A modest proposal for ground-level action for democracy: Get out and talk to your LOCAL elected officials.

Our federal government is failing to protect the fundamental checks and balances of our constitution. So, let’s get down to the ground level of local democracy. Here’s how:

What:

• Attend local meetings of city, township, and county boards and councils.
• Make a statement during the public comment period.
• Talk about local impacts, impacts on you and your family.
• Point out that overturning the rule of law will break local government, too.
• Ask how local elected officials plan to protect their communities.
• Bring your friends.
• Notify the press.

Why:

• Local officials are elected, they (should) believe in democracy.
• They are your most direct link to the democratic process.
• They take an oath of office (look up theirs).
• They are directly accountable to you.
• They are accessible (you don’t have to go to Washington).
• They manage local budgets (should know which funds come from federal sources).
• They do the hard day-to-day work of managing potholes, emergencies, crime, parks, trash pick-up, etc. (Say thanks!)
• They have to work together to fix problems, regardless of political leanings.
• They are on the front lines in a crisis.
• They are a link to the bigger political environment, they will spread the word (whether they agree or not).

How:

• Investigate your state’s open meeting laws.
• Look up local government meeting times/places.
• Check agendas and previous meeting minutes to understand the meeting flow.
• Recruit supporters.
• Write out your remarks.
• Practice if you’re nervous.
• Alert local news; send your remarks.

What to say:

• Bring impacts home, make it personal.
• Identify local impacts of the coup, these are essential draw the links between federal actions and local citizens.
• Immediate impacts to you or your family.
• Impacts to local programs that depend of federal support (≈30% of many country budgets depend on federal funds).
• Cascading impacts on communities. e.g. on jobs, housing, education, and other things these officials care about.
• Your worries for future impacts.
• These can be a few words off the top of your head, or a deep dive into the data.

Formalities:

• Be polite.
• Acknowledge that local officials are doing the hard, invisible work of keeping the place running.
• Be respectful while others business is conducted.

What to ask (maximum of ≈3 items):

• Ask the body to consider a resolution opposing anti-democratic actions.
• Ask them to document impacts to residents/schools/roads/parks, etc.
• Are they prepared to manage impacts? Will they take over alerting citizens about dangerous storms, food and medicine recalls, infectious disease outbreaks? If not, then who will?
• Ask them to invite your congressperson to meet constituents.
• Ask them to commit to upholding the rule of law.
• Ask how they will help people who lose health services, social services, etc.
• Ask if they have a plan to assist residents with loss of personal data.
• (An ask is not essential.)

Extra Credit:

• Get to know your council people personally.
• Speak at other meetings (planning board, school board, park & recreation board, etc)
• Repeat, repeat, repeat!

Don’t expect an immediate response. This strategy is only going to work over time, like drops of water eroding stone.