Ellen Engstedt - November 20, 2006
Montana Wood Products Association
Working Together
Judging from letters to the editor and other bits of news all of Montana appears to be glad the recent election is over. Each cycle seems to get more nasty and mean spirited in the ads and even personal appearances by candidates themselves. No low is too low to sink and the voter is the real loser in the process because of the lack of true discourse about the issues.
The Legislature of 1981 was my first session and so you don’t have to do the math that’s 25 years. I was employed by the legislative branch for a number of years and then struck out on my own as a trade association manager and lobbyist. Several years ago an opportunity with the Montana Wood Products Association presented itself and here I gratefully am. During this span of time I have been honored to meet and work with many individuals who ran for election and served their constituents with distinction and honesty.
However, many things have changed in the past 25 years, including society’s view of the political process and those involved in it. There is an extremely unfair promotion by some that if a person is involved in politics either elected or as a lobbyist, he or she is somehow tainted. My position with MWPA is mostly about figuring out ways to keep our member companies thriving in their value-added businesses thus providing well-paying jobs with benefits to over 9,000 Montana families. The individuals I work with have the best interests of Montana in mind and care deeply about the environment where they live and recreate.
The crowing that has been going on since the election about “mandates of the people” in the changing of the composition of the United States Congress from Republican to Democrat control is amusing. At least those elected to Montana’s Legislature are more restrained in public comments realizing the split of the two houses is straight down the middle and mandate is not a word either side should toss around lightly. With the one vote majority in the U.S. Senate mandate is not a word that should be spoken there either. The rules of the Senate are written in such a manner that nearly everything that is decided and passed out of that chamber requires 60 votes, not a simple majority. The Republicans had a majority of 54 and could move very little out of the Senate because at least six Democrats had to agree and vote with them. And, that was only if all members of the Republican party stayed together.
It would behoove all of us to remember that working together for the good of the whole is how our country was founded and survived. Sadly, it does take reasonable voices to make reasonable decisions and we as a country seem to be lacking in those individuals whose ideals rise to the top. We in the timber community have made many attempts at collaboration and consensus building only in the end to be told to reinvent ourselves by those who think they gain by our loss. The judicial system is weighted on the side of those who want to stop management of our nation’s natural resources even though we have the modern technology to log, mill, mine, and farm in environmentally safe ways.
Thanksgiving is a good time for reflection as to why the existing situation of nasty politics and making the other guy look bad appears to be what our society has become. Just imagine if the objectives of our forefathers and mothers was to not work together but rather to tear each other down through word and deed. It takes whole communities working together to build lives and help all of the citizens and the best in people still does come out when all pull the same direction for the common good.
The next few weeks and months will indicate whether those elected both here in Montana and Washington, D.C. are going to be builders or destroyers. Will they follow the footsteps of the pilgrims and sit down with all at the table to give thanks for our blessings and really mean it when stating the desire to work together? I sincerely hope so.
From the families of the Montana Wood Products Association may your Thanksgiving be happy and peaceful. I’m Ellen Engstedt. Thanks for listening.
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