Requires listening

Rep. Joe Schmick is one of the most gracious men I have known in both my professional career and personal life. He’s thoughtful and direct and tells you how things are. While he is soft-spoken, he doesn’t sugar coat things and he carefully considers your input, even when he doesn’t necessarily agree. I’ve found him to be very open and a wealth of knowledge about the issues facing our state government.

It was surprising to me, then, to see how rudely Rep. Schmick was treated by his opponent at the recent voter’s forum in Pullman last week. His opponent came across as condescending, arrogant and...