Comments | melograna: Things I wish I'd known sooner, part I

melograna

Things I wish I'd known sooner, part I

Jan 29, 2007 14:22

Your elected officials will listen to you if you contact them with a complaint. You know the pseudo-statistic that says that every letter or call an elected official receives also represents the feelings of 3,000 people who didn't get in touch? I never wrote to my Congressmembers because I thought, "I'm nobody important, so why would they pay ( Read more... )

Comments 6

sarah_raz January 29 2007, 21:29:49 UTC

This is so true! And so few people realize it. There's always the occasional asshole who's been in office for 6 zillion years and doesn't care, but that's a rarity. Most *need* to care.

melograna January 29 2007, 21:55:27 UTC

Most of them do take the "civil servant" thing pretty seriously. (Besides, if they don't they don't get reelected.) I'm pretty impressed. And very surprised they're as accessible as they are.

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melograna January 30 2007, 15:04:41 UTC

Call your city Councilwoman, Letitia James (http://www.nyccouncil.info/constituent/member_details.cfm?con_id=86) -- who happens to sit on the parks and recreation committee -- and ask her office for help. If her office can't help they should be able to point you someplace else.

Thread 6

ris_arific January 31 2007, 15:38:37 UTC

Can I just tell you that Letitia James rocks? Last week Jenna had emailed her about the issue of cyclists requiring parade permits to ride in large groups. (Bloomberg and Christine Quin were both supporting this.) Within a few hours, the phone rang and it was none other than Letitia James herself. How cool? She listened to Jenna. She expressed her disappointment that Christine Quin of all people is pushing for it. She said that she fell on the side of the cyclists. Very cool. That totally opened my eyes. I never thought emails like that would get through to officials. I assumed they'd just get a standard reply from an intern or maybe used as data collected to see how contituents feel. It's empowering.

melograna January 31 2007, 15:53:36 UTC

Yeah, I've been very impressed by the dedication of the electeds I work with. They do listen, and they do follow up. I love that James called back in person. Makes you feel important, doesn't it? Which means we get more involved, which makes for a stronger community that better represents those who live there.