Spring 2004
The Way
I See It
By David Bailey
The end of the 2004 Session
caused me to reflect on my first one in
1983. During my first two sessions I
worked with/for the Virginia Council of
Churches. Ranking near the top of the
list of powerful memories of people and
the process is the conversation with one
of Virginia’s bishops. Some key vote had not resulted in the action
that he thought to be the ethical choice, and he was clearly disturbed
with members of the General Assembly. Turning to me for assistance,
he requested the names and addresses of those who had voted the
wrong way, indicating that he planned to write them a scathing letter.
While respecting his authority, I politely indicated that I could not
comply.
“Why not?”
he demanded.
“You don’t want to do that.”
I
replied.
“I will give you the names and addresses of those who voted
as you wished so you can write them a ‘thank you’ letter.”
After
a pregnant pause, he remarked,
“That’s what I said. Get me their
names/addresses as soon as possible so I can thank them.”
The importance of saying/writing ‘thank you’ is so obvious that
it’s embarrassing when it does not occur. It’s summer and many of us
are still working on writing our thank you letters. In an effort to make
each one unique, it often takes weeks.
10
Back
Looking
Years
SPRING
•
2004
In the meantime, before you receive your well deserved letters,
please accept this preliminary expression of thanks on behalf of the
people of the Commonwealth. We thank you:
• Capitol Police who kept us safe while treating us with utmost
courtesy;
• Virginia’s Citizen Legislators who were in no way paid for an
extended session;
• Staff members whose long session hours continued for weeks;
• Capitol Press Corps who filed twice the number of stories as in a
usual session;
• All those who worked late into the nights to clean up our mess;
• The Governor and all members of the Executive Branch;
• The Attorney General and all members of the Judicial Branch;
• The Lieutenant Governor;
• The Speaker of the House;
• Those who expressed strong opinions while respecting those with
opposite viewpoints;
• The Majority Leaders and the Minority Leaders;
• The House and the Senate for making the legislative process work;
• Everyone who missed Spring Training and the beginning of the
baseball season.
Yes, the thank you letters will be in the mail!
Thanks to our favorite cartoonist, Chris Obrion, for
another creative cover. As we go to press on April
12, 2004, the House of Delegates and the Senate
have not agreed on a state budget. Depending on
when you pick up this magazine, it is our hope that
the budget has been sent to the Governor (April?)
or, better yet, signed by the Governor (May?).
—Editor & Publisher
V
irginia
C
apitol
C
onnections
, S
pring
2014
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