Ahmad - Citizen Advocate: How To Get Government to Move Mountains and Change The World

For Mom and Dad. Thanks for teaching mehow valuable and important it is to be an active citizen.

I had the pleasure of serving with MayorOmar Ahmad from December 2009 until his passing on May 10, 2011.Those 18 months were some of the best and greatest times of mylife. I have described that span of time on the San Carlos CityCouncil as catching lightning in a bottle. Omar was the lightningrod. None of our accomplishments would have been possible withouthis leadership and commitment. A year later, the pain of his lossis still felt by our community, his friends and his family.

Omar was a truly gifted individual. He had an incredibleintellect, an ability to communicate that was unrivaled, and asincerity that was greatly appreciated. Besides serving on thecouncil with each other, we were also great friends. Anyone whoknew Omar will tell you that he had one of the biggest hearts. Hewas always ready to listen, give advice and support his friends. Hemade friends everywhere he went and was always more interested inhearing what was going on in your life than in telling you abouthis. His friendship was selfless; he asked nothing of his friendsbut gave so much.

Omar was also a mentor. As the youngest member on the council byalmost 20 years, I came in without experience. Omar took me underhis wing and truly showed me what it meant to be a local electedofficial. He was my calming voice when I let my emotions get thebest of me. In time, he became my big brother. I am not the onlyone who benefited from his mentoring. I am one of many. Omar tookan active interest in the younger members of our community. Heconstantly pushed us to be involved and make our voices heard. Hebelieved in our youth and in looking to the future, beliefs thatare apparent in his legacy. Omar spent much of his time in publicoffice envisioning a better world for the next generation andensuring stability for the future.

Omar is best summed up not as a great politician, friend ormentor, but as a great man. He was principled and lived his values.He believed in leading by example and creating lifelongrelationships. The outpouring of grief over his passing wasindicative of how many people he touched. My community is foreverchanged because of Omar, and our future is brighter because of him.I miss my friend every day, but I know that his legacy will carryon for far longer than his time here on earth. He was the bestamong us and makes me try to be better every day.

Andy Klein

Mayor, City of San Carlos

San Carlos, California

No one is born a good citizen; nonation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes thatcontinue to evolve over a lifetime.

Kofi Annan

Youre not just passionate about yourissue. Youre ready to transform your passion into stewardship. Tomove your issue forward and convince others that you have a betterway, a better idea. But work with politicians? Organize a mediacampaign? Reach out to other organizers? Do you reallywant to do that?

If you want to change things for the better, the answer mustalways be yes.

Many citizen advocates look at the realm of politicalinteraction as a strange place best avoided. As an electedofficial, I have seen numerous people with vast expertise and greatideas attempt to engage in the political process as a lastresort. They are always passionate, but often begin their effortsvery late in the decision-making process. Far too often, betterdecisions could have been made with the participation of thesepeople much earlier in the political process.

This may be strange to hear, but politicians want your input.Simply put, we cannot meet todays challenges if we cannot identifyand implement our best ideas. Your charge, as an active citizen, isto learn how best to help your elected officials do just that.

Advocating for your issue in a few moments or in a one-timeblitzkrieg is not likely to yield good results. You cannot expectelected officials to grasp the salient facts of your issue in a fewmoments when it has taken you countless hours to understand them.To effectively advocate your point of view, you must embark on amultistep process that requires both time and effort.

Ten people who speak make more noisethan 10,000 who are silent.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Lets begin with the basics: What ispolitical advocacy? Its a process by which an individual or anorganized group seeks to influence public policy and resourceallocation (typically money or manpower) through a coordinatedcampaign of awareness and persuasion. These actions may spring fromany number of reasons economic, moral, social and religious butthey typically involve a coordinated campaign of research, publicspeaking and interaction with elected officials and the media.

Achieving great results is always directly related to yourability to rally others. Your advocacy will be built upon therelationships you establish, both with elected officials and withinyour organization.

Effective advocacy has three primary parts: preparation,lobbying, and building long-term relationships.

Elected officials can bring a great number of resources andconsiderable mindshare to bear for your cause. They can help you tochange laws and regulations, propose new legislation, lobby, writeletters, raise questions, make speeches and introduce motionsbefore elected bodies. They can arrange meetings with theircolleagues or even campaign on your behalf.

But first you have to know a little about them.

The more you know about your elected officials, the better youcan pitch your case and the more likely they are to take action!For this reason, its important to get to know officials,especially when you dont need their help on specificissues. Go to gatherings that officials attend, and dont hesitateto initiate conversations. Review their voting records on variousissues and work to understand their approach to key issues.Finally, cultivate relationships with officials staff members.Those relationships may be the difference between your speakingwith an official or not.

If you were studying an animal in the wild, you would want toknow what kind of habitat and food sources it needs, what predatorsthreaten it, and what behaviors enable it to survive in the wild.So, what drives the political creature? One primary instinct drivesmost politicians behavior: preservation of self.

Living to see another day is paramount to all species, and thepolitical animal is no different. Politicians display a stronginstinct of self-preservation.

You may incorrectly assume that most politicians primarymotivation is money. While money is a means of preservation, it isnot the end goal. Votes, not money, are what count on ElectionDay.

It follows that the two most important things to all electedofficials are reputation and influence.

A strong reputation and a large sphere of influence ensurepolitical success, whereas weakness in either area essentiallyequates to political death.

What does this mean in your efforts? You must be able tostrengthen an elected officials reputation, or broaden an electedofficials sphere of influence, if you want your relationship withthat official to thrive.

Following the U.S. Civil War, President Ulysses S. Grant used toleave the rigors of the White House to enjoy a brandy and cigarsacross the street at the Willard Hotel. So many people were awareof the presidents habit that groups of people stationed themselvesin the Willards lobby in order to meet Grant and press forconsideration of their particular issues. These men became known aslobbyists, and their practice became known as lobbying.