How to get involved in local politics: A BEGINNERS GUIDE
We keep hearing that we should ‘get involved’ in local government. But short of running for office, what does this mean?
As the January 20 inauguration approaches, we keep hearing that we should ‘get involved’ in local government. But how? What does this mean?
I became active in local and state government post-pandemic. While I had been writing about (mostly) national politics before that time, I had rarely attended a local county meeting and had only been to our state capitol once.
The pandemic gave me breathing time to get up the nerve.
It is one thing to sit in a home office and write Opinion pieces about politics from a distance, from the safety of a computer screen. It is a whole other experience to attend meetings and feel like you belong there.
But YOU DO BELONG there.
You are a citizen. You pay taxes. And most of all, you care. You may not be an elected official but you are a stakeholder, and government meetings are open to the public. In fact, it is a requirement that meeting dates/times are publicly available and that the public may attend.
HOW TO START — LOCAL LEVEL
You can find local and state meeting information online, and many meetings are streamed live which means you can (if you need to) watch from home.
When I want to know what’s happening locally, I go to our County Government Facebook page or website. Fiscal Court meetings are listed on the front page. Poke around the website and you will likely find other open/public meeting times and agendas for the zoning board, economic development, city council, etc…
School Board meetings, which happen once a month in my county, are here.
Put a meeting or two on your calendar. Go alone or with a friend. Show up a little early. Find a seat and introduce yourself to the people you see there, including your elected representative. You don’t need to have an agenda, you just need to get a feel for how it works.
This is how you begin.
HOW TO START — STATE LEVEL
Find the website for your state and start navigating it to get comfortable.
These websites can be cumbersome but you really can figure it out in short time, and it is well worth your efforts.
Here is where you will find a list of all legislators, their bios and contact information, the bills they have sponsored and are currently sponsoring, the committees they sit on and chair, etc…
Find your state senator and state rep. Bookmark them. Put their email and phone number in your contact list. Keep track of what they are doing. Send them a very short email introducing yourself and compliment them on recent work.
This is how you begin.
Kentucky state government meets in Frankfort, our state capital, during the entire first quarter of each year. For the rest of the year — spring, summer, fall — when they are not in session, they may hold monthly committee and task force meetings and you can attend those, too. You can find that information here.
These interim meetings are key because they typically signal what the priorities will be for the upcoming session. These meetings are also lightly attended and a more casual way to get you used to going to your state capitol, meeting people, and getting comfortable being there outside of the crowded/busy time of the General Session.
Find out what committees your state senator and representative sit on. Note meeting times, agendas, and meeting minutes — all of which you should find online. If you have certain area of interest (mine is firearm legislation), determine committees which address the issues most important to you.
Word of caution. It is easy to feel overwhelmed because there is A LOT, which can lead people to think it’s too much and give up. You can avoid this by staying focused on your own representatives and areas of interest.
If you live close enough to spend some time at your state capitol, I highly recommend it. Again, you are a voter and a taxpayer. You belong there.
You might go the first time just to figure out where to park, take a tour, and grab lunch in the cafeteria where lawmakers are also grabbing lunch.
Make a plan to go again. Put a meeting or two on your calendar. Attend some committee meetings in person (something I find much more valuable than sitting in the House and Senate galleries).
You may also be able to watch meetings (year-round, both during session and in the interim period) online. Bookmark this on your computer. I often have committee meetings running in the background while I am in my office doing other work. It’s a great way to stay informed.
This is a lot of information, so I’ll stop here and leave you with this.
Getting involved can feel intimidating in the beginning.
Keep. Going.
Like all new things, you will soon become comfortable navigating the online information and attending meetings in person. And I promise you that getting involved beats the hell out of sitting at home, watching cable news, posting on and scrolling social media, and feeling helpless.
GET TO KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS
I made myself a presence in local politics starting in 2021. There is no better way to get to know your neighbors, your town, and your state.
I started going regularly to the Kentucky state capitol in 2023. The first time I went I did not even know which building the committee meetings were held in or that regular citizens could attend the meetings. The first time I testified at a hearing I wondered if I my hands would stop shaking.
My hands still shake. I am often uncomfortable — STILL — attending certain meetings and speaking to elected officials and lawmakers, but I do it anyway, and I make it a habit to stay in touch with many of them.
Before Christmas, I stopped by our local Judge Executive’s office just to say hello. He invited me in and we had a nice conversation that had nothing to do with governing.
A local magistrate attends my church. I first met him at Fiscal Court. We are now friends and I call or text him anytime I have a question or just to chat.
Yesterday, I called and booked a 15 minute meeting with my state representative, in his office at the capitol, for February 12 at 10:00 a.m. It is on my calendar. I have made the commitment.
Too often, women do not get involved because we are afraid. Afraid that we don’t belong. Afraid we don’t know enough or have the experience. Afraid we will make an embarrassing mistake in public. Afraid we will be scrutinized over some little thing or get our picture in the local newspaper or on social media with a quote.
Some of this may happen — and all of it has happened to me — but these are the normal passages of a fulfilling and interesting life, a life of learning and standing up for the things you care about.
All you have to do, today, is commit to begin.
You’ve been an inspiration to me. Your suggestion to avoid being overwhelmed by “so much needs to be done,” to just PICK ONE was the key for me. It’s just ME, 83, rural Ohio making a little difference. I use the analogy of being just a drop but many drops coming together make the ocean. Thank you.
I have considered doing this in the past, partly inspired by your own efforts, Teri, but also because I thought it might be interesting. Now I have your how-to and your encouragement so...I think I will. The March 3 Lawrenceburg City council meeting is now on my Google calendar.