Sherry A. Wells

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Sherry A. Wells

Green Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

Associate

Grand Rapids Junior College, 1966

Bachelor's

Michigan State University, 1970

Law

Wayne State University, 1976

Personal

Birthplace

Highland Park, Mich.

Religion

Unitarian Universalist

Profession

Attorney at law

Contact

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Sherry A. Wells (Green Party) ran for election for an at-large seat of the University of Michigan Board of Regents. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Wells completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Sherry Wells was born in Highland Park, Michigan. She earned a bachelor’s degree in K-8 education from Michigan State University in 1970 and a J.D. from Wayne State University in 1976. Wells’s career experience includes working as an attorney, author, publisher, and public speaker.

Elections

2022

See also: Michigan State Board of Regents election, 2022

General election

General election for University of Michigan Board of Regents (2 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for University of Michigan Board of Regents on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Katherine White (D)	25.2	2,014,542
✔		Michael Behm (D)	24.6	1,966,635
		Lena Epstein (R)	23.9	1,914,188
		Sevag Vartanian (R)	22.3	1,786,379
		Eric Larson (L)	1.6	129,021
		Sherry A. Wells (G)	1.0	78,046
	Submit photo	Joe Sanger (U.S. Taxpayers Party)	0.9	71,506
	Submit photo	Kathleen Oakford (Natural Law Party)	0.6	45,692

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,006,009
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• James Lewis Hudler (L)

Democratic convention

Democratic convention for University of Michigan Board of Regents (2 seats)

Incumbent Michael Behm and incumbent Katherine White advanced from the Democratic convention for University of Michigan Board of Regents on August 21, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Michael Behm (D)
✔		Katherine White (D)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican convention

Republican convention for University of Michigan Board of Regents (2 seats)

Lena Epstein and Sevag Vartanian advanced from the Republican convention for University of Michigan Board of Regents on August 27, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Lena Epstein (R)
✔		Sevag Vartanian (R)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Green convention

Green convention for University of Michigan Board of Regents (2 seats)

Sherry A. Wells advanced from the Green convention for University of Michigan Board of Regents on April 23, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Sherry A. Wells (G)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for University of Michigan Board of Regents (2 seats)

Eric Larson and James Lewis Hudler advanced from the Libertarian convention for University of Michigan Board of Regents on July 10, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Eric Larson (L)
✔	Submit photo	James Lewis Hudler (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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U.S. Taxpayers Party convention

U.S. Taxpayers Party convention for University of Michigan Board of Regents (2 seats)

Joe Sanger advanced from the U.S. Taxpayers Party convention for University of Michigan Board of Regents on July 23, 2022.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Joe Sanger (U.S. Taxpayers Party)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2020

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 27

Regina Weiss defeated Elizabeth Goss, Gregory Stempfle, and Sherry A. Wells in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 27 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Regina Weiss (D)	74.4	41,791
		Elizabeth Goss (R)	22.4	12,574
		Gregory Stempfle (L)	1.6	913
		Sherry A. Wells (G)	1.6	886

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 56,164
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 27

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 27 on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Regina Weiss	47.3	10,615
		Kevin Kresch	18.0	4,032
		Crystal Bailey	10.7	2,406
	Submit photo	Kelli Williams	10.4	2,337
		Matt Stoel	9.7	2,181
	Submit photo	Robert Lathrop	1.8	399
	Submit photo	Dan Tuck	1.1	239
	Submit photo	Martin Tutwiler	1.0	220

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 22,429
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 27

Elizabeth Goss advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 27 on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Elizabeth Goss	100.0	3,592

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,592
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Michelangelo Fortuna III (R)

Green convention

Green convention for Michigan House of Representatives District 27

Sherry A. Wells advanced from the Green convention for Michigan House of Representatives District 27 on June 20, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Sherry A. Wells (G)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Michigan House of Representatives District 27

Gregory Stempfle advanced from the Libertarian convention for Michigan House of Representatives District 27 on July 18, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Gregory Stempfle (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2018

See also: Michigan State Board of Education election, 2018

General election

General election for Michigan State Board of Education (2 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Michigan State Board of Education on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Judith Pritchett (D)	25.2	1,830,312
✔		Tiffany Tilley (D)	24.0	1,743,379
		Tami Carlone (R)	22.3	1,615,129
		Richard Zeile (R)	20.3	1,473,904
		Mary Anne Hering (Working Class Party)	1.7	125,693
		Scott Boman (L)	1.7	125,309
	Submit photo	Logan Smith (Working Class Party)	1.3	91,077
	Submit photo	John Tatar (L)	1.1	80,414
	Submit photo	Karen Adams (U.S. Taxpayers Party)	1.0	72,639
		Sherry A. Wells (G)	0.8	61,493
	Submit photo	Douglas Levesque (U.S. Taxpayers Party)	0.4	32,326

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,251,675
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Sherry A. Wells completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Wells' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Lifetime Michigander, living in Wayne, Kent, Macomb and Oakland Counties and Lansing.

