Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:
In last week’s column titled “Our state’s judiciary is unaccountable,” Sen. Loren Lippincott stated, “The citizens have a duty to keep an eye on all branches of government, but since the legislative branch is the closest and most accessible to the voter, citizens should keep in close contact with their local senator.”
While I wholeheartedly agree with Sen. Lippincott that citizens should keep in contact with their senator, I find it interesting that I have in fact called him on SEVERAL occasions in regard to some of his proposals and support of bills during this last legislative session. Each time I called, I left a detailed message (usually on voicemail though I did speak with an aide on one occasion), stated my phone number, and asked him to please give me a call so that we could have a discussion. I have never heard a word from Sen. Lippincott. 
As a public school educator for the last 30 years, I believe I have a strong working knowledge of our schools in the state of Nebraska. Yet on many educational issues of which I wanted to talk to Sen. Lippincott, he did not respond to me. The senator stated in his article, “Call them, attend meetings where they are present and certainly write to them to express your thoughts and wishes on policy. They have an obligation to listen and respond to you and they should be able to communicate the reason for how they vote.”
The title of last week’s column seems to me to be a bit ironic. He mentions that the judiciary branch is unaccountable. It is my opinion that Sen. Lippincott is unaccountable as he is the one who has not listened to “the will of the people.”
Jennifer Badura,
Aurora