The passion and spirit of idealism about public service is not easy to maintain. The weight of reality hits, the sense of anxiety in state government that rises with the deficit, the feeling that the challenges are too great. The work of governing does not rest. It is why we need citizen legislators in Olympia more than ever, and even why Thomas Jefferson spoke against the institutionalization of political power.

Today, the hope and idealism of President Obama’s 2008 election meets the 2009 cold, hard reality of trying to push for health care, financial systems reform, withdrawl from Iraq and other challenges. We settle into a routine of struggle against political and policy reality from Washington, D.C. to Olympia. We are inspired; we are terrified.

Our great grandparents tell us that today’s economic slump is no 1930s Depression. And somehow we know that they are right. But the structural change in our economy is beyond comparison in generations, and it feels different than anything we’ve felt in our lives. The feeling that we live in dramatically changing times in terms of jobs, cost of living, housing and even perhaps the stresses of raising a family. Boeing moves a major piece of production to South Carolina; the tunnel debate staggers along without end; taxes seem to rise with questionable outcomes; hundreds apply for a good job that used to attract 3 or 4 people; families struggle. Yet our idealism inspires us to believe in building community together.

We know that Washington is special. Deep down we wonder if we have the courageous honesty and bold conviction to keep our quality of life strong. We seem to be losing our footing. With natural beauty and resources, we’ve always done well. But we live in a time of intellectual capital and we can’t help but to question if we’re up for the task. Washington’s quality of life is simply amazing and UHaul’s arrive daily despite our troubles. Still, we suspect we are letting it slip away through our own inability to charge forward into the new century and embrace the systems challenges of our time. Our crime could be an inability to match our state’s potential with the public’s need.

Tuesday is election day.

One year ago I was elected at the bottom of the same ballot as Barack Obama during a time when spirit and hope carried our nation higher than we’ve been in a long time. Whether my public career lasts two years or twenty, it’s something I will always treasure. It is so humbling. I embraced Obama’s deeper message of hope and change from Day One when my friend Michael Parham pushed and prodded me to look closely at the man from Chicago.

After a year of service I am struck by the deep systems challenges we face as a state and a nation. Health care; education; tax reform; economic restructuring; employment and so much more.

I ran for the Legislature because I am impatient for a new approach to old problems, for change that’s real, for progressive policies that value both our rights and our responsibilities as citizens. I hope to bring a small spark of entrepreneurial energy to public service.

Like the parents who elected me, I am distressed with our approach to our schools, our state’s paramount duty. We argue over whether to allow a “D” as a passing grade in Seattle Public Schools while the graduation rate hovers around 62%, frozen in time by the institutional grip of 20th Century structures and an unwillingness to embrace risk. Our universities are struggling to transform themselves. Our public infrastructure needs a new look. I visit foster homes, homeless shelters and food banks where poverty and tension is exposed in its raw power. I am thrown back to the loneliness and humiliation of my own childhood and I see anxiety in faces that used to be mine. Their journey seems more difficult.

I’ve spoken out on tough issues and made many mistakes in my short year of service. Some freshman follies, others more serious. I have not gone through my first year quietly. Many have told me that is a mistake to speak out and I know intellectually that they are correct. But my passion is the driving energy that inspires me to believe we can be so much more and to push for systems thinking. It is the soul of my idealism and the heart of my willingness to engage in policy on behalf of those who have no voice.

We can be so much more than what we’ve become.

We settle too easily into resisting the work of tackling structural challenges. We will have 2 million more people come to our state in the next 20 years. We are not ready. Regardless of who is the new Mayor and Executive and other local elected officials, I hope they will stand with us together to build a new relationship with Olympia so that we can–together–tackle the pressing issues of our time. Part of the opportunity of this crisis is to realize that together we can do all those things we cannot do alone. Seattle needs Olympia and Olympia needs Seattle. We are in this together. We need a “Nixon goes to China” approach to government reform.

Our state works, and sometimes very well, but when it doesn’t work well we speak in hushed tones instead of openly and boldly. Once elected, we are expected to defend the institution of government regardless of the merits of the case. Like all organizations perhaps, the burden of incumbency is that we inevitably muffle our outrage because we’re part of the institutional infrastructure of government.

After a year of service, I continue to struggle, on a deeply emotional and spiritual level, to find the balance between keeping my passion in check and ensuring I can be effective on important issues. I continue to struggle with a simmering resentment about the lack of efficiency and financial honesty in some public programs. I say this of course not from an anti-government, anti-tax rhetorical perspective but from a pro-government, progressive viewpoint. We need to do much better. I continue to struggle with old fashioned stereotypes and cliches about how each legislator from each district is “supposed” to vote, according to the institutional infrastructure of state government.

Like all legislators with young children, the stress on my family has not been easy. Wendy has been the rock of our family for the past two years. Yet we are grateful for the opportunity to grow together through this experience. I’m beyond thrilled to be back at work as an entrepreneur working with wonderful start up companies and connecting with passionate technology folks who want to make a difference in the world through new ideas. Without this personal and professional part of my life to lift me up, public service would not be the right fit for me.

I am deeply impressed with many of those in Olympia and in state government who are so deeply committed to public service and public issues. The activists, staff, legislators, lobbyists and more who care deeply about issues and ideas do our state proud. Most are good and decent and gracious people who are in the battle for all of the right reasons. I honor their service and admire their conviction. I’ve learned so much from them.

It feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to serve the people of the 36th District, Seattle and our entire state.

It is much harder and more rewarding than I expected.

Your partner in service, Reuven.