A local business owner answered his wife's question about who I was with "A community activist." I testified in legislative hearings and volunteered for political candidates long before becoming one. I was invited to look at the Green Party Ten Key Values--"That's what I've been working for all my adult life."

I am a first generation college graduate and worked my way through all 7 years. I have two "only children" 22 years apart. ADC fed two of us for a year after Hubby left me and our 3-month old, after which I became a caseworker for 3 years and a taxpayer since--all 3 sides of the welfare issue, plus started public speaking when a professor asked me to tell his class about it, leading to 100s of talks about law and other topics.

My first job after law school was with Legal Aid. As a general private practice lawyer, I compensated staff by union standards: vacation time and sick leave, health insurance, paid tuition.

I was elected to and chaired Ferndale's charter revision commission. I ran for the Green Party for the State Board of Education in 2014-2018, learning much about education in Michigan. I've held 4 offices with the Michigan Green Party, including as Chair.

Of the three elected university boards, I earned degrees from MSU and WSU so I’m running to attend U of M without paying tuition by being on its Board of Regents!

Lifetime Michigander, living in Wayne, Kent, Macomb and Oakland Counties and Lansing.

A local business owner answered his wife's question about who I was with "A community activist." I testified in legislative hearings and volunteered for political candidates long before becoming one. I was invited to look at the Green Party Ten Key Values--"That's what I've been working for all my adult life."

I am a first generation college graduate and worked my way through all 7 years. I have two "only children" 22 years apart. ADC fed two of us for a year after Hubby left me and our 3-month old, after which I became a caseworker for 3 years and a taxpayer since--all 3 sides of the welfare issue, plus started public speaking when a professor asked me to tell his class about it, leading to 100s of talks about law and other topics.

My first job after law school was with Legal Aid. As a general private practice lawyer, I compensated staff by union standards: vacation time and sick leave, health insurance, paid tuition.

I was elected to and chaired Ferndale's charter revision commission. I ran for the Green Party for the State Board of Education in 2014-2018, learning much about education in Michigan. I've held 4 offices with the Michigan Green Party, including as Chair.
    

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Green Party candidates do not accept corporate or PAC contributions, only those from individuals. Therefore we owe representation only to the people.
• The Green Party stands for not only the environment, but also social justice, grassroots democracy and nonviolence.

• The Board of Regents needs to be balanced by a person who is not a member of the corporate elites. After 18 years, it's time for a newer face on the board. https://regents.umich.edu/regents/

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

As relates to the U of M: fairness to employees who uphold its reputation. This includes supporting the nurses in its renown medical system and, like teachers and their students, their patients are as important and part of the working conditions they press for improvement. Also, U.M. Dearborn campus employees will be getting raises to $15 soon but those at the Flint campus will be only gradually increased to $15--WHY the difference?!

I researched what I call Investment in Youth. Michigan annually spends $36,000 per prisoner yet U of M tuition, fees, books, room & board and expenses is only $33,000. Only 11 percent of Michigan prisoners have a post-high school degree. Despite 28 prisons and 38,500 prisoners in Michigan, the U of M is not among the six institutions offering post-secondary education for prisoners. Recidivism is 25% and this could reduce that as well as make the prisoners a role model for education for their families. Years ago, the Montcalm Community College offered courses for prisoners and recidivism reduced dramatically. Of course, that program was cancelled. (Yes, sarcasm.)

U of M is known for research and receives, for example, $78 Million in money from the Dept. of Defense. I would favor such funds in the future to go towards defending the USA against the environmental effects on health from the many sources.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My stepMom. I've told friends that most of my positive characteristics came from her examples. "Making friends with everyone, just like Grandma" as my young son remarked as we crossed a K-Mart parking lot and I spoke with another customer walking near us. Her down-to-earth sense of humor, giving nature, volunteering such as in 4-H.

And her feminism. She did not ask her husband's permission to go somewhere as some women did. I remember her quoting, "If legislators could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament."

