One of the most important things you do as a citizen is to exercise your rights and responsibilities as a citizen.  The people are still in charge.  So therefore you should communicate to you elected officials what is important to you, what you want them to do, and why you want them to do it.  After you have communicated, verify what they have done, and act accordingly.  If they have done what you wanted, thank them and tell your Friends and Neighbors of your support for them.  If they have not, tell your Friends and Neighbors about that about it.

 

Remember, the greatest political power in America remains an aroused people.  In the past a number of "bad ideas" in Washington were overruled by the people speaking out via email, phone calls, on the radio, Letters to the Editor and other channels;  

 

 

The starting point is contacting your elected officials.  You have to know who they are in order to contact them.  And that usually starts out with knowing what jurisdiction (precinct) you are in. 

 

The first step is to know your district in order to communicate with U.S. Congressmen, Ohio State Representatives, etc.  If you don't know your precinct, contact the Medina County Board of Elections to determine the correct jurisdiction (precinct) based upon your voter registration information.  If you haven't moved recently, we may have that information at MCFAN (call us to find out - see Contact Us). 

 

This link identifies most of your Elected Officials.  Here is a PDF version in case you don't have MS Excel.  A more detailed list of Elected Officials and Public officials is here.  A list of all U.S. Senators is here.  Remember, "All politics are local".  Even Congressmen are expected to care about and get potholes fixed.  MCFAN people should be the people who get the potholes fixed in their neighborhoods!

 

Contact them too.  You will not have as much "standing" with elected officials outside your jurisdiction, but most elected officials will listen to and are affected by the influence of people who cannot vote for them.  Most elected officials are in it for the "Mission", not just their own constituents.  Besides, some day they may run for a different office and there is a possibility you will then become one of their constituents; they will want you to have a positive attitude toward them from past experience.

 

 

 

Nothing will be as effective as personal contact, but most of us don't have many such opportunities.  The next best thing is email, followed by phone calls (unless you can get past the screeners).  Traditional mail is typically ineffective in the internet age, even less than internet generated polls and petitions.

 

Here are a few tips on writing to Elected Officials.

 

 

 

It is important to be familiar with the voting record of elected officials on issues that you believe to be key.  After contacting an elected official asking them to vote in a particular way, you should verify exactly which way they voted.  There are people who run as a Republican but vote like Democrats, and there are people who run as Democrats but vote like Republicans.  You need to know what elected officials do so that you can thank them and tell your Friends and Neighbors about their support when they run for re-election, or make a note to tell your Friends and Neighbors about why you oppose or do not support their re-election.

 

This link records the votes in the U.S. Senate for the 2nd Session of the 110th Congress.

 

This link records the votes in the U.S. House for the 2nd Session of the 110th Congress.

 

This link provides additional voting history information from the Washington Post.

 

This link provides access to the legislative journals of the Ohio Senate and Ohio House.

 

In following up on any of the above, it is helpful to know the specific bill number of the legislation you're interested in.  Otherwise, you will have to search by the title or potentially the key content.

 

 

 

This link provides access to information about pending legislation through the Library of Congress.

 

This link provides alphabetical access to information about pending legislation in the U. S. Congress

 

This link provides the status of legislation in Ohio.