A call for civility

As the 27th Legislature gaveled in to begin work on the people’s business Tuesday, we were proud to hear Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, use his opening remarks to draw attention to the unique across-the-aisle working relationship in the Alaska Senate.

He pointed out that for the second consecutive election cycle, Alaska voters have chosen an equal number of Democrats and Republicans to conduct the people’s business in the Senate. In fact, he said, each Alaska Senator in the chamber represents some 30,000 Alaskans whose values and priorities are spread across the political and demographic spectrum.

“I believe it was a thoughtful and meaningful election and that Alaskans have great expectations of us to get along, to work across party lines and to accomplish important and wise public policy,” Stevens said.

He also used his speech to call attention to a couple of words heard a lot lately: civility and cooperation.

“We may disagree … [but] Alaskans expect us to find solutions that work, that [respect] the rights of all Alaskans,” Stevens said.

We applaud cooperation in its many forms.

Consider the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race or the Wasilla High girls’ basketball team or the local band Just Playin’ Jazz — they are all examples of pursuits that require the setting aside of individual egos for the accomplishment of shared goals. Like being first to pass beneath the burled arch, or winning a state basketball championship or making beautiful music as an ensemble, there are plenty of examples of tasks that can only be accomplished through cooperation.

Article I, Section 2 of the Alaska Constitution clearly states the purpose of an organized state government.

“All political power is inherent in the people. All government originates with the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the people as a whole.”

Where would we be as a state and a nation if our ancestors hadn’t worked together and pooled their resources to build roads, schools, bridges, water and wastewater systems, fire departments, ambulance crews and police officers and fund them through our collective tax dollars?

It is popular these days to demonize the government, which seems fundamentally at odds with our representative form of government. In the United States and in Alaska, we the people are also we the government. We elect our leaders and we may choose to recall them when they transgress.

Alaska Sen. Stevens also pointed out another example of our legislators as leaders in civility and cooperation. He said the phrase “working across the aisle” is not a figure of speech. U.S. Congress and many state legislatures are literally divided by a center aisle that separates Republicans from Democrats, Stevens said.

No so for the Alaska legislature.

“Virtually every senator, when they look to their left or right, will find a member of the other party,” he said.

A good idea is a good idea. We should be slow to disregard good ideas in favor of partisan bickering.

We all have our differences, but something as ordinary as getting your car stuck in the ditch can really drive home our commonalities.

When that next Good Samaritan stops to help you, we wager your first question to them will be whether they have four-wheel drive and a tow rope, not how they vote or where they go to church.

Whether we agree, or agree to disagree civilly, we are first and foremost neighbors. And the best we can do for all our children is to continue building on a legacy of cooperation and civility established by our forefathers.