I have been reading a number of letters written by concerned citizens criticizing Rep. Greg Walden. I finally decided that it was time for me to introduce a different side to the ones that I had been reading.

Last March I was invited by the e-commerce website Etsy to go back to Washington, D.C., and talk to our congressmen and congresswomen about two things that could have a negative effect on microbusinesses. Most of the shops on the Etsy platform are considered microbusinesses. The two main topics that we wanted to discuss were net neutrality and online sales tax.

Etsy flew in 26 vendors from across the country, and they wanted to hear our stories on how our shops came to be, our successes, our failures and what we had learned from starting an online business. Then we discussed what effect having online sales tax would have on our business and if we thought net neutrality would have any effect on how our shops are seen. We spent the entire day stating opinions and sharing stories with each other, trying to get an understanding on how things affect each of us differently.

We were divided into five groups, and we were scheduled to travel as a group to visit our representatives for the next two days and talk to them about our concerns about net neutrality and online sales tax.

On the first day we went to Speaker Pelosi’s office but met with her aide. She was sympathetic to our concerns and told us that she would pass it along to Speaker Pelosi. Then we went to Rep. Virginia Foxx. She was very cordial but didn’t seem aware of why we were there with these concerns but said she would look into it. After two more uneventful stops in which we talked to the aides and not our elected official, we ended up in Greg Walden’s office.

When we walked into the waiting room he had large pictures showing the beauty of Oregon that we take for granted. The others were in awe of our landscape as none of them had visited our lovely state. We were finally invited into his office, and he greeted each of us with a smile and a handshake. We sat down around a table and then he asked why we were here and what could he help us with.

As I started to engage with him on the topics he startled all of us as he actually knew what we were talking about and engaged in a meaningful dialogue with us. He was the only member of Congress whom we had met with that day who showed any concern about our needs. As we walked out of his office everybody mentioned how they wished that he was their representative. It made me proud that we are represented by someone who, whether or not you have the same political views he holds, is willing to not only discuss something but be knowledgeable on the topic.

I am not easily impressed, especially when it comes to politicians, but I left there with an entirely different view of Rep. Walden. I hope that you will take the time to consider that in this time of such partisanship we have someone who can make us all proud to call ourselves Oregonians.

— Tom Snell lives in Bend.