A Ride and An Example
Don Gilmore died on Wednesday. That might not mean much to people who have never heard of him. But it has some significance to me.

Gilmore, a former cop and deputy sheriff, served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991, representing the Columbus neighborhood where I grew up and spent my early adult years. I was the supervisor of the House's pages back in those days, a politically-disconnected employee who served at the pleasure of the powerful Democratic speaker, Vern Riffe.

Gilmore was a freshman Republican member of the House, dealing with budget matters in a rare late-night session. Like the representatives and other House staffers, I had to stay until the House adjourned. Gilmore knew that my wife Ann and I usually shared a ride to our downtown Columbus offices each day and that with her already home, I would be riding the bus late that night, maybe not walking through the door of our apartment until one in the morning. In the back of the House chamber, Gilmore approached me and asked, "Need a ride?"

As silly as it may seem, I felt a little like the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar felt when Jesus spoke to her one day. Knowing of the taboos against fraternization between Jews and Samaritans, not to mention those against men speaking to women in public in first century Palestine, she asked Jesus why he would do such a thing. Back when I worked for the State House of Representatives, no self-respecting Republican representative would have had much to do with an underling Democrat staffer. But Don Gilmore didn't care about all that.

We had an enjoyable chat during the half-hour ride home and occasionally thereafter, we had other such chats. What I learned and respected about Don Gilmore was that he was a down-to-earth guy whose overriding principle was that government ought to do its best to give people opportunities to live good lives.

In the Associated Press article I read recounting Don Gilmore's death, another former state representative who I knew better than Gilmore in those days--Mike Stinziano, a Democrat who came from the neighborhood next to mine--commented, "Don was an extremely independent guy. He always fought hard for his constituents, much to the dismay of the party leaders."

These days, I'm a Republican making my own bid for the state House of Representatives in the area where I live now. (I'll remain as a pastor serving Friendship Church, no matter if I'm elected or not.) But if I am elected to serve in Columbus, I won't emulate the fire-breathing ideologues who grab headlines and create gridlock. I'll try to be a principled guy who works hard for my constituents.

Don Gilmore always seemed to remember that a better word for "constituents" is "people." He remembered that those people were the ones who paid his salary and whether they said it or not, depended on him to do a good job.

Thanks for the ride, Don, and thanks for the good example.