THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF OFFICE WITH REPRESENTATIVE BRAD PAQUETTE

By DEBRA HAIGHT
14BCR Correspondent

NILES – It’s been a whirlwind of a few weeks for new 78th State Rep. Brad Paquette. He took office in early January and has been busy in Lansing getting up to speed with committee assignments and meeting other legislators.

“I’m getting my feet on the ground, it’s all about relationship building, that’s the number one thing,” Paquette said last week in an interview with the Berrien County Record. “I’ve met so many amazing people and I’m already enjoying the process.”

Paquette won the 78th state house district seat last November, beating Democrat Dean Hill after easily outdistancing five others in a crowded Republican primary in August. He succeeds Dave Pagel who was term limited after serving three two-year terms as the 78th state representative.

The 78th state house district covers central and southern Berrien County as well as four Cass County townships.

Paquette spends Tuesday through Thursday every week in Lansing where he meets with others in the Republican caucus, attends committee meetings and works on bills and constituent requests in his office. This week was a little different as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gave her first “State of the State” address and Paquette brought his former boss, Niles New Tech Director Jerry Holtgren, as his guest to the speech.

Paquette is usually back in Southwest Michigan for four days to meet with constituents and community leaders. A typical week back in the district can mean everything from presenting tributes to a Niles Cub Scout troop and a retiring librarian at Andrews University to taking part in ribbon cuttings and attending local government and community meetings.

This week, he will be holding his first “office hours” at locations in Niles and Sawyer. In Niles, he will be at Atomic Bean Coffee, 205 E. Main St., from 11 a.m. to noon. He will be in Sawyer at Infusco Coffee, 5846 Sawyer Road, from 1-2 p.m. No appointments are necessary.

“I’m all about communicating,” he said. “I want to come up with ways to connect with people that won’t burden them. My slogan during the campaign was ‘care for a cup’ and that’s still my slogan. I’ll meet with people whenever and wherever I can … My fulltime job is to figure out the best way I can serve my constituents.”

Holding more “office hours” in coming weeks and months is just one of Paquette’s goals as he settles into his new job. He also wants to particularly meet with area educators. Until last fall, he was a teacher at Niles New Tech, a project based learning program of the Niles Community Schools.

“That’s why I left the classroom, I had people making decisions about my classroom who had never been in a classroom,” he said.

Meeting with other state representatives past and present is also important to him as he learns the ropes in his new job. He said he especially appreciates the guidance he’s gotten from Pagel, former State Sen. John Proos and current 59th State Rep. Aaron Miller.

“I’ve met with Dave Pagel and that has been very, very valuable,” Paquette said. “The more I can glean information from him and others, the better. Aaron Miller is also a good friend and he’s chair of the K-12 appropriations committee. He leads a Bible study I go to every Wednesday in Lansing. John Proos has also been a fantastic mentor.”

He’s getting plenty of advice and guidance right inside his Lansing office from his legislative director, Adam Mensinger. Mensinger is a Baroda native who served with Proos for eight years, often representing Proos at local events throughout Southwest Michigan when Proos couldn’t get away from Lansing.

Paquette is currently serving on three committees in the state house. He is vice-chair of the House Education Committee and also serves on the Elections and Ethics Committee, Insurance Committee and Government and Municipal Finance Committee.

All four assignments fit in well with the issues most important to him-and he believes-most important to area residents. He said he’s especially looking forward to putting his education knowledge to work in that committee. “That’s definitely my wheelhouse, people are already looking to me for guidance,” he said.

One of his goals is to work across the aisle with Democratic legislators. “I’m going to tour schools in Democratic districts including in Detroit and some Democrats are coming to Niles New Tech,” he said. “That’s a big priority for me.”

“There have been no glaring surprises,” he said about his impressions so far of state government. “I am surprised how open people are to give good advice and how they have pure intentions. People seem to be very cordial and open. I’m hoping having a Democratic governor will be good and people will have more incentive to get along.”