Brad Paquette, R, represents the 78th District, which covers Berrien county. 

At Niles New Tech, we often focused on culture with our high school students. When I taught there, I learned more about the way the world operates than I initially ever could have realized. I say this because the group work aspect of project-based learning brings much interpersonal conflict, especially for teenagers. However, I came to understand that the principles of working with other people do not change. The precepts of life that remain true in high school projects, ring just as true in legislative service. At New Tech, I gave much advice to young people that must be applied to my own self today. If you have done someone wrong, try your best to make it right. 

At times, some of my constituents are very interested to know how I will vote on a bill or how I stand on an issue. Communication is thus very important, and there have been a few times where the lines of communication breakdown. For instance, I told several constituents via email that I would be in support of a few fishing bills that passed out of the house recently, but I ended up voting no on them due to several amendments we were hoping to add.  Thankfully, after following up with each of them as to why I did not support the bills without the amendments, they understood. Legislation is often very complex and takes a lot of analysis to comprehend the far-reaching impact of changes. I, and my office, hope to always improve in communicating such matters. 

Sometimes it is difficult to make things right when there is a fundamental disagreement, other than by bringing clarity and respect. At my last coffee hours, a constituent asked me about gun legislation here in the state of Michigan. Unfortunately, she and I do not agree on the matter. Such disagreements are bound to happen in public policy. However, connecting with constituents that disagree with my perspective and giving them the respect they deserve is of utmost importance to me.

Lastly, I need to point out a quick clarification. At the time, I wrote my column for the last submission, the specific locations that the governor had in store for her $3.5 billion bonding project were unknown. I mentioned that it appeared that Berrien and Cass counties would be left out of the picture. After obtaining the list, I must clarify that there are two projects on I-94 and one on US-12. I still do not believe that bonding is a sound approach to fixing our roads because of the long-term cost to the taxpayer and the extreme inflation it will bring to the process. Costs for building roads doubled over the last decade because of such influxes in spending.  I must reiterate that the 78th District was largely left out of the picture when the list of projects is compared to southeast Michigan. 

As always, if you have any input or suggestions, please do not hesitate to reach out.