A Politician Responds to Blogger's E-mail! Quickly! Stop the Presses!

It's usually a non-story when a blogger such as yours truly tries to communicate with a politician or leadership of a political party, and are met with form e-mails or phone calls that aren't returned. For some reason, those who run in political circles clam up when the word "blog" or "blogger" is mentioned. Even the few bloggers in this town (and elsewhere) who try to be fair and verify facts, confirm quotes, etc... aren't able to do so, so they're forced to either re-work the story without it, or drop it altogether.

In the discussion about this past weekend's Indy Pride parade, lawyer and blogger Gary Welsh noted that the GOP seems to have given up on the GLBT vote, while the Democrats have embraced it. A comment on that very post, made by Blogger user Robert, said that Republican Kurt Webber attended Indy Pride. Webber is an Indianapolis-area attorney and previously ran for the City-County Council in 2007, where he was defeated by incumbent Monroe Gray. Webber is now running for state House district 86. District 86 is currently represented by Democrat Ed Delaney.

There are a handful of issues that got my attention this past meeting of the General Assembly, so I e-mailed Webber on that, because I think the GOP is likely to bring some issues up again that have died in the House the last several years. Webber said that rather than responding to my e-mail, he'd like to meet next week.

Please feel free to e-mail me at mamstone@firehawktechnologies.com if you'd like me to consider your question during the interview.

Here is the full text of my e-mail:

Kurt,
I heard that you attended Indy Pride this past weekend. You were likely the only Republican candidate there, and none of the elected officials or party leadership were there. I'd like to commend you on your outreach.

If the Republicans take back the House of Representatives in the General Assembly, the state will likely face another debate on the Marriage Protection Amendment. The most recent session of the General Assembly had it labeled as SJR-13, I believe. It has overwhelmingly passed the GOP dominated Senate. Will you support the proposed amendment to the Constitution with the current language? Are you aware that the amendment isn't necessary. Indiana's own Defense of Marriage Act has been held up by Indiana courts, ruling that there is no right to marriage, and thus it isn't discriminatory to ban same-sex marriage.

I also noticed your history with open records. While Indiana has some great public records laws, it fails to hold government agencies accountable if they deny citizens what should be public records. A public access counselor can asses a non-binding ruling against the government agency, and a bill in the General Assembly to add fines recently died in committee. Will you support legislation to add some teeth to the current laws, so agencies are held accountable if they withhold public information?

Thank you very much for your time.

In the interest of full disclosure, I may publish your response (either in full, quoted excerpts, or a summary) on my blog. Please make it clear if you would rather keep your response confidential.

Relevant links: Kurt Webber, P.C.