I would like to offer another perspective to a barb from "Not a fan of Brett Davis" printed in the Jan. 24 Monroe Times. I worked for Rep. Brett Davis as his legislative assistant for 10 months (Jan.-Oct. 2007) and in that time I responded to hundreds of his constituents, and witnessed Brett go out of his way to help the people of his district time and again - even when the solutions were few and far between.
I can speak to the sheer volume of constituent calls, letters and e-mails which come into the office each day. Many other legislative offices, in so-called "safe" districts - where the lawmaker rarely sees any, or at best token, opposition in elections - may receive a few calls or e-mails each day. Brett receives dozens or more of these contacts daily, and often he and his staff resolve a person's problem in a a few days, if not hours.
Davis and his staff are known throughout the Legislature as some of the hardest workers under the Capitol dome. And I can say without a doubt that every constituent call, letter or e-mail I fielded was answered promptly. If there's anything Brett is a stickler about, it's making sure any constituent who contacts his office gets a quick reply. Sometimes his constituents' concerns take time to resolve, which is inevitable depending on the complexity of the issue, but they're always updated on progress made in their case.
While I worked for Brett, I spent a lot of long hours trying to resolve issues for his constituents, making phone calls, sending e-mails and applying pressure when needed to make sure we got answers to all of their questions. Whenever it grew frustrating, or I hit a dead end, I always was buoyed by the knowledge that we'd already helped so many people with their problems - problems most of us wouldn't have the courage to contact our lawmakers about - and that one way or another we'd do what we could for each of them. Not every situation has a happy ending, but Brett always made sure he spoke to every individual regardless of the outcome of their case.
And to "Not a fan of Brett Davis," it's a shame you didn't sign your name to your barb. Had you done so, it would have been much easier to verify your claim he never responded to your numerous attempts to contact him. In this case, I'll choose to believe the hundreds of people I helped, and the thousands I know Brett has helped in his four-plus years in office, over the one who doesn't even have the conviction to sign their name to their accusation.
I can speak to the sheer volume of constituent calls, letters and e-mails which come into the office each day. Many other legislative offices, in so-called "safe" districts - where the lawmaker rarely sees any, or at best token, opposition in elections - may receive a few calls or e-mails each day. Brett receives dozens or more of these contacts daily, and often he and his staff resolve a person's problem in a a few days, if not hours.
Davis and his staff are known throughout the Legislature as some of the hardest workers under the Capitol dome. And I can say without a doubt that every constituent call, letter or e-mail I fielded was answered promptly. If there's anything Brett is a stickler about, it's making sure any constituent who contacts his office gets a quick reply. Sometimes his constituents' concerns take time to resolve, which is inevitable depending on the complexity of the issue, but they're always updated on progress made in their case.
While I worked for Brett, I spent a lot of long hours trying to resolve issues for his constituents, making phone calls, sending e-mails and applying pressure when needed to make sure we got answers to all of their questions. Whenever it grew frustrating, or I hit a dead end, I always was buoyed by the knowledge that we'd already helped so many people with their problems - problems most of us wouldn't have the courage to contact our lawmakers about - and that one way or another we'd do what we could for each of them. Not every situation has a happy ending, but Brett always made sure he spoke to every individual regardless of the outcome of their case.
And to "Not a fan of Brett Davis," it's a shame you didn't sign your name to your barb. Had you done so, it would have been much easier to verify your claim he never responded to your numerous attempts to contact him. In this case, I'll choose to believe the hundreds of people I helped, and the thousands I know Brett has helped in his four-plus years in office, over the one who doesn't even have the conviction to sign their name to their accusation.
