CONSTITUENT SERVICES

From cows to underwear . . .
Constituent Services gets some odd calls


If you had a problem with the contractor who built your home,
you'd probably call the Better Business Bureau -- or your
attorney.

Likewise, it makes sense to contact your doctor when the problem
lies in aches and pains.

But whom do you call when you have problems that don't fit into a
clear category, where there is no easy solution in sight?

Your friendly neighborhood representative, of course. Although
their primary job is to pass judgment on the many laws considered
at the Capitol each year, members are also called on as problem
solvers of last resort.

For five-term Rep. Bob Waltman (IR-Elgin), the cow dilemma stands
out as among the oddest of requests.

When a farmer in his district found stray cattle on her land --
and got no answer to her "Found: Six Cows" ad -- Waltman was
summoned to help.

The farmer didn't want the cows but didn't want them roaming
around southeastern Minnesota either, recalls Waltman. He turned
for help to IR Caucus Research, which turned up a 19th century
law that required the finder of unclaimed cattle to keep them for
a year before they could be sold at auction, with the proceeds
going to local school districts.

"She was very disappointed," says Waltman. "She didn't want the
cattle mixing with her purebred stock." 

Luckily, the dilemma came to a happy end when the cows' owner
belatedly showed up. But the story illustrates how legislators,
like everyone else, are limited in their ability to fix problems.

That doesn't stop people from turning to their lawmakers for
help, however. Lynn Bolnick, director of the DFL Caucus
Constituent Service Division, says lawmakers are called when
people's frustration level is so high they have nowhere else to
turn. 

And the caucus staffs don't turn down requests for help. If they
can't answer the question, they try to find someone who can.

But what about the guy who expected his representative to plug
him into the Denver television station that broadcasts all the
Broncos' football games?

"Frankly, we weren't able to fix his problem," admits Bolnick.
"There are times you just can't help; sometimes the law says you
can't do it."

Members often get requests from constituents who have run up
against the law. These cases can be especially difficult because
of the mistaken belief that legislators have the power to
overturn a judge's decision, explains Jeanne Danaher, the IR
Caucus executive director.

"We can't handle these problems. There are three branches of
government and we can't fix a child custody case or fix a bad
judgment," she says. 

In these situations, all the caucuses can do is explain the
purpose of a law. Similarly, health and human services cases --
among the most common fielded by legislators -- are usually
handled by directing constituents elsewhere for a solution. 

But once the constituent is pointed in the right direction, it
can be frustrating for IR and DFL staffers not to know what
happens.

Take the 1982 case when former Rep. Cal Ludeman was contacted
about the plight of a constituent's parents -- Czechoslovakian
citizens with temporary visas -- who were forced to leave the
U.S. because they hadn't established permanent residency in time.

The constituent already had the proper Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS) papers. The problem was getting the
papers to Czechoslovakian officials before they became invalid.

Ludeman and Danaher, an IR legislative analyst at the time,
located an envoy in Canada who could quickly dispatch the papers
to Eastern Europe. 

"After that point, after we got the papers to the envoy, we
hadn't heard anything -- we didn't know if this elderly couple
got out of the country before the curtain came down," Danaher
recalls. 

They wondered if they would ever know until about a year later
when Danaher got a phone call. "It was a woman [speaking in]
broken English, and she was sobbing on the phone. And she said,
'I just want to tell you that my parents arrived today.' "

Although fulfilling constituent requests gives a sense of
satisfaction to both staff and members, they also can translate
to votes on election day. And each request, no matter how
far-fetched, warrants courteous treatment. 

That's why when one constituent, a resident of a county jail,
told his legislator that he wasn't getting adequate changes of
underwear, DFL caseworker David Hunt didn't hesitate to tackle
the complaint.

"He felt daily or thrice weekly changes were in keeping with
state standards," says Hunt. But "he was allowed [only] weekly
changes, and that was the complaint."

Hunt consulted the state Department of Corrections, and learned
that there are jail clothing standards, and that once-weekly
changes of underwear were enough under state regulations.

"As it turned out, he didn't have a leg to stand on," says Hunt.

But it was time well-spent, he adds, even though felons can't
vote. After all, they may one day rejoin the voting rolls.

--Joan Wadkins