So You Want to Get Involved in Local Politics Part 2: Get Involved

While national politics gets increasingly goofy, it will be up to local governments to pick up the slack, and that’s why one of the core philosophies of the ASP is the importance of localism.  You may be wondering how to get involved at the local level, and I’m here to tell you that it’s actually shockingly easy! Despite being just some 32 year old who moved to the state of Illinois less than two years ago, I’m already on my local City Council! In my last post, I discussed the need to Get Informed. This post will discuss the second step: Get Involved!

So you’ve been keeping an ear to the ground and now may have a rough idea of what’s going on around you. You now know that folks are mad about the new waste hauling contract, or that the local dam is going to be replaced by a fancy new water park. What do you do with this information? How do you start getting your voice heard about the things you care about? Or even better, how do you start contributing to the vitality of your town? Well, the good news is that you’re not the only person asking that question! Chances are, your town already has organizations dedicated to the business of local development and advocacy!

Local organizations can come in many forms. Getting involved with local charities and church groups is a great way to get your feet wet! Volunteer opportunities provide great access to the folks who really care about your town. It’s also an excellent escape from the madness that may overtake you from internet discourse, and can really broaden your perspective as to the successes and challenges in your community, especially when working with those who are struggling. Seeing the difficulties that people have in your city is one of the most important ways to figure out how to improve things, and aligns closely with the ASP’s philosophy of providing a preferential option for the poor.

If you’re more interested in the economic and civic aspects of your city, advocacy groups may be of more interest to you. Lots of organizations exist to help spur economic development, provide business networking opportunities, or simply to provide education and political support for topics relevant to your town. Some good examples of organizations that fit this mold include the Main Street organization and local Strong Towns chapters, both of which I will shortly elaborate on. And, of course, there’s a good chance that your own town has their own homegrown groups, so keep an eye out!

Main Street is a national group that advocates for local downtown businesses, with individual towns having chapters that help plan events and farmer’s markets, organize businesses, and improve downtown infrastructure. While they do tend to have paid members running the show in their local office, they are also keen for volunteers to help run events! Main Street groups have done a lot to revitalize once flaggering downtowns and local businesses, which meshes well with the ASP message, so consider looking up if they are established in your own town here .

Meanwhile, Strong Towns is a national organization which advocates reform in urban planning and transportation planning, with an eye towards fiscal sustainability and local prosperity. More importantly for us, the founder of this organization, retired civil engineer Chuck Marohn, is on the ASP board of advisors, so working with this organization can be a great way to advocate for ASP principles at the local level! I heartily recommend reading articles on their website and watching their YouTube videos to learn more on their philosophy, as well as to just learn about the issues that cities face today. To better help folks advocate and organize on the local level, Strong Towns has started what they call the “Local Conversation” program. This is a fairly lightweight program where folks in towns who are interested in Strong Towns principles organize volunteer groups to meet up, learn, and take action towards incremental citizen-lead improvements to their towns. Some accomplishments from Local Conversations groups include bench programs for bus stops, creating pop-up town places for community building, and engaging in tactical urbanism projects to highlight dangerous roads. Check out this link to see if there are any Local Conversations near you! And if not, consider starting one yourself! As a completely volunteer effort, the group is intentionally very light-touch and accessible, so don’t be afraid to get involved.

And finally, if you’re looking to get more directly involved with city matters, it’s time to start digging into how your city is run, and more specifically, how its many different branches are organized! Opportunities abound throughout all levels of local government, depending on where your passions lie. You don’t have to run for mayor just to get involved! Consider looking at your local school boards, park districts, historical preservation groups, public library boards, city commissions, councils, and yes, even mayorships. These all have varying levels of entry requirements and commitments, so start small at first. City commissions are often citizen-led committees organized by the city to push for a specific city priority. Common commission focus areas include biking and active transportation (advocating for bike infrastructure and resources and general walkability), environmentalism, city beautification, and the arts. While you generally need to be appointed by the city council or the mayor to be a voting member of the commission, their meetings are always open to the public, and you will likely be more than welcome to be involved! These groups tend to only meet monthly and don’t have particularly heavy responsibilities, so they can be a good entry point to city government.

Similarly, consider attending the meetings for your city council, school board, parks district, or whoever else is meeting! This is a fantastic way to really come to grips with the issues your city is facing, as well as how government really actually sometimes kinda works. Given enough time, you may even work up the courage to get up and speak whenever topics that you care about are brought up! And honestly, just by showing up, you can make quite a splash, since these meetings are sadly pretty sparsely attended unless something especially spicy is happening. Believe it or not, simply being visible is a great way to get exposure with the decision makers in your city! As we know, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, so get squeaking! And if that sounds like too much of a commitment, many cities now post their meetings online on Youtube or on other video services, meaning you don’t even have to leave your comfy warm couch to see how the civic sausage is made. Hyper pro-tip, watch these at 2x speed to skip through the boring procedure bits and long rambling monologues!

Of course, as great as getting involved in your town is, you’re ultimately still just one voice of many. What if your aim is higher? Why not achieve... ultimate power? 

Which brings us to the next step, which will be the topic of my final post: Get Elected