by Jack Stapleton, Jr.
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by Jack Stapleton, Jr.
At the turn of the last decade, Missourians decided to limit terms of their elected representatives in their state’s General Assembly, convinced that by assuring lack of experience in originating and revising their laws, they would be striking a blow for better government.
This was hailed as a kind of populist movement among disillusioned voters – despite the fact that proponents were anything but firm believers in populist causes. The handful of authors writing the plan decided it would be wise to proceed slowly, allowing a reasonable amount of time for the change-over so there would be sufficient experienced legislators (the very persons tainted with the alleged abuses) would have sufficient time to train the onrush of green, inexperienced members, whose influence was so obvious in the session that just ended.
The moment of truth will not occur for another two years. Then the vast majority of experienced representatives and senators will pull up stakes and return home for good. What a joyless occasion this will be. Readers will grasp its fullest significance by meeting, perhaps for the first time, a now-retired member of the Missouri Senate, the Honorable Emory Melton, whose knowledge of the arcane art of state politics was used for the benefit of all Missourians, not just the members of his own political party, which happens to be Republican.
Emory Melton is the kind of gentleman who reminds you of your grandfather, at least he does in my case, for his very appearance reflects the often-missed virtues of our forefathers to such a degree that one did not even have to ask the good senator from Cassville, located in Southwest Missouri, whether he was honest, trustworthy and dependable. The man simply exemplified those virtues – and more – all without benefit of a press secretary.
Although he retired a couple of years before term limits would become effective, Emory decided that he would get out of the way to allow his successor sufficient time to become acquainted with the legislative process before the approaching swarm of new members, who would have no conception of the art of law making, could arrive. Maybe this generous spirit will give readers some idea of the character of the Honorable Senator from the County of Barry.
Free of lobbyist taint, personal ambition, crass appetite for easy money, crippling partisanship, flattery of widespread fame, upon his entry to the third floor of the Capitol he spent years becoming acquainted with the nuances of intelligent, honest and fair law writing. His bills were few but extremely well planned and unfailingly resulted from public need, not partisan gain. He also had a peculiar trait that made him virtually unique in the annals of Missouri government: he read every bill introduced by his colleagues in the House and Senate. This he did because he felt it was an essential component of his responsibility as an elected official to the citizens of his district and region. He saw it as just one of several obligations he owed his constituents, and this single practice made him not only the best informed member of the Legislature but its most essential one as well.
It was the former senator from Cassville who first pointed out the contributing reason for the failure of the 15-Year Road Plan to reach its goal:” the diversion of new revenue from the 1992 enacted 6-cent gasoline tax increase to other cash-starved agencies and departments in state government. The senator recognized at the plan’s inception that bad public policy was being created and that the new revenue was being dedicated to the expediency of the moment.
Time after time, this good and just man has serve his state and its citizens in matters that were never revealed and for whom no glowing press releases were ever written. I suspect this column will embarrass the good senator, but he deserves the recognition he has long avoided and the praise he has never sought.
Missouri has lost the services of a dedicated elected official, the first of many who will soon pursue other agendas and seek to serve the public in other ways. And the entire state will be the poorer for it.
[Missouri News & Editorial Service, Inc. Copyright (C) 2000 MNES Corp.]