She lived up to her wedding vows and after Dad's head injury from falling 10 feet off a ladder onto concrete (deafness began in a WWII bomber, increased as it always does, leading to his loss of balance), she became his caretaker for the next 17 years, driving 3 times a week to the VA facility after she could no longer handle him at home.

I've had people remark that I am reliable and that they can count on me--just as you see that she was for all the time I knew her (since my age 9).

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Challengers to Duopoly: Why Third Parties Matter in American Two-Party Politics.

Raising issues to the consciousness of the public is a valuable service to the USA and world. I've copied two pages that listed some of the programs the US adopted that were brought out by third parties (and claimed by one or both of the Big Two), such as Social Security and Child Labor Laws.

The Green New Deal may be counted as one of those. Green Party candidates have run on that slogan since 2010.

Although Green Parties in other countries are getting elected, the Big Two work together in the US "democracy" to keep a barrier to the ballot for third parties--legislating an unreasonable number of signatures and a short time span to collect them, forcing them use resources--people, funds and time--to file lawsuits, generally successful.

We Green Party members are so often told "You can't win. You're Green" that it can become discouraging. But to realize that raising issues that need to be heard can be a win in itself. A win for the People, and isn't that what Democracy is to be about?

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

When I ran for state legislature, my lead statement was "I will listen to you. I will learn from you. I will legislate for you." I do my homework yet too many candidates don't know the job description of the office for which they are running or attend its meetings before the election, as I do.

My former state representative referred to himself as a "public servant," rather than a politician--as it should be. "Politics" refers to "power" and there can be "power over" or "power to" and "power to" includes empowering The People.


My then-teen daughter once answered a voter's question about me. "I told him you were conservative about money and liberal about people. Did I get it right?" She certainly did.

We Green Party members know more than anyone how important it will be to work "across the aisle" to find common ground for all the people. (We'll need more than one aisle as voters turn to our alternative to the corporate parties!)

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

A member of the U of M Board of Regents must study the financial reports and budget, the multiplicity of programs across 3 campuses and other sites AND listen to and follow-up on the public comments at each meeting. That's an enormous task, which I know because I have begun it. I even drove to St Ignace to attend the Board's first ever Upper Peninsula meeting last month (July 2022). (And visited the Ojibwe Museum next door to the meeting.)

As one who enjoys public speaking, I will educate the public about our Michigan universities and the elected Boards. (Please turn over the ballot to page two for those offices and the judges). Did you know that the U of M began in Detroit? And that Wayne State University began with three doctors wanting to improve the practice of medicine from what they saw on the Civil War battlefields? And that Michigan State in 1888 was one of the first land grant colleges and focused on agriculture?

U of M has a very good reputation and the people who run and make use of its programs--from the medical college to the student recruitment and everywhere in between--must be supported.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

While in college, I worked at a pizza place. I was fired within the year for "being slow," which I later figured out was not being "fast and loose" enough to go with the owner's sexual advances--foam in the sink from the glass of beer he pushed on underaged me gave me away. The term "sexual harassment" was not invented until 9 years later despite the conduct existing before recorded history. (You asked!)

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Green, Green--but with the words I changed to play it into a Green Party song.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Single-parenting and the challenges typical of that situation economically, emotionally, psychologically.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Sherry A. Wells completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Wells' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I have been known as Community Activist for the nine years that I lived in Mt. Clemens and the 32 years now in Ferndale. I have run for local office and was elected to Ferndale's Charter Revision Commission, which I chaired for two of the three years. I enjoyed volunteering in each of the seven communities in the 27th House district and in several organizations in the Metro Detroit area. Since 2016, I organized annual Girls in Aviation Days at Detroit City Airport.

I worked through college and earned a degree in Education. I went from being on ADC with a baby, to being a welfare caseworker to being a law student. After passing the bar, I worked for Legal Aid, then had my own general practice for many years. I wrote Michigan Law for Everyone plus four revisions from 1984 to 2002.

I ran for the State Board of Education in 2014, 2016 and 2018. I attended many of its meetings and many school board meetings and presentations about education in Metro Detroit and across the state. The legislature has failed to support schools, which is a primary reason I now run to be a State Representative.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• ""Sherry A. Wells will: listen to you, learn from you, legislate for you."" I have asked and learned that low voter turnout is not due to apathy but due to a system that does not serve the public. A legislator is a public servant and I will be one.
• Michigan ranks low in Education in the US, especially in Special Education, due to inadequate and inequitable funding. Michigan pays $35,000 per prisoner but barely $10,000 per student. Schools should not be organized for profit but only for investing in students. There needs to be wrap-around services. Michigan lacks skilled tradespersons and must increase training programs. There is dignity in being skilled. College isn't for everyone and we've made it no longer affordable for most anyway.
• The Criminal Justice system is costly. Too many offenses are ""crimes."" Due to bail being too often assessed and too high, our jails are filled and lower-income families are devastated. There must be a triage in every incident to determine whether mental health, substance abuse or actual criminal intent is present and action taken accordingly. There needs to be treatment and diversion alternatives to expensive jailhouses. And I would go back to the term ""peace officers"" for law enforcement personnel..

