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How much experience do you have in talking to your elected officials?

by Frondo 11y ago

Frondo 11y ago
I'm a little disappointed by the downvotes, and the lack of response; I'm guessing the parent poster has zero experience actually engaging politically, and that's why they said the stuff they did about not having rational discussions with politicians. That stuff just sounds like shallow stereotyping, it doesn't sound like it reflects reality at all.
bko 11y ago
You're right, I don't regularly go talk to politicians. I wrote emails to a few politicians regarding some issue I felt strongly about and got a canned response that didn't say anything (I believe it was something about internet security or copyright laws and the response was how that politician understands my concern and thinks its important to balance security and simultaneously promote competition). I did consider going to local council meetings in my home town of New York City, but (without exception) every meeting takes place between late morning to early afternoon on a weekday so I am unable to attend [0]. It might be coincidental, but that kind of scheduling doesn't exactly scream out inclusion for average citizens. Maybe I'm just cynical. If you look at some of the minutes, it's incredibly dull and menial. I randomly selected Council Chambers - City Hall Jointly with the Committee on Consumer Affairs from 5/1: 1. A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the promotion of health and safety at nail salons. (NY Times article drummed up some controversy. Perhaps if they were to talk about immigration policy and extending more rights to undocumented workers, it would be interesting but from what I hear, this will amount to a shake-down and publicity event) 2. A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the posting of information related to services offered at licensed appearance enhancement businesses. (Yelp probably does a better job at this) 3. Resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, legislation amending the general business law to require periodic retraining of persons licensed to practice appearance enhancement and the Department of State to increase the number of health and safety inspectors who inspect appearance enhancement businesses. (More regulation of hair salons because, you know, public safety of getting a bad perm) 4. Resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, legislation amending the General Business Law to authorize the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to enforce State health and safety regulations against appearance enhancement establishments and to allow the Department to create a letter grading system for these establishments. (Letter grading hair salons? Really?) Maybe it's just a New York or US thing. But I personally lost faith in the democratic process for all but the absolutely most mundane and necessary processes required to run a locality. [0] http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/Calendar.aspx http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/Calendar.aspx
- Frondo 11y ago
  Being able to engage politically is a skill; it generally must be learned. Your city councilperson isn't going to care about internet security; what could they do about it even if they did? They are going to care about that boring, mundane shit involved in supporting the wide variety of businesses and citizens in a city. Hair salons are important to a lot of people, even if they're not important to you. Your state rep might have more to say about internet security or privacy or something, but if they're not actively involved, then you can't just go in and say "This is important, do this." Look for other politicians who are pushing privacy regulations for your state, and bring that to the attention of the politicians. Also, phone, don't email. They've all got a staff of one to several people responding to emails for them, and those people are all so busy that, if you want to build a rapport with them (to eventually be able to set up a 5-minute meeting with the representative in question!), the phone is the way to go. And remember: what's in it for them, if they're meeting with you? Are you informing them about one person's opinion? Do you represent 150 of your colleagues in NYC tech? Are you speaking on behalf of a trade organization, and these views are important to many voters, not just you? Yes, this all takes time. If you want to have an impact with the political route, you may have to reprioritize how you spend your free time.

How much experience do you have in talking to your elected officials?

by Frondo 11y ago

How much experience do you have in talking to your elected officials?

I'm a little disappointed by the downvotes, and the lack of response; I'm guessing the parent poster has zero experience actually engaging politically, and that's why they said the stuff they did about not having rational discussions with politicians. That stuff just sounds like shallow stereotyping, it doesn't sound like it reflects reality at all.

bko 11y ago

You're right, I don't regularly go talk to politicians. I wrote emails to a few politicians regarding some issue I felt strongly about and got a canned response that didn't say anything (I believe it was something about internet security or copyright laws and the response was how that politician understands my concern and thinks its important to balance security and simultaneously promote competition). I did consider going to local council meetings in my home town of New York City, but (without exception) every meeting takes place between late morning to early afternoon on a weekday so I am unable to attend [0]. It might be coincidental, but that kind of scheduling doesn't exactly scream out inclusion for average citizens. Maybe I'm just cynical. If you look at some of the minutes, it's incredibly dull and menial. I randomly selected Council Chambers - City Hall Jointly with the Committee on Consumer Affairs from 5/1: 1. A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the promotion of health and safety at nail salons. (NY Times article drummed up some controversy. Perhaps if they were to talk about immigration policy and extending more rights to undocumented workers, it would be interesting but from what I hear, this will amount to a shake-down and publicity event) 2. A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the posting of information related to services offered at licensed appearance enhancement businesses. (Yelp probably does a better job at this) 3. Resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, legislation amending the general business law to require periodic retraining of persons licensed to practice appearance enhancement and the Department of State to increase the number of health and safety inspectors who inspect appearance enhancement businesses. (More regulation of hair salons because, you know, public safety of getting a bad perm) 4. Resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, legislation amending the General Business Law to authorize the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to enforce State health and safety regulations against appearance enhancement establishments and to allow the Department to create a letter grading system for these establishments. (Letter grading hair salons? Really?) Maybe it's just a New York or US thing. But I personally lost faith in the democratic process for all but the absolutely most mundane and necessary processes required to run a locality. [0] http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/Calendar.aspx http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/Calendar.aspx

Frondo 11y ago
Being able to engage politically is a skill; it generally must be learned. Your city councilperson isn't going to care about internet security; what could they do about it even if they did? They are going to care about that boring, mundane shit involved in supporting the wide variety of businesses and citizens in a city. Hair salons are important to a lot of people, even if they're not important to you. Your state rep might have more to say about internet security or privacy or something, but if they're not actively involved, then you can't just go in and say "This is important, do this." Look for other politicians who are pushing privacy regulations for your state, and bring that to the attention of the politicians. Also, phone, don't email. They've all got a staff of one to several people responding to emails for them, and those people are all so busy that, if you want to build a rapport with them (to eventually be able to set up a 5-minute meeting with the representative in question!), the phone is the way to go. And remember: what's in it for them, if they're meeting with you? Are you informing them about one person's opinion? Do you represent 150 of your colleagues in NYC tech? Are you speaking on behalf of a trade organization, and these views are important to many voters, not just you? Yes, this all takes time. If you want to have an impact with the political route, you may have to reprioritize how you spend your free time.