Town Hall (pages 12-15 of Indivisible Guide)
The members of congress (MoC) often have town hall meetings to hear from their constituents. Call MoC’s staff to find out about when and where they will be. If you go to a town hall, it’s best to have several (not a lot of) people. Don’t sit together. Don’t take signs. Sit in different parts of the room. This allows one person to ask a question on one side of the room. Then another person in another area can follow up, making it seem as if there are 2 or more constituencies represented. It’s good to have a plan before you go in the door: decide on questions to ask. Also, it’s good to have information about the MoC and votes (s)he has cast in the past. www.VoteSmart.org. Hang on to the mike until you’re satisfied with the answer. Members of the group should applaud when one of their own makes a point they agree with.
Other Public Events (pages 16-17)
Follow most of town hall guidance, but here it’s good to have a group that’s visible. This is more like a protest. Stick together and ask questions; interrupt; you can even carry signs to get attention. You should probably focus on one issue—something that’s happened recently or that affects Colorado. Find reporters and try to speak with them politely and stick to the message.
We will have a volunteer who will keep track of town halls and other events We will have coordinators for town halls and other events who will organize attendance.
Office Visits (pages 17-18)
MoCs are often here on weekends, probably in the Denver office. Ask for the MoC; if he’s not in town, ask to see the regional director. If MoC is in town, ask to wait until the MoC turns up. It may be more effective for different small groups to make office visits frequently, than for one large group to show up and be dealt with as a crowd. That way, the regional office will see that there are different sets of constituents showing up at various times, forcing them to deal with them frequently instead seeing large groups less frequently. Request a specific action of the MoC—a vote, a public statement. You can leave a write-up of the issue. Get the name and number of the regional director. They usually have business card holders at the desk. Take some. Always be polite.
Mass Phone Calling (pages 18-20)
We’ve provided you with the addresses and phone numbers of Senators Bennet and Gardner, as well as Coffman for those of you who live in his district.
Address a single issue per call. This can take the form of a request for action and a statement of your views. We have some volunteers who will keep track of issues as they arise in Congress. They will send out notices to all volunteers about the issues with a brief description. The notices will suggest an action to take. When the best action is a phone call—usually when something is about to be voted on—we’ll ask everyone to call the MoC’s office on the same day or days. It’s probably best to call the Washington office first. If that mailbox is full, call the Denver office. If the Denver mailbox is full, call outlying offices.
There should be only one issue per call. Ask to speak to staff who deal with the issue you’re calling about. Get their names and try to call that particular person later, although our experience tells us that voice mail boxes fill up quickly, so call early in the day. (We will try to get staff information out to you as soon as we can pull it together.)
If you’re directed to voicemail, leave the message, but follow up with email to the staff person you’ve identified. The senate has standardized email addresses:
[stafffirstname_lastname@MoClastname.senate.gov. For instance, the email address of the regional director of Gardner’s Ft. Collins office is dan_betts@gardner.senate.gov. ]
There’s a sample telephone call dialogue on p. 20 of the Guide.
On phone calls, give your name and address (city) and always be polite even while insisting on speaking to the appropriate staff for your issue. End the call with a thank you for listening and for the senator’s service to Colorado (Aurora for Coffman).
Other Communications—letters/email
It may sometimes be useful to do a mass mailing of letters. We’ll make that suggestion when we send out our communiques or notices. This may be suggested when the issue isn’t coming up for a vote immediately. Be aware that the mail in the Capitol is checked by security, so there’s about a day’s delay for that. If it’s urgent, use email. Bennet has an email form to use on his website. Gardner just has a box for you to use to write about your issue.
For letters and email messages, write about only one issue. Provide your name and address (City). Describe the issue briefly and say why you’re writing. Ask for a vote or a statement, something concrete. The tone should be polite, of course. Write something along the lines of:
Dear Senator Bennet,
I’m writing to request that you vote against the confirmation of Betsy Devos as Secretary of Education. Her own testimony in her committee hearing made it clear that she has little knowledge of education theory or practice. As you know, she has spent a lot of time and money lobbying for school vouchers and for the provision of taxpayer dollars for private and religious schools. It was alarming to me when she dodged many questions about whether she would uphold federal laws protecting equal rights in schools by saying that those things should be left to the states. Her statements suggest that she would do her best to dismantle the public school system, which has been a primary, if imperfect, vehicle for providing the opportunity for equality. I therefore urge you to vote against her confirmation. Thank you for your consideration of my request and for your service to the country and to Colorado.