From left: State Sen. Donald F. Humason Jr,, state Rep. John C. Velis, and Russell Fox, Southwick selectman and member of Better Angels participate in a forum Monday. (Photo by Peter Currier)
SOUTHWICK- The Better Angels Alliance of Hampden County hosted a public forum Monday evening at Southwick’s Town Hall featuring two local state legislators in an effort to bridge the divide between the two major political parties in the United States.
State Rep. John C. Velis (D) of the 4th Hampden District and state Sen. and Westfield mayoral candidate Donald F. Humason Jr. (R) of the 2nd Hampden and Hampshire district lead the forum with Rob Robertson of Better Angels acting as the moderator. The forum was titled: “Keeping Bipartisanship Alive in a Hyper-Partisan Era.”
Dozens of local residents gathered to watch the two men answer questions about what kind of bipartisanship is shown on Beacon Hill, and what still needs to be done to bridge the divide.
“This right here, in my opinion, is the most crucial conversation we can be having right now,” said Velis regarding the extreme political polarization the U.S. has experienced in recent years.
Dozens of people filed into the Southwick Town Hall to hear about bipartisanship from a Democrat and a Republican. (Photo by Peter Currier)
Robertson asked four questions before opening up the forum to some anonymous audience questions. The first question was “How does a bill become law in the State of Massachusetts?”
Humason went through the basic, ideal process of a bill from proposal, to committee, to the actual Senate or House vote, to it being signed by the governor.
Velis expanded on that by repeating advice he received from a committee chairperson when he was first elected: You know you have passed a good bill when everybody on every side hates it. He noted that this typically means a good amount of compromise between each stakeholder had to take place to pass the bill.
Both congressmen were also asked what bipartisanship means to them. Velis said that his interpretation was that if someone comes up with a good idea, the first question that should not be asked is if that person is a Democrat or Republican. The first question should instead be whether the idea is good or not.
Humason talked about how he has been registered as a Democrat, Republican, and an unenrolled voter throughout his adult life. He cited a quote from late President Ronald Reagan who said that there is no shortage of good that can be done if we don’t care who gets the praise for it.
“It shouldn’t matter if it’s a Republican bill or a Democrat bill. If it’s a good bill for that district, I should be able to support it,” said Humason.
Humason also noted that the Senate has an easier time with bipartisanship simply due to the layout of the chamber. There are only 40 members of the senate as opposed to 160 seats in the House. The senate sits in a circle with seating assignments that do not take party into account, meaning one’s seat neighbor may be a member of the other party, and that makes it easier to get along with said party.
Both men agreed that one of the main things fueling partisanship in America is social media in all of its forms. They cited some of the local Facebook forums where they frequently see articles and information posted with information that is dubious at best, and those who use the forums frequently take them as facts without checking themselves.
They also decried the poor voter turnout across the country, including the recent preliminary mayoral election in Westfield which saw a turnout of just 15 percent of the city’s registered voters. Humason receivedt 1,793 votes and his now sole opponent, Police Capt. Michael McCabe, received 1,689. Velis referred to the poor turnout as “reprehensible.”
“I, along with other organizers, came away gratified that Rep. Velis, and Sen. Humason did a fine job of stressing the value and role of bi-partisanship in developing legislation at the State House, and the urgent necessity, on behalf of our democracy’s vitality, to support efforts to find common ground and pragmatic solutions to the challenges we face rather than being caught up in the divisiveness of hyper-partisanship, fed in part by the impacts of social media.” said John Meiklejohn, who co-founded the Hampden County chapter of Better Angels.
During the forum, Robertson turned the audience’s attention to the Better Angels Social Media Pledge, which lists some ideal “rules” one should follow when posting opinions on social media.
Those rules are as follows:
- I will post with a goal of clarifying my point of view and not attacking the other side.
- I will be civil and respectful.
- I won’t make blanket statements and over generalize.
- I won’t try to convert people to my “side”; I will encourage understanding and learning.
- I will keep an open mind.
Robertson also took the time to promote the upcoming Better Angels Red/Blue workshop Oct. 26 in Southwick. The workshop is an all day affair in which citizens identifying as Republican or Democrat can engage with each other to get a better understanding of where the other person is coming from and reach common ground.
Peter Currier can be reached at [email protected].
