Published in the Stevens Point Journal
 
EDITOR: As many of you know, I ran for office as a conservative. Since that time, I have come to realize how bigoted and hateful partisan politics can be. It seems impossible to expect anything good to come out of such partisan hatred. If it were not for a few high quality individuals on both sides of the aisle, there wouldn't be much hope in getting anything positive done in Madison.
 
I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Rep. Katrina Shankland and Sen. Julie Lassa for rising above the fray. These two woman have proven that they truly represent the people they were elected to serve irrespective of their individual political persuasion.
 
A while back, I wrote a letter regarding the dangerous practice where the state adopts privately owned and copyrighted documents as state law. When this is done, citizens have great difficulty in viewing those laws. I feel that citizens should be able to view laws that pertain to them free of charge on a government-sponsored website and they should not be forced to pay more than $100 for the right to view that law from some privately owned organization out of California.
 
Both Shankland and Lassa know that I ran as a Republican, but that did not stop them from contacting me and offering to look into the matter. In fact, they didn't just write me a form letter or an email. They came to me in person and spoke directly with me. They asked for copies of everything I had regarding this law. They showed real concern and a true willingness to see if they could correct this obvious problem. While Julie, Katrina and I may not agree on a number of issues, I can say that they will not let party politics stand in the way of doing what is right for all the people they serve.
 
Thank you, Katrina and Julie for really caring.
 
Dan Mielke,
 
Rudolph