, statutory, executive, and/or judicial actions must be measured and evaluated.
4: I will actively oppose any government action which diminishes or abolishes anyone’s Constitutional rights, whether at the federal or the State or lower level, including both 9th and 10th Amendment Constitutional rights.
5: I will work unceasingly to restore stability and soundness to the national and State economy, and to eliminate or reject anything less than full legislative funding for any government program, grant or initiative, at whatever level.
6: I will work to restore all our schools, at all levels, to international excellence and prominence.
7: I will work to restore our State’s manufacturing base and restructure our tax structure so as make Maryland more inviting to all legitimate business enterprises, and to individuals of all socioeconomic levels.
8: I will work toward instituting/placing term limits on all State elected or appointed offices.
9: I will work toward eliminating all “structural deficits,” i.e., to structure the State budget, our spending policies, and our spending recommendations to comport with fiscal and State government receipts reality.
10: I will work toward converting all State employee retirement plans from a defined benefit basis to a fully-funded defined contribution basis, and annual-salary based, not salary plus overtime or other perquisites.
11: I will work toward privatizing infrastructure projects, outsourcing functions and services which can be cost-effectively performed by Maryland-based private businesses, and eliminating “prevailing wage” or higher requirements that penalize taxpayers – all to the maximum cost-effectiveness possible.
12: I will work toward ensuring that all legislation considered and/or adopted by the General Assembly be “single-issue;” be certified by its sponsor(s) and the Assembly as Constitutional; be reviewed annually as to its efficacy, cost-effectiveness, continuation as a State-performed function or candidacy for outsourcing; have lifetime “sunset” provision; and apply equally to all Maryland citizens and legal residents.
13: I will work toward cleaning up corrupt State campaign and election financing and redistricting practices.
At its founding, this nation consisted of 13 States; today, I make 13 pledges. They apply to some of the most pressing issues now threatening our nation and its survival, and our State and its future. To these and all other issues affecting the rights, protections, and needs of my constituents, and of the future of my State and country, I will bend my efforts, fairly and honestly, to the best of my ability. If I fail to live up to these pledges, or violate the trust placed in me, replace me.
As a citizen, I pledge allegiance to The Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And as an officeholder, I also pledge to preserve, protect and defend this State, this Nation, our Flag, and our Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.
Officeholder’s Name Date Office
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