Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida Ditchmen - March 2020 | Page 7

Find out when your city and council will be meeting. Local websites can be useful sources of this information, but sometimes the best way to find out when they will meet and what the agenda will be is a simple phone call. NEVER PASS UP AN OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF. ■ Ask them questions and truly listen to their answers; ■ Track how they vote on the issues you care about; and, ■ Thank them for action or votes you agree with Remember, civility is key to having open and honest discussions. Fights rarely change anyone’s mind. Once you meet them and become involved, the basics of creating relationships with elected officials is quite simple: ■ ■ Your engagements with your own elected officials are the seeds of NUCA FL’s grassroots. With your help, we can continue Look for places where you share common to have successful effects on the legislative ground — as people and on the issues; processes that affect you. Listen to the words they use, the arguments they make and the stances they take and craft your messages to them in a way they can hear; MARCH 2020 • DITCHMEN 5