Elected officials don’t know what’s important to you unless you tell them. Letters and emails are great for a targeted campaign, but visits build the relationships that create change. Visits give you an opportunity to tell your story and explain why an issue is important to you. You also get to know the elected official and their concerns on the issue. Sometimes, you may only speak with the elected official’s staff. These visits are important, too, as the hard-working staff members research issues and compile information for the elected official.
Local Government Visits
Local elected officials have a smaller constituency and often are more accessible. Meeting with a mayor, council member, county commissioner, or other local elected official is a great way to get started in advocacy. Most local governments have webpages with contact information for the elected officials. Here are examples of how these pages look for some cities: Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, Lubbock, Pecos. Search for the name of your city and the elected office (e.g., Waxahachie city council) online to find the information for your community. Use this information to contact the elected official and schedule a meeting.
Speaking at a city council meeting is a way to publicly advocate for a local issue. High level staff members, such as city managers and department heads, attend the meetings, and all will hear your story. Texas law requires city councils to publicly post their meeting schedule and allow public participation. Many cities have rules and procedures for public participation. It’s important to find this information before speaking to the council. Here are examples of rules and procedures for speaking to some city councils: Dallas, El Paso, Houston, San Antonio. The smaller the city, the fewer the rules may be for speaking. If you don’t find this information online, call the city secretary’s of clerk’s office to get the information.
State and National Government Visits
State and national elected officials split their time between the capitol and their home district. You can call and visit them in either place, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t make the trip to the capitol. Who Represents Me will tell you who your state and national senators and representatives are and how to contact their office.
U.S. Representatives and Senators may have townhall meetings when the legislature is in recess, particularly if it’s an election year. Use the Town Hall Project to find out if a town hall meeting is being held in your city.
Resources for Visits
Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston Speaks to City Council
Members of TxIPL’s local network in Houston advocated for climate resilience and environmental stewardship at the Houston city council meeting on April 17, 2018. Follow the link, and then scroll down the Meeting Index tab until you see the link for Public Speakers. The first IENoH speaker, Carol Burrus, is at 23:25 on the video. Note the effective model they used for speaking to city representatives.
- Tell the council where you live in the city and your voting district.
- Show your knowledge of the issue by thanking the council for things they've already accomplished on the issue.
- Tell the story of why the issue is important to you.
- Ask the council to do more.
Faithful Advocacy: Betsy Calls Her Legislator
Even a short phone call matters. This 2:37 minute video explains how to make an effective advocacy call.
Weekly Witness Discusses Texas Senate District Office Visits
Texas Impact's Weekly Witness interviews Cathy Herzog, who is a former District Director for a Texas Senator. District offices offer a way to interact with state senators and their staff without going to Austin. Ms. Herzog discusses how distict offices function and how to effectively use them to communicate with your state senator.
In this 6:23 minute video, Texas legislative staff give advice about effective communication with Texas legislators. It includes a humorous enactment of an advocacy visit to show what should (and shouldn't!) be done when visiting elected officials.
Faithful Advocacy: Telling Your Story at the Capitol
This 7:25 minute YouTube video shows how to effectively advocate at a public hearing of the Texas legislator. Some of the information also is useful for speaking at a city council meeting.
Preparing for a Town Hall Meeting
Interfaith Power and Light’s Town Hall Toolkit gives tips to help prepare for speaking at a town hall meeting.