To the editor:

My question to Tom Suddess after reading his column on Sunday is - what's a legislator to do? I ran for state representative, naively perhaps, because I wanted to bring 30 years of human service advocacy to the legislature. Do you think I prefer asking for money to working on lowering exorbitant water and sewer rates for residents of my district? Do you think I prefer holding fundraisers to working on a domestic violence bill that know no partisan boundaries? Do you think I prefer spending hours on the phone asking for money to spending those hours in my district listening to constituent concerns?

What's a legislator to do? I want to continue working for my district so I have to raise money to be re-elected - a lot of money! It would be nice to just focus on my job. It would be nice to have publicly financed campaigns or or at least reasonable limits on contributions and even on campaign spending. The recent US Supreme Court makes me wonder if that will ever be possible. In the meantime I need to continue the phone calls and the fundraisers.

What's a legislator to do?

Marian Harris
State Representative
19th House District