Some Things The Voters Will NOT Get

Now that I am permanently through with politics, I thought it good to summarize some of the reforms that have been the cornerstones of my campaigns these past ten years. These ideas are not really mine - they are the result of countless conversations and lots of reading. But I have come across very few, if any, other local and state politicians that cared to champion these ideas. Had I been elected Treasurer of Scio Township in '08, or Clerk in '04; and were I the State Senator elected in '02, I would have championed these reforms. As it is, Scio Township and the State of Michigan will not realize any of them, any time soon. It will be up to someone else to propose the following:

* Instant Runoff Voting. Nobody wins anything without a majority.
* Non-partisan township elections, statewide
* Every precinct represented at Township Board and on appointed commissions
* Special Zoning districts that parallel the school district boundaries
* A "Re-Villaging Act," that would enable places like Delhi, Old Scio Village, Hudson Mills, etc., to become villages once again; including ease of opening local charter schools and adding Zip Codes.
* Absent the previous point, a special planning zone within Scio Township, governing Delhi, and the Old Scio Village, run respectively, by residents of the same.
* A reform of term limits laws, and extension of the same to county and local offices: for legislative offices, a limit of three consecutive terms. After taking one election cycle off, they may try again and serve another two consecutive terms. For officer positions, the limit is two terms.
* Limits on how many years a person may work as an employee of any level of government. No more than ten years in any single unit of government, and twenty years in government, total. They may take five years in the private or non-profit sector, before returning to government. Government employees must be residents of the communities they are serving.
* Statewide legislation, opening membership in teachers local unions, to certified substitute teachers satisfying certain criteria. Enable substitutes in good standing to be treated as internal employees of local school districts.
* Creation of a new type of municipality in Michigan, the "Town." Towns are the formalization of natural communities that have formed around school districts. Would enable the redrawing of county boundaries.

These are the major points I would have pushed, had I been entrusted by the voters to pursue them. These are reforms that would empower voters, promote bi-partisanship and consensus, and build natural communities. They would have set up Scio Township, and the State of Michigan, as leaders in the modern political reform movement. It will be up to someone else to make it happen, and, as usual, Michigan will be a follower on the national stage.