Get your mayor to endorse

By Jim Hooton, CO CCL state co-coordinator

The national team at Citizens’ Climate Lobby has launched an effort to get city mayors across the country to endorse the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (EICDA). Let’s get Colorado’s mayors on board! So far, our volunteers have collected endorsements from the mayors of Aspen, Boulder and Nederland.

Many mayors are already speaking out about climate action, so getting them to endorse the EICDA may be as simple as asking for it. For example, fifteen Colorado mayors that haven’t yet endorsed EICDA are part of the Climate Mayors network that has committed to emission reductions and upholding the Paris Agreement. These include Breckenridge, Denver, Edgewater, Frisco, Fort Collins, Golden, Lafayette, Lakewood, Longmont, Manitou Springs, Northglenn, Telluride, Vail, Westminster, and Wheat Ridge. A simple ask from our volunteers may be all that’s needed to get them on board.

And even if your mayor is not on that list, mayors are generally very approachable people who welcome hearing from their constituents. So how about making a phone call to your mayor to ask for a meeting?

Here’s a specific action plan from the CCL national team:

Grasstops engagement action — meet with mayors to build relationships and support

Mayors have clout, and it’s likely that one of your attendees knows a mayor or knows someone who knows a mayor, so let’s meet with lots of them, build relationships and gain their support. If you get a bill endorsement or a testimonial video in the first meeting, that’s great. If not, keep meeting.

At your chapter meeting

Work to discover someone who can easily talk to their mayor or introduce you to someone who can.

  • Ask who knows a mayor or has a connection who knows a mayor and designate those people to get in touch and schedule a call or Zoom to discuss CCL and the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. Contacting, scheduling and meeting is best done by constituents whenever possible.
  • If no one knows a mayor, ask attendees to look on LinkedIn.com, type in their mayor’s name and see if they have a “mutual connection” who can make an introduction.

Get ready to meet with your mayor

  • Prepare like you would for a lobby meeting. Learn about the mayor’s background, be ready with an appreciation or a value that you have in common and write down some open-ended questions.
  • Review the bill’s Q&A Page and Handling challenging questions.

At the meeting

  • Express appreciation, ask questions and discover their level of interest in climate solutions. When they’re ready, educate them on the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.
  • It may take more than one meeting to be sure you’re on the same page with your mayor on climate and climate policy, so take your time building the relationship.
  • If your mayor is ready to endorse the bill, ask them to complete and submit the webform at: energyinnovationact.org/endorse. If they’d like to do more to show their support, ask them to make a short testimonial video at energyinnovationact.org/testimonial. There are details in this document.

Log your meeting in the Action Tracker

  • After each meeting, log it in the Action Tracker as type “Grasstops Meeting” and be sure to include the word “mayor” in your answer to the question “Whose endorsement or support are you seeking.”
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