Step Eight: Engage
Your local government is closer and more powerful than you think.
This week, we’re going over Step 8 in our 10 Steps to Freedom and Power. But before we go on, I wanted to take a second to thank every single one of our subscribers here on Substack. We started Assembly Notes nearly a year ago, and since then have grown into a community of tens of thousands of engaged readers. Every week, we go deeper into the complicated challenges facing our country, but most importantly, we discuss the real solutions at hand. As a paid subscriber, you’ll get exclusive posts straight to your inbox, as well as access to our archive of posts, plus you’ll be able to join our chat.
I can’t wait to continue sharing more with you all and hearing about all the ways you’re reclaiming democracy in your communities.
Now, on to this week’s discussion…
When things feel as broken as they do today, it’s easy to feel like politics is something that happens to you, not something you can actually touch. But the level of government closest to your needs — your city council, your county commission, your school board or state legislature — this is where so much of daily life gets decided.
Zoning
Schools
Policing
Public health
Worker protections
Even better, those officials are often far more accessible than a member of Congress or a president. Rather than a trek to D.C. to get attention, sometimes all it takes is a trip next door or to the grocery store. Democracy is a fancy term for shared power, and the point of that power is making life better. When I served in the Georgia House of Representatives, I learned more from my constituents bringing me their troubles or ideas than I did from the lobbyists who filled the halls. My constituents were the ones who spurred me to pass legislation that gave grandparents raising grandchildren the right to sign permission slips and enroll them in clubs. To push a bill supporting the unemployed to gain entrepreneurial skills. To provide an option for a homeowner to cure a foreclosure and bring their debt current. Common sense ideas that came from folks too used to be ignored. We get the government we demand, even when it’s in the hands of those who despise democracy.
This is where Step 8 comes in: Engage. Not just by voting — though, please vote — but by showing up, making demands, building relationships, and running things yourself when the rules let you.
Call, show up, and keep showing up
Find out who represents you at the city, county, and state level. Their office numbers, their town halls, their public schedules. Call their offices, show up to their events, and bring other people with you. If five people coordinate around an issue and each finds five friends, that’s a seachange in motion.
Elected officials track constituent contact, so a flood of calls on a specific issue moves them — especially at the local and state level where staff is small and one hundred calls feels like a lot. Be kind, and courteous, but specific when you reach out. Name the policy, ask for a commitment, and follow up.
If you’ve never done this before, it can feel awkward the first time, but once you get into the habit of it, it gets easier. I can promise you, as I learned from the handful of grandparents who crowded into my office to ask for help, showing up works.
Go to the meetings
City council meetings, school board meetings, and county commissioner hearings are all open to the public and most people never go. That means the people who do show up have enormous influence over what happens. As a college student, I attended zoning committee meetings to better understand why my college sat next to liquor stores rather than bookstores. I didn’t get change immediately, but I learned how the system worked. Knowledge really is power.
Get on the agenda for public comment, and bring a friend. Coordinate with other community members so multiple people speak to the same issue from different angles.
Check your local government’s website for meeting schedules. Many now have hybrid or virtual options, which makes it even easier to participate without taking too much time off work.
Push for proactive legislation
Work with your elected officials to shape good policy that addresses real problems in your community. You don’t need to come with a technical fix, but you should come with a specific demand of the problem that needs solving. Legislative offices will be able to take that demand and turn it into actionable items: a tenant protection ordinance, a transparency requirement, a local minimum wage, a sanctuary policy, or a public health measure.
Connect with local advocacy organizations who are already doing this work — they often have model legislation ready to go and need community voices to push it forward. Ask your council member or state rep to champion it. Help build the coalition that makes it politically possible for them to act.
Do it yourself — ballot initiatives and public petitions
In many states and cities, you don’t have to wait for an elected official to act. You can go directly to voters.
Ballot initiatives let you put a policy question directly on the ballot if you gather enough signatures. Public petitions can force hearings, referendums, or official responses. Citizen-led campaigns have successfully passed minimum wage increases, expanded voting access, protected tenant rights, and more — often in places where the legislature wouldn’t move.
Look up the rules in your county and city or visit the Movement Advancement Project to find out what your state allows. The thresholds vary, and some are more accessible than others. Find out what’s possible where you live, and connect with people who’ve done it before. Organizations that run these campaigns can walk you through the process.
Consider running yourself
School boards, water boards, city councils, local judgeships — many of these seats go uncontested or are decided by a few hundred votes. If you’ve been paying attention, talking to your neighbors, and showing up to meetings, you may be more prepared than you think.
The only requirement is to be someone who understands what your community needs and is willing to show up and fight for it. Many of the most effective local officials started exactly where you are.
Even if you’re not ready to run yourself, you can recruit and support candidates who are, knock doors, donate a few dollars. Or perhaps help someone get their name on a ballot. If you’re up for it, visit Run For Something.
A few things to keep in mind
Local elections happen on off-cycle dates that most people miss — primaries in spring, special elections scattered throughout the year. Put them in your calendar now and bring people with you to vote.
Relationships matter at this level. The official you call repeatedly, the neighbor you organize with, or the council member you help elect can all become real working relationships that make things happen, so invest in them.
Policy moves slowly, but the people who stay in the room, keep showing up, and keep pushing are the ones who eventually win. That can be you.
Resources
Getting Started:
Learn about the legislative process and laws at local, state, and federal levels.
Attend town halls and public hearings.
Call and set up a meeting with your local, state, or federal elected officials on issues you care about. Even if it’s with their staff, it matters. Report out your meetings with your group chat.
Building Momentum:
Meet regularly with your representatives or their staff.
Organize constituent meetings and lobby days.
Review annual budgets to ensure funds are supporting community values.
Leadership Development:
Partner with experienced advocates to develop comprehensive policy, advocacy, and ballot initiative campaigns.
Is there any popular movement working toward finding great write-in candidates we can unite around in case the Democrat Party again insists on limiting us to candidates they deem "electable." (Meaning those they think republicans might find acceptable? )
Stacey Abrams standing up with the truth for democracy, thanks