State lawmakers recently participated in a workshop designed to help them work together better.
Ted Celeste is former Ohio lawmaker who now runs a program for legislators who want to get along with colleagues from the opposing political party. He’s with the National Institute for Civil Discourse.
Celeste said he facilitated Delaware House members in generating mutual understanding and developing relationships.
“I think part of it is really taking the time to get to know each other more as people than as persons of the other side of the aisle or persons from a different faction within a caucus and really get to know them personally,” he said.
Celeste said the Delaware legislature has an advantage than other states because it’s small and people really get to know each other.
House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf said hard feelings at the end of the session in July on both sides of the aisle in part prompted some lawmakers’ interest in participating in the workshop.
“One of the members came to me and they said they thought it might be a good idea to bring the training to Delaware," he said. "The bottom line is when you have this training brought in, you have nothing to lose, you have only something to gain.”
Schwartzkopf said the training was good and while lawmakers have occasional disagreements with each other, they generally like and respect each other.
The Institute for Civil Discourse was started in 2011 in Arizona and is dedicated to promoting civil political debate.
