At our November general meeting, our guest Monette Richards, president of CFI Northeast Ohio, gave us some tips and ideas on how to become citizen lobbyists after the recent election.
Richards explained that you really only need to call the local office of your elected officials and make an appointment to speak to them. Some represenatives hold office hours where they meet people without a formal appointment. When you go to the appointment have some talking points to give to the official or their staff.
The thing she stressed is to do it. Big donor money gets a lot of attention and our only way to get through that noise is to personally speak to the elected people or their staffs and let them know what you think.
Richards also said it is good to find established groups that are working on a issue you feel strongly about and join them so you aren’t reinventing the wheel.
She also suggested a book, The Citizen Lobbyist by Amanda Knief and Rev. Barry W. Lynn, as a good primer. And if you need to invent the wheel because there isn’t an established group, the Skeptical Activism Campaign Manual will help start the ball rolling.
SHoWLE member Peggy C. also suggested a website called 5 Calls.
Our next general meeting is December 8th.