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

In addition to the above-legislators deal with many issues:

    Gun Sense legislation-I lost one divorce client to gun violence. I will continue the press for the Red Flag bill, better background checks, gun safety. 

    Reproductive freedom to make one's own decisions about if, when and how to raise a family. 

    Speaking of families, there is no excuse for poverty in the wealthiest nation when we can have living wages, wage equity, paid sick leave, health care for all, child care and more, as other democracies have proven possible. 

    Speaking of work, let's create jobs to fill sustainable energy needs. 

    And expand a transit system, especially in the Metropolitan Detroit region, to get people to those jobs, to schools and medical appointments and to reduce pollution, and land overtaken by parking lots and freeways. 

    Pollution otherwise must be reined in, prevented and polluters must pay, including for the childhood asthma it causes, which is the leading cause of school absenteeism. 

    Ranked Choice Voting, already in Ferndale's City Charter and used in the state of Maine, permits voters to choose alternative acceptable candidates if no one achieves a majority. 

    National Popular Vote reflects "one person-one vote," bypasses the Electoral College and puts into office those who ultimately have the votes of a majority.

All of the above cover the Green Party's 4 Pillars: Environment, Social Justice, Grassroots Democrary, Nonviolence.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My stepMom. She raised us from when I was 9, after our mother died from a car crash. I'm sure that, to some extent, though she passed in 2015, she is still taking care of me. For one thing, she left behind dozens of quart jars of Traverse City cherries that she canned and those have been good for the little bit of arthritis that I have.

I've told friends, ""Whatever traits you appreciate about me, I got them from her."" My young son gave me a huge compliment as we crossed a parking lot. I'd struck up a conversation with another woman walking nearby. ""Just like Grandma. Making friends with everybody.""
Those in Georgia, where she'd last lived, miss her, too. They describe her as ""Warm, funny. And stubborn."" (In a good way, of course!)
She quoted Gloria Steinem: ""If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.""
She invited a woman to go with her to an event. The woman said, ""I need to ask my husband."" Mom said, ""I don't ask Harry for permission.""
I'm sure Mom was the one who raised my sister and I to be feminists.
She taught us to recycle, like they did during the Depression. She volunteered when we were in 4-H and afterwards. She volunteered wherever they lived.

Mom was the inspiration for my book, Warm and Wonderful Stepmothers of Famous People.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

I've read many books and have more on my list. The most recent ones were about the Black Panthers and the Gray Panthers organizations and I watched films about them both.

By way of an essay, I'd say the Ten Pillars of the Green Party of the US, because after a simple invitation to read them, they sold themselves. It's the kind of world I've been working towards:

www.gp.org/ten_key_values

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Being approachable by the public and by other legislative colleagues.

Having the ability to listen, truly listen, and to check your understanding.
Being reliable and doing what you say you will do or have done.
Being honest and ethical-because of Watergate, the law school created a course on Ethics and my

     class was the first to be required to take it-8 AM in January.

A sense of humor is always a valuable and, in fact, necessary asset.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

The ones I listed in a prior question:

Being approachable by the public and by other legislative colleagues.
Having the ability to listen, truly listen, and to check your understanding.
Being reliable and doing what you say you will do or have done.
Being honest and ethical.

A sense of humor.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Keep in contact with constituents-""coffees,"" newsletters, available by telephone, email.-keep that

two-way communication open.
Hire, train and supervise staff who will be your right (er, left) arm to help fulfill the previous item.
Attend sessions and committee meetings and come prepared.
Attend community events as much as possible.

Take care of your health, including mental health-such as by regular visits to state parks.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I'd like to be part of statutory and Michigan Constitutional changes that improve upon those issues I've named.

