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Ideas
for Working with Elected Officials
Background
Over the years, the Nevada SHPO has had
some successes and failures dealing with elected officials and
in particular with members of Congress. Ron James, the Nevada
SHPO, has provided his thoughts on what has worked best. According
to him:
"These strategies have resulted in
successes in three areas: additional programs; set aside funding;
and increases to the HPF. After eight years of small successes
and media coverage, the speaker of our assembly asked me “what
would you do if we actually gave you some money?” Fortunately
a friend of mine on legislative staff alerted me that the question
was coming. This gave birth to a $2 million annual preservation
bond. The program was reauthorized in 2005 as a $3 million annual
program. Success has a way of breeding success, and this program
has inspired considerable set aside funding. I have not asked
the state or the federal government for this sort of funding.
Others have requested it on my behalf. Again success breeds
success, and I believe that this gradual growth of the program
has attracted the attention of our congressional delegation,
even when funding came from the state. We must look at this
holistically, and so I hope this was a factor in inspiring one
of our US Senators to work for the most recent large increase
in the HPF. I believe he was important in achieving that increase,
and I believe his efforts were inspired by a series of successes,
initially small, begun two decades ago.
Unfortunately, those successes I have
seen have depended on hanging around for the long haul. I have
administered my office for 22 years, and some of these strategies
took years to yield results. Nevertheless, I stumbled into these
rules, but it would have been helpful if I had these ideas laid
out before me when I started. Perhaps my observations will now
help someone else."
Senator Richard H. Byran, a former Nevada
Governor and U.S. Senator, is considered one of the foremost political
figures of the 20th century in Nevada. He reviewed Ron James'
Ideas and made the following comment:
"Well done. You have provided excellent
advice. Although you mention it, I would emphasize relationship
building as a must. Not everyone will share the same degree
of enthusiasm for the cause but a lot can be accomplished because
folks want to be helpful because they like you or, as you pointed
out, you befriended them or acknowledged them earlier in their
career. Implicit in all of this is making reasonable requests.
I saw many administrators in my time who were competent, I'm
sure, but had little or no credibility. For example asking for
large increases when the state was in a recession or who were
not team players who saw the big picture. Some of the smartest
people on the IQ scale were the most obtuse. I haven't added
much. You covered the bases."
Ideas for Working
with Elected Officials
- Acquire credibility through efficiency
and good products. This sounds obvious, but experience
has shown that some administrators decide they will start producing
as soon as they are supported at appropriate levels. That will
never occur. Support will always be inadequate. Either we work
with what we have or we will never produce a thing. Over the
years, I have been told my agency delivers the “best bang
for the buck.” That reputation reverberates among elected
officials who are always looking for a good cause and a good
bargain. When one of our members of Congress was looking for
a way to give a historic property some set aside funding unrelated
to preservation, he ran into obstacles. He needed an agency
to rise to the occasion and thought of my office because we
have a good reputation. He sent the money through my budget,
but gave me “a little extra” for a worthy preservation
project of my choice.
- Work the media. Having
produced good products, it is important to work the media. This
can be as much work as producing the products, but it is essential,
and although it may also be obvious, it is surprising how few
agencies actually work with the media. It may be embarrassing
to “toot one's own horn,” but this is the best way
to let elected officials know your agency is such a good cause.
News of our archaeological discovery in an African American
saloon, ca 1869, of the world's oldest bottle bearing a “Tabasco
Pepper Sauce” imprint, echoed around the world. Nevada
elected officials proudly refer to the discovery, automatically
putting them on our side.
- Befriend all elected officials,
no matter how powerless. Small office holders have a way of
coming up through the ranks, and all elected officials talk
to one another. I was one of the few people who would talk to
a freshman assemblyman who had done something really foolish
with his e-mail. I don't agree with his politics and his conduct
was indeed foolish, but I have always found something in him
I genuinely like, and I wasn't about to turn my back on him
at that moment. Surprisingly, he survived, moved to the state
senate, and is now in a very powerful position. He has ambitions
for higher office. I believe he will always remember that I
was kind to him at a low point. It has paid off so far and may
work for all of us if he ever goes to Congress.
- Help elected officials recognize
opportunities to be supportive with letters of support,
phone calls, and funding set asides. They can't always help
in substantive ways, but most elected officials want to be seen
in a positive light for doing productive things. Give them the
chance to participate, even in ways that may in fact be meaningless.
Every track star started walking with steps that were neither
fast nor particularly impressive. Let elected officials know
“it sure would be great if you could call this person”
or “sign a letter to this effect.” We may recognize
that sometimes these small acts will achieve next to nothing,
but it gives the elected official a chance to participate, and
those seeds may yield bigger things.
- Similarly, thank elected officials
for the smallest things. Elected office does not always
allow incumbents the chance to do big things, but that doesn't
mean they haven't tried. Thanking them for even the small things,
no matter how inconsequential, is a way of making certain they
know they are appreciated. When given the opportunity, they
may feel inspired to do bigger things.
- Cultivate staff of elected officials.
You will only rarely be friends with elected officials, but
you can be friends with their staff. Seek out those of like
mind, particularly those working for elected official inclined
to be antagonistic to our cause, and make certain they know
how much you appreciate their efforts, even (or especially)
when they fail. This may sound exploitive, but it needn't be.
I rarely ask anything of my friends working for elected officials.
I have found people I genuinely like, and we enjoy conversations
together when our paths cross. Most of what they have done for
me has been at their own initiative, not because I requested
it. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I thank them and their bosses
for the small things and that I tell them of agency successes
(see points above), mentioning that even more could be done
with increased support. Everything stated here works doubly
for spouses.
- Similarly, let staff and elected
officials know it's OK if support or increases are not possible
and that you'll like them anyway. This is building for the future,
and the benefit may not surface for years, but it is important
and effective. For example, I always ask my representatives
to sign letters of support for the HPF, but I always let them
know it's OK if they can't or won't sign. I explain that it
was something I needed to ask, but that I fully understand their
position and that I do not want them to compromise their position
in any way. One chief of staff of an elected (and frankly antagonistic)
official told me that signing a letter at that time would weaken
that official's position in another arena. I told him that it
was more important to preserve the integrity of my representative's
position and power and that I supported his decision not to
sign. That did not yield a signature for our cause, but it put
me on the same side as an antagonistic elected official. His
chief of staff appreciated the support and understanding, and
he has tried to help our cause ever since.
- Recognize that some elected officials
will never be supportive and keep an appropriate distance.
This is a tough one, because to be too far removed eliminates
opportunities for progress, but be careful about putting preservation
on an unwanted radar screen. I can think of one member of Congress,
who during his tenure opposed preservation, but there was one
property he really liked, and we were able to work together
on it. I would never approach him on a “big picture”
preservation issue involving funding, the regs, or the law,
because I know where he would fall out, but we can all hope
that having worked with him on a small issue, something of his
innate antagonism has been blunted. By the way, we failed to
achieve our goal regarding the property, but at least he knows
I tried.
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