The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.

&8212; Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Montgomery can seem like a long way from Shelby County. Sure, by car the trip takes little more or less than one hour but there are times when ideas, legislation or sound bites coming out of Montgomery leave many of us scratching our heads wondering &8220;where did that come from?&8221;

Representative Cam Ward is working to make that disconnect between Montgomery and Shelby County disappear. You see, Representative Ward is implementing an online survey [scheduled to begin this Friday] asking those he represents what they want from State government and specifically what they want from the member of the House of Representatives they elected. The survey will also be mailed throughout Ward&8217;s district in hopes that those more comfortable responding on paper rather than online will do so.

Ward&8217;s idea, while basic in its intent, is brilliant in its approach; find out what the people want from state government in ways that are convenient to them.

Nothing will ever replace the face-to-face interaction between a citizen and those elected to represent them but increasing the dialog between the two can only help to make our state and our county stronger.

Now we must all know that simply requesting something on a survey will not necessarily make it come to pass but my expectation is that it will certainly improve the chances.

Those taking the survey will have the chance to select their first and second choice for a wide range of topics and voice their opinion on several questions facing the upcoming legislative session. The survey will take only a few minutes to complete and can be found by visiting www.camward.com; you should find a link to the survey beginning this Friday.

So take time to complete the survey and let your opinions be heard. Representative Ward is reaching out to us with this survey asking that we let him know what we want done in Montgomery this legislative session; the least we can do is respond.

And one thing we must all recognize as we share our opinions for the upcoming legislative session:

Sometimes the right thing to do is not necessarily the most popular thing; that is where statesmanship begins