Unsung Hero: Mississippi's Elaine Vechorik
Elaine Vechorik was honored with the Vernon K. Krieble Foundation's 2015 Unsung Hero Award at the State Policy Network 23rd Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, MI. Below is the speech she gave upon accepting the award. It has been posted here with her permission.
When Ms. Krieble called to tell me I won this year's Unsung Hero award, she asked for a speech and said: “Don't be too modest.” I took her advice. I sat down and listed the things I accomplished and I listed the times I failed.
After I tell you about my success, I want to tell you about my failures, so maybe you'll understand why you might be failing – or why people you know – freedom fighters, who “just want to do something,” – might be failing.
My failures show how downright difficult it is for a new person to break into the freedom movement and to find a place to work.
So put down your phones and let's have a talk.
After my husband and I developed a successful business, I saw, that for the first time in my life, I had some free time. I wanted to do something for liberty. I have only been – what you would call an activist – for three years.
When you're lucky enough to find the right people, like I did, and band together – it's amazing what you can accomplish. Here are a few things I've been involved in:
Like many of you, I believe in Second Amendment rights. The National Rifle Association does not handle local issues. Here are some that I worked on.
I led a successful letter-writing campaign to get no-gun signs removed from Mississippi welcome centers and rest stops.
A friend and I stopped the Department of Public Safety's proposed gun permit price increase -- by simply pointing out that only the legislature has that authority.
I saw that Mississippi had the lowest income of the nation, yet we paid the fifth highest price for gun permits. I asked my Representative to introduce a bill to lower the cost and I worked to help him pass it. Instead of a $6 price increase the Department of Public Safety wanted, they had to give a $40-dollar decrease.
We created a citizen grievance procedure. It's the first time in Mississippi history that any citizen can ask for an Attorney General's opinion about gun law. Before, only elected officials could ask.
We ended the law that allowed gun confiscation during natural disasters.
All of my victories aren't gun related. I led a successful campaign to end Mississippi's vehicle safety inspection program. This saves taxpayers more than $3 million dollars annually. I grew a Facebook page to more than 22,000 fans where I help other Mississippi groups. I like to help the Mississippi Center for Public Policy explain legislation. We're currently working to get dead people off Medicaid and to reform civil asset forfeiture.
In three years, I accomplished more than I ever thought I could, but I also failed quite a bit. Here are three ways I failed and the lessons I learned.
Lesson One: If you want to fail, write a blog, op-eds or reports no one reads or cares about.
My first attempt to join the liberty movement was with the local Tea Party. We monitored our small town board of Aldermen and I wrote letters to the editor. One day, the editor told me that my letters are considered political ads. If I wanted them in print, I'd have to pay by column inch.
So, I stopped writing letters. The truth is, my letters were just an ego-trip. All of that letter-writing and flag-waving at rallies to “educate the people” failed to change one thing.
Lesson Two: If you want to fail, join a party or a movement that cares more about fund-raising and vote-totals than it cares about fixing problems.
After I put down my pen, I thought I could become an insider if I joined my county Republican party.
I soon realized the only thing they cared about was getting Republicans elected. They never questioned the party platform or the job performance of any Republican. I had to admit -- I wasn't accomplishing anything to advance liberty. Once again, I had failed.
Lesson Three: If you want to fail, spend your time complaining instead of training.
After I was disillusioned by party politics, I realized I knew very little about my own county and state. The happiest day of my life is when I decided to tune out all of the national issues I could do nothing about and concentrate on local and state issues that I could change.
I formed a group of about 20 people willing to do the same and we met in local restaurants.
After awhile, I realized our meetings were nothing but gripe sessions. I knew we needed work, but I didn't know what that could be, much less, how to do it. The group slowly died. Once again, I had failed.
But, I kept trying. I learned to not waste people's time and I was tired of wasting my time. I learned to be careful who I follow.
So, this is what finally worked for me. These are my three tips for success:
Lesson One: If you want success, listen to experts.
Three years ago, I joined a new state organization called Mississippi for Liberty. They insisted that I get some training, so I did.
Besides learning a lot, training connected me with many friends and experts in their field.
It's also good to know I can call Mississippi Center for Public Policy to brain-storm a specific issue.
My best friend in liberty is a Mississippi gun law expert who worked for Mississippi agencies. He taught me a lot about bureaucrats.
Lesson Two: If you want success, be a dreamer and never give up. Big victories come from small beginnings.
I told my gun-law-expert friend that I wanted to get open firearm carry for Mississippi. He said Mississippi already has it – it's just blocked by confusing legislation.
He told me that our State Constitution says open firearm carry cannot be legislated. That astounded me. No one had done anything to correct that conflicting legislation in more than 30 years!
My friend and I had quite a celebration the day our bill passed for open firearm carry without license. It was our first big victory. It proved we can make a difference. We went on to help develop and pass more than a dozen other pieces of legislation.
Lesson Three: If you want success, keep it simple. Don't make issues too complicated.
When deciding what bills to work on, I focus on “obvious and simple." There's already too much unfair, ridiculous and complicated stuff out there.
To me, it was obvious that our vehicle safety-inspection program should end, simply because the inspections weren't performed and the money the state received didn't even cover the cost of the program.
Bills to end the program were introduced every year since 2008 and they always failed.
It took three years of concentrated effort, and many loud voices, but we never let off the pressure, and we won.
In closing, I admit that I need more training. I need more help. I need to become a better leader. Maybe you need all those things too. I have confidence those things will come in time. Even if they don't, I will not hide behind excuses. I won't let my shortcomings stop me from trying now.
I'm very grateful for this award. I'm already looking for ways to capitalize on it. It gave me this time with you today – an opportunity to issue this challenge.
I challenge you to look for someone like me in your state. Not me as I am now – receiving an award – I mean look for the person who failed. Look for someone willing to try, open the door to them, direct them to training, encourage them, help them make connections.
Don't wait and hope that someone fully-qualified knocks on your door, because you can make it happen for someone, like training by Mississippi for Liberty and other freedom-loving groups made it happen for me.
May you be blessed with many Unsung Heroes in your state.
- Elaine Vechorik, 2015 Unsung Hero