Picture this: we have to light a fire to cook our food and keep warm, we have to pump our water to drink and wash, and we light candles to see in the dark. This is what happened to a lot of us a few years back. First there was a storm, then there was darkness; the power went out. This makes me realize how much we depend on reliable power for our everyday lives, so much so that without it we can become helpless and dysfunctional. Things come to a standstill – communication, infrastructure, commerce – all are affected. This is why, at the turn of the last century, visionaries projected that electrification of our state was the basis for future development, that it would be the foundation that would permit us to move forward.

In many ways, H.248, dealing with the creation of a Vermont Telecommunication Authority, is as crucial to our future as electrification was then. My committee on Commerce worked close to two months on this very long and complex bill. Our mission was to make sure we were not creating another agency that would be bogged down by paperwork and politics, but would be responsive to our urgent need for reliable communication. The bill went to five different committees to analyze funding, permitting and regulating. At the end, the result was a bill that all parties were able to support and be proud of. The vote on the floor was almost unanimous, with only a couple of representatives opposed to it.

This is a bill that addresses the need of Vermont and Vermonters. Broadband access is a must for new generations and businesses of the 21st Century. We also offer to have universal cell phone coverage in the entire state by the end of 2010. Ambitious? Yes. Attainable? Yes. Difficult? Yes. But we have tried to facilitate, as much as possible, cooperation in all agencies of government, partnerships between the private and public sectors, support for small municipalities and towns, funding for projects that otherwise would not [stimulate instead of “make”?] a lot of economic return, and for when nobody would step forward, the pledge of the state to provide the service.

Some will ask, “Why do we have to spend money on such a huge task when there is such need in other areas, transportation, education and healthcare, to name a few.” I am not looking at telecommunication as money spent as much as money invested. The role of my committee is to foster development and prosperity, to establish a fertile ground and foundation for the economic development of the state. Bill H.248 does just that. It is a solid foundation upon which a whole platform can be developed.

I will not go into all the details, but am available to explain all aspects of the bill. This is good, positive work we can all be satisfied with. Thank you for your comments. They are always taken into consideration. I can be reached at: mconsejo@leg.state.vt.us, 828-2228, mconsejo@wildblue.net and 524-0305.

Representative Michel Consejo
Sheldon & Swanton

I got it all right. They don’t get it at all. If only they would listen to me, I could show them the way. Then they would finally realize how great I am so we could tell them, they don’t have to worry as long as I am in charge.

Lots, lots and more of this is going on in Montpelier from everybody, including myself sometimes. And what does that really say? For me it is that most of us are really trying to get things done, across party lines and personalities and egos; the genuine desire to help is omnipresent. But so is the tunnel vision. It is so hard to really listen to others without formulating in our own heads an immediate scenario of what is our version of the subject at hand. As soon as we do this, we have basically stopped listening. We are preparing our answer, spinning it to our own knowledge and wisdom.

To stay aware of this is an exercise in itself, and when in committee listening to hours and hours of testimony, it becomes a real challenge, an intellectual rubic’s cube. The fact that there are eleven of us is where the help comes from. Assuming that each of us retains and analyzes only a small portion of the topic, the sum of all the bits and pieces usually starts making sense when all added together. Slowly, the puzzle takes its shape. It is a mosaic of many colors and shapes, and in my view, that is the way it should be.

There is a very long road from being a great idea or vision to becoming a law. It will change and transform itself many times, to die and rise again with a new strength added by other visionaries. And if it is good enough and wanted enough it will become a law. But even then it will still be transformed and modified, amended and reshaped, brought back to par according to the needs of the present. How can one not love this? How can one not be proud of the system? It’s got its faults, but overall, it sure does stand on its own.

So to go back to the I, THEY, THEM, it’s up to US – all of us. We should recognize that we are all part of one of the groups at any given time. Let’s put Vermont and Vermonters first. Let’s start thinking in more inclusive terms. Then all of it will become US.

I can be reached at: mconsejo@leg.state.vt.us, 828-2228, mconsejo@wildblue.net, and 524-0305.

Representative Michel Consejo
Sheldon & Swanton