MEET WITH YOUR COUNCILMEMBER/MAYOR

Meeting and developing a personal relationship with your elected representatives and their staff is the most effective method of lobbying.  You can arrange an individual meeting or a group meeting with your councilmember, mayor and his or her staff, and you can meet them either in City Hall or during their district office hours.  To make your meeting as successful as possible, here are some helpful steps that you can take: 

BEFORE YOUR MEETING 

1. Learn about the issues at SOSsj.com/learn.html. This area of the website is designed to help you learn more about the Fiscal Crisis at the City of San José, the magnitude of the budget deficit and the drastic service cuts that are planned.

2. If possible, organize a group of constituents. Invite key civic, religious, social, professional and neighborhood leaders.  You can either arrange one large meeting with these leaders of 10-15 people or arrange several smaller meetings spread out over time of 3-5 people each.  If you go as a group, assign one person to lead the meeting to ensure that the meeting stays organized and one person to take notes during the meeting to ensure that all participants get a written record of the meeting.  Also, make sure that every attendee understands and agrees to the goal of the meeting and has a clear set of points to make during the meeting.  Points that speak to the concerns of the leader's specific constituency are particularly effective.

3. Schedule a meeting.  At least two weeks before you would like to meet with your councilmember or the mayor, call, fax or email a letter to the representative’s scheduler.  You can obtain your representatives’ names and phone numbers by clicking here.

4. Learn about your councilmember and the mayor.  You can do so by visiting his or her website and doing basic internet research – learn some of his or her biographical information, voting record, previous budget actions, committee assignments and policy and personal interests.

5. Practice what you are going to say.  Speakers are most effective when they have rehearsed their material.  Practice what you are going to say so that you’re as sharp as you can be when the actual meeting takes place.  If you have a group, consider holding a practice session prior to the actual meeting.

6. Confirm your appointment one week before the meeting and within 24 hours of the meeting. 

AT YOUR MEETING 

1. Thank your councilmember, the mayor or his or her staff person for meeting with you.

2. Establish a personal connection with your councilmember, the mayor or his or her staff person, but don’t spend too much time with small talk, as you have limited time and want to be sure to use that time to discuss the issues that you came to discuss.

3. Introduce yourself (if you are with a larger group, have everyone in the group introduce themselves).  Mention that you are a constituent(s).  Describe your profession(s) and your role(s) in the community. 

4. If you are there to support saving or eliminating a service, then mention the specific service, give the reasons why you support saving or eliminating the service, and why you think your representative should adopt your position.  If you have informational materials in support of your position, give them to your councilmember, the mayor and/or his or her staff person.

5. Ask your councilmember, the mayor or his or her staff person for his or her thoughts or questions about your request and reasons.  Take careful notes on his or her thoughts, questions or concerns.

If he or she is supportive of your request, then ask him or her to assist by speaking out in favor of your position, asking his or her colleagues to support your position, or forwarding informational materials to his or her colleagues.  Offer to be a resource to support his or her efforts. 

If he or she is opposed to or angered by your request, or makes ill-informed comments, don’t get angry or rude in response; just go home and educate more and more of his or her constituents.  The more constituents that he or she hears from, the more likely he or she will learn more about the issue, understand the depth of support among his or her constituents and review his or her positions. 

If he or she is noncommittal, then ask what else you can do to help him or her make a commitment, and ask when he or she expects to take a position. 

Finally, if he or she wants further information or asks a question to which you don’t have an answer, say that you’ll get back to him or her with an answer.  If you can’t easily find the information on the SOSsj.com website within one day of your call, then give the District 1 council office a call and we will help you find it (408-535-4901). 

6. Provide your contact information and request the contact information of your councilmember, the mayor or his or her staff person so that you can effectively follow up.

7. End your meeting on a positive note.  Thank your councilmember, the mayor or his or her staff person for taking the time to meet with you.

AFTER YOUR MEETING 

1. Send your councilmember, the mayor and/or his or her staff person a thank you letter the day after the meeting.

2. Fax or email any informational materials that you said you would.  If you send an email, request that the recipient(s) confirm that they have received it.  If you send a fax, call the office immediately to confirm that they have received it.

3. Immediately after your call, fill out and submit a Meeting Evaluation Form online at SOSsj.com/evaluation, by fax to (408) 333-9621 or by email to evaluations@SOSsj.com.

4. Follow up with your councilmember, the mayor and/or his or her staff person on the issue that you met about and work to develop a relationship.  If you are unable to reach the appropriate staff person, then leave a message.  Be persistent, but professional, in all of your follow up communications.

PROTOCOL 
Remember to be polite.  Always say please and thank you.  And never shout or yell at your elected representatives or their staff.