This work was initially done by myself, Brenda Konkel, for Progressive Dane about 3 years ago. Technical difficulties happened and over the past three years I continued some of the work here at Forward Lookout. I’m in the process of merging the work and expanding the guide. Let me know what you think!This is joint project of Progressive Dane and Forward Lookout, so you will see references to Progressive Dane internal procedures around elections and membership.
Why do the guide?
After Trump was elected, and at the time with Republicans firmly in power at the state level, many people gave up hope and turned their attention to what our local governments could do to combat what we all suspected was coming. Progressive Dane, primarily me with the guidance of others, put together a local government guide to help people who wanted to get more involved locally.
Selfishly, I mostly wanted a place I could refer people to when they ask me questions about city council, county board or school board.
What happened?
After the guide was published we (others, not me) started transferring Progressive Dane’s website from one platform (Nationbuilder) to another (Squarespace). The local government guide was the most complex piece to transition with the many links and layers. The work never got completed and the volunteers working on it got busy with other things. The project was left halfway done on a new platform that the rest of us were just learning. After months of saying “we should figure out how to fix that” I just gave up and took action! I moved it to Forwardlookout.com so I could include some of the pieces I have written since then and continue working on the “coming soon” pieces in a platform I am much more familiar with and without trying to figure out the system of the other work that was left half done.
Work in progress
The guide is work in progress. You will see places marked for future links, and “coming soon” topics on each of the main pages. Over the next month or so there will be many updates to the guide – but for now, you can once again access the materials without a whole bunch of dead links. Since most of the work was done three years ago, it needs updating. If you spot anything that you think should be updated, feel free to send me an email.
I suspect after I complete the guide, it will eventually go back to Progressive Dane’s website in some form, but for now its easier to work on it here in WordPress. I hope you enjoy our joint project!
What’s in the guide?
HOW DO I GET INVOLVED IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT?
- INTRODUCTION
- Our local focus.
- So you decided to “get involved”.
- QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT
- WHO ARE MY ELECTED OFFICIALS?
- How can I find out about my elected official voting record?
- HOW CAN I BEST INFLUENCE MY ELECTED OFFICIALS?
- Who else is influencing my elected officials (AND GETTING PAID to do it!)? i.e. Who is allowed to lobby and how can we find out about their activities?
- WHAT ARE OPEN RECORDS LAWS AND WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?
- HOW DO I FIND OUT WHEN MEETINGS ARE?
- WHAT ARE OPEN MEETINGS LAWS AND WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?
- HOW DO I TRACK ISSUES I’M INTERESTED IN?
- WHAT ETHICS LAWS DO ELECTED OFFICIALS NEED TO FOLLOW?
- HOW DO I JOIN A COMMITTEE?
- HOW DO I RUN FOR OFFICE?
- Coming Soon
ISSUES COVERED BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- Topics of Interest – Local Committees Covering these issues.
- Affordable Housing, Tenants Issues, Fair Housing and Homelessness
- Affordable Wages and Workers Rights
- Dane County Jail, Policing and Criminal Justice Issues
- Development, Planning, Urban Land Use, Zoning
- Education
- Environment and Sustainability
- Equity and Racial Justice, Immigration Issues
- Job Creation, Economic Development and Cooperatives
- Open and Clean Government (Lobbying, Ethics, Clean Campaigns) & Redistricting
- Transportation/Bicycling/Pedestrian Safety/All other modes of transportation
- Coming Soon
- Issues Covered by Local Government
- Budgets
- What do candidates need to know when they get elected?
ELECTIONS
- GENERAL LOCAL ELECTIONS INFORMATION
- WHO IS QUALIFIED TO RUN FOR OFFICE?
- RUNNING FOR OFFICE
- What does it take to be a candidate and run for office?
- How do I get the Progressive Dane Endorsement?
- What does it mean if I’m endorsed?
- VOTING
- How can I find out about the candidates and be an informed voter?
- What do I need to do to be eligible to vote?
- How do I find out where I vote?
- How do I find out what is on my ballot?
- When do I vote?
- CAMPAIGN FINANCE
- How can I find out who is donating to campaigns?
- How are campaigns financed?
- What are the requirements for campaign funding reporting
- Coming Soon
Do you have additional questions you’d like to see in the FAQs? Please submit your questions to brendakonkel@gmail.com.
