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If you expect to be effective in local politics, you have to know the rules and procedures.

If you expect to be taken seriously on issues, you can’t afford to lose credibility by not knowing the rules and procedures. A good opponent will know all this information. Don’t let them outmaneuver you on procedure because you didn’t know the rules of combat.

Controversial issues will no doubt have multiple steps that must be followed. Sometimes there will be formal Public Hearings; other times there will be less formal public input opportunities.

If you are going to be having an interest in a particular issue, find out what exactly the rules and process will be.

1. What committee(s) will be reviewing the issue?

Decisions are not made at the Board level. By the time most controversial or big issues reach the governing body the final outcome has been predetermined. The hard work and tough decisions are made at the committee level. It is critical if you expect success on your issue, that you make sure your input is provided at the earliest possible opportunity. That is at the committee level. If you don’t know which committee(s) will be reviewing the issue, ask. Someone will be able to tell you.

2. What will be the responsibility of each of these committees?

One committee may focus on policy or procedure and another on financing. You need to know the responsibility of every committee that will be reviewing your issue. There may be only one, but find out for sure. If you don’t know, what do you do? You ask.

3. When will they be meeting?

Committees at times have set days of the month they meet. Other times they meet on an as needed basis. You can’t make up meetings. You need to be there. If you don’t know when the meetings will be held, what do you do?

4. What is the timetable from start to finish?

How long is this issue going to be discussed and reviewed. Some issues take months. Others move very quickly. The decision makers do have some idea of how long they expect before a final decision is reached. Ask them. That will determine your urgency to plot strategy.

5. Learn Roberts Rules of Order.

You need to learn at least the basics. That is how meetings are conducted. There are procedural methods of amending, delaying or killing motions. Knowing and using these tactics is not cheating. Knowing and using these tactics is playing by the rules. But, if you don’t know them, you can’t use them.

Every game or contest has rules. If you expect to win, you have to know them! If you don’t know the rules, there is only one way to learn. Ask questions.

Copyright 2006 Al Arnold

Al Arnold is the Founder of the National Association of Local Government Activists. The association dedicated to fighting Local Government Apathy. WWW.LocalPolitics101.US WWW.LocalPolitics101.US
He is also the author of Moving Mountains and Molehills Local Politics 101, a book that explains how you can be effective in local politics.

Some U.S. Senators and U.S. House Members are waging a great battle against excessive federal spending.

Winning this battle is crucial to the American way of life; losing this battle holds peril for our future. Let’s get behind these courageous men. By doing so we help ourselves and the nation.

The Club For Growth, as the name implies, promotes prosperity and opportunity through economic freedom. The Club recently presented its scorecard.

In the House, Jeff Flake (R) Arizona fought never ending battles for the taxpayers in the year 2006.

Thirty-nine times he tried to shoot down earmarks, on the House Floor and 39 times he was voted down, but all year he shed light on pork/earmarks.

His actions and those of Senators Tom Coburn (R) Oklahoma and Jim DeMint (R) South Carolina have led to earmarks being far more transparent than they were until very recently. Even though some congressmen are still being reckless, a new era seems to have arrived.

The Club For Growth looked at 24 pieces of legislation and how they impacted pro-growth policies.
Major legislation included: making the Bush tax cuts permanent, repealing the Death Tax, cutting government spending, social security reforms and five other general areas.

The highest possible score was 100% if every vote cast, supported the Club’s pro-growth agenda.

Though Jeff Flake had the most scars, from his battles on the House floor, two other taxpayer warriors in the House, scored 100%.

The top 10 vote getters in the House were all Republicans.

The U.S. Senate has its own scorecard.

Top Ten Scores U.S. House of Representatives

Jeff Flake (R) Arizona 100%

John Shadegg (R) Arizona, 100%

Jeb Hanserling (R) Texas 100%

Trent Franks (R) Arizona 98%

Mike Pence (R) Indiana 97%

Steve King (R) Iowa 94%

Lynn Westmoreland (R) Georgia 92%

Randy Neugebauer (R) Texas 92%

Scott Garrett (R) New Jersey 91%

Chris Chocola, (R) Indiana 90%

To learn more about the Club For Growth visit: clubforgrowth.org/ clubforgrowth.org/

Mick McNesby is a former tax advisor, consultant and negotiator. He was a frequent guest on political talk shows in Atlantic City, N.J., discussing the benefits of the lower cost of government. He can be visited at conservative-politics-infofind.com conservative-politics-infofind.com