Planning a Meeting with Your Council Person

Meeting with your council members to request that they address your concerns is a vital part of the democratic process. Your council is there to serve you, their constituent, and input from you helps them represent you more effectively. Being prepared for the meeting makes it easier for your council member to move forward with the process and pass a resolution working with you and your fellow citizens.

• Find a council member willing to introduce a resolution. The best place to start is with the one who represents your neighborhood. To find your representative, go to your town or city’s official website and locate the Council page.
• Call your council member and schedule an appointment to discuss introducing a resolution supporting Medicare-for-All. Many will ask you to put your request in writing. Here is a model meeting request letter that you can adapt.
• Be persistent in setting up the meeting. Council members are busy, and you may end up meeting with a staff person. Either way, do not feel like you are being impolite if you contact the office more than once to remind them about your request to meet.
• Prepare for your meeting. You will want to consider what questions your council member might ask and bring an information packet with some resources. In many cases, your job is not to convince your council member that she or he should support the amendment, but instead to convince your council member that she or he can and that doing so will help her or him tremendously in the eyes of the electorate. Some questions you might want to be prepared for include:
  • What is your goal? Sample Resolution Language
  • Why is this important?
    • Talking Points for Local Government Officials and Media (PDF)
    • Medicare for All Benefits to Local Public Agencies Testimony (90 second version)/ Medicare For All Benefits to Local Public Agencies Testimony (3 minute version).
    • Summary of the Medicare for All Act of 2019
  • Is there public support for a resolution like this? Polls indicate the answer to this question is a resounding YES across all parties. And dozens of prominent national organizations have endorsed the Medicare for All Act of 2019

• Discuss a timeline: Once your council member agrees to introduce a resolution, discuss a timeline and strategy for getting the resolution passed. You will want to know when the resolution is going to be introduced so that you can plan an effective press event for maximum visibility.