Despite what some have said, I have never suggested that my way is the only way when it comes to how I believe we should go about restoring election integrity and holding our elected officials accountable. (And those who usually say such things about me are the ones who are running cover for the establishment who don't want to be held to account!) But it is true that I have never been one to invest my valuable time into efforts which I do not believe will bear fruit--of one sort or another. What I do believe is that accountability is the key to bringing about real change, and that efforts which bring about answers from our elected officials are the ones which are worthy to pursue.
I don't believe that the things which I suggest will necessarily give us exactly what we want. But if we cannot get what we want, then we can certainly use our efforts to ensure that we get what we need. And what we need is clarity regarding where it is we stand in relation to our elected officials. What is it that they think of us? And what do they believe is their proper role as public servants? Are there any elected officials left in our state who are willing to side with the people instead of with their political peers? These are questions to which I can guarantee you that we CAN get answers. And we may perhaps also get what it is that we want. But rest assured that we will get none of these things if we do not even try.
It's all about accountability. In this video, I suggest a few ideas about legislation that I think we should be finding a senator to introduce. What I am suggesting is not something I can do on my own, and what I have suggested in this video are just some of my ideas and the reasoning behind why I have suggested what I have. I also state that there very well may be others who have better ideas for legislation which we should be proposing.
But we must act soon! Time is of the essence to get legislation proposed. I am willing to work on any effort that helps us move toward obtaining accountability from our elected officials and the answers to the questions which I have posed above. I believe that any efforts which are to be effective must be ones which are not kept obscured and within only a small group of participants, but which instead keep everyone involved and informed at every step--because involvement is the key to accountability.
If you are interested in helping to seek out a senator to introduce legislation (in the video, I suggest that we begin by approaching Senator Clements), then please reach out to me and let me know. What I have proposed here in the video are starting points and suggestions, but until others show interest in proposing legislation such as what I have suggested here (or something similar), then there is no point in me trying to flesh out these ideas any further just yet. As I said, to get a senator to take up this legislation on our behalf is going to take involvement of more people. If you are interested in working on such an approach (and especially if you have past experience in the process of working with senators to help get a bill drafted), please feel free to reach out to me (Jennifer Hicks).