I'd like to inspire people to be more involved in their local governments.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The 1960s were historical, for too many reasons:

In May 1961, I was in high school. Alan Shepard was in the first manned space flight. The gym teacher sent us outside and would not permit us to join the rest of the students to listen to it on the Public Address system.
In 1963, President Kennedy was killed. I remember students sobbing at the news.
In April 1968, I was attending Michigan State University when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Watching the solemn, silent procession of students walking across the campus was poignant.
In June 1968, I was about to get off the bus by campus when I heard on the bus radio that Robert F. Kennedy had been killed. I was stunned. I could not believe there was yet another political assassination. In my country.
1972, Gov. Wallace of Alabama of Alabama. December 1980, John Lennon. March 1981 President Reagan shot at and James Brady. And that doesn't count the Black Panthers and other blacks I've learned about being killed-by police in the 1960s to today.

Yes, we need Gun Sense.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I was attending junior college and worked part-time in a small non-chain pizza restaurant. I learned to continue to greet customers with a smile, even at 2 AM when some came in surly and obnoxious after the bars closed. I was fired several months later when I didn't accept the boss's advances. The term ""sexual harassment"" was yet to be invented.
After graduating from that college, I joined my new husband at Fort Hood, Texas. I was hired on post and learned on-the-job to keypunch. I used that skill also to work on campus while going after my B.A. at Michigan State University. I'm having to explain what keypunching was to the generation of new adults!

What is your favorite book? Why?

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. It took a long time to read because I could absorb only one page each evening. Lines from it come to consciousness often.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Blue Boat Home-the lyrics talk about the earth and the music makes me feel like I am on a boat and I sway to the sea below it.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Adequate income for most of it for many, many reasons. "Women's wages" and sex discrimination, single parenthood with no support-neither monetarily or involvement for my son. My daughter's father did fine (Daddy's little girl!)

        As an attorney, I kindly did not insist on "get the money up front" because I understood how difficult it would be to pay legal fees, but even with installments, sometimes it felt like too many clients thought,  "All attorneys are rich. Why should I pay mine?!"

At one talk I was giving about Divorce, I discussed attorney fees. Someone in the audience said, "Well you can just sue for your fees." And I quoted my profession: "That's called earning your fee twice." Point taken!

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Most definitely.

I think of the terms ""Entry level"" and ""the Minors and the Majors.""
Previous experience can teach knowledge and skills and give one practice in dealing with procedures and people. And reading budgets.
My first piece of advice is to encourage citizens, and especially prospective candidates, to attend city council and school board meetings and get appointed to a citizen board or commission that is also part of the government process.
When I served on Ferndale's Charter Revision Commission, I learned an approach that I believe men who've been in sports take for granted. I learned that you don't need to like everyone on the team to work together to get the ball between the goalposts.
As Chair of that body, I practiced a lot of graciousness and tact during public comments. I call that ""being politic.""
Campaigning is a graduate course in itself. From getting on the ballot-preferably by obtaining signatures from those you hope to be your constituents-to drafting both campaign literature and volunteers, answering questionnaires (such as this one!), being in interviews and forums, fundraising-it's a lot. A lot of working with people and that is key.

	While campaigning, one of my favorite exchanges was with a citizen who was sitting on a chair atop his steps.

""I'm Sherry Wells and I'm running for Mayor. What do you want me to know?""

He waved his arm towards the other chair and said, ""Have a seat!""

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

At a Community Conversation, my State Rep., Robert Wittenberg, who is now term-limited, gave his audience members an invitation to shadow him for a day. So I did.

During most of the afternoon session, he returned to his seat to press the button for a vote, but was otherwise nowhere to be seen. When he popped up to the balcony to ask if I had any questions, I asked where he'd been.
I was sitting where I could see his ""side of the aisle,"" which meant I was sitting above the Republicans. Which is where he had been, talking with them about bills and issues.
Another Representative told her audience about a bill that passed with bipartisan support. The Democrats had their reasons for it, but the Republicans favored it for different reasons. That was a wonderful example of seeking to learn where all sides can meet.

Every district is different. Because legislators vote on issues which affect other parts of the state, we do need to learn about realities and concerns in those areas.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Rep. Wittenberg told me that the legislators are asked to give background information and the committee which assigns these tries its best to make good matches. That was encouraging to hear. His committees were not meeting on the day that I shadowed him, so I looked up which ones were meeting that morning.

I attended Families, Children, and Seniors first, then Corrections. Each of them had organizations lined up to give presentations. That morning was about Senior programs for the first meeting. For Corrections, the challenges in recruiting and training Corrections Officers were the topics. Both meetings were fascinating and informative, even if I were there only as a private citizen.
I've studied the list of House committees and I think that a good fit for me would be Education; Families, Children, and Seniors; and Judiciary.

I suspect that anyone who read the previous pages of this questionnaire would likely come up with the same conclusion.

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