Writing Letters to Public Officials

1. Writing Letters to Public Officials “The Legislative Process Never Ends” SLCC Staff Legislative Training December 1, 2009 Presented by: Tiffany Rousculp, SLCC Community Writing Center

2. Will a public official read what I write? YES! • In one way or another, yes, all public officials read what their constituents (the people they represent or serve) write to them. • You will receive a response as well.

3. How much impact can my letter have? • In general, if a public official receives an original letter about a particular issue, they consider that twenty-five other people feel the same way! • Emails are a little less, on-line petitions even less. In-person visits—the MOST!

4. How long should it be? ONE PAGE! • It is sometimes difficult to get all you want to say in a page, but your letter will not be read beyond this. Sometimes it works to draft out what you want to say, without thinking of length and then cut it down to size.

5. Should it be typed? Yes or No. • There are two schools of thought on this. Some think that a handwritten letter carries more weight, but others think that the time spent in word processing a letter shows more concern. You should do whichever you feel most comfortable with (as long as your handwriting is easy to read).

6. How do I find addresses? On the Internet • Go to the Salt Lake County Clerk website, http://www.clerk.slco.org/ and click on “Find Your Elected Officials.” • Enter your address information and select “My Elected Officials.”

7. What do I say? • Compliment • State Your Constituency • Briefly Describe Issue • State Your Position/Give Reasons for it • Argue Against Potential Opposition • State Your Request • Close with a Thank You

8. Compliment I would like to compliment you on your service to the people who live in District X.

9. State Your Constituency I am a voter in that district and would like to let you know how I feel about the issue of paper plates at Utah’s fast food restaurants.

10. Briefly Describe Issue As you may know, nearly 5 million tons of paper is used each year to serve meals at Utah’s fast food restaurants. This is more than any other type of restaurant in Utah. Senate Bill 0000, sponsored by Senator Green, would require that all restaurants minimize their use of paper in serving their food.

11. State Your Position and Give Reasons for It I fully support this bill. I believe that restaurants would save millions of dollars a year if they used serving plates and silverware instead of paper products. Not only would this provide more profits to the company, it would also free up money to pay employees more than the low wages they currently earn.

12. Argue Against Potential Opposition Respectfully Granted, paper plates are easier to clear and dishwashing is a boring job. But I believe that the employees of a restaurant would take pride in the fact that they were helping out the environment, rather than adding to the mess we create in landfills each day. In fact, I work in one of the restaurants this bill would affect, and I support it.

13. State Your Request As my senator in the Utah Legislature, I ask that you represent me well, and support the passage of SB 0000.

14. Close with a Thank You Thank you very much for your time and your strong representation of me and the other people you serve in District X.

16. Want a Second Opinion? Come to the SLCC Community Writing Center for FREE Writing Coaching on your Letter to your Public Official! Phone: x4992 Email: cwc@slcc.edu Location: SLC Main Library Plaza, 210 E. 400 South Hours: M-Th, 10-8; F-Sa, 10-4