Conveniently Contacting Your Elected Representatives

In the years I’ve lived in Santa Cruz, I’ve met a number of local and state elected representatives and attended numerous council and commission meetings in person and over video calls.

 Over time, it’s become apparent that the same people keep showing up at meetings, and this is confirmed from conversations with elected and appointed officials. Interactions with members of the public—the voters—are mostly confined to a small number of people who show up and use their two minutes to be heard, or share their input in a letter, email or phone call.

This is not a problem, and these interested voters are to be commended. Rather, it’s that a lack of diversity of experience and point of view is represented if only the “usual suspects” reach out and participate.

With this in mind, we’re pleased to roll out a new feature for California Locals, which we call My Reps.

When you sign in to your California Local account, clicking on the new My Reps link in your member dropdown menu will take you to your My Reps page. Enter your home address into the Find My Elected Reps form to automatically find your elected representatives in the U.S. Congress, California State Senate and California Assembly, and have that information saved to your account. The information about your local, state and federal elected representatives is displayed on the My Reps page and throughout the site, to make it more convenient to reach out and let your elected representatives know where you stand on issues which are important to you and your community.

The next time you signin and read a California Local article, you’ll see the contact information for your elected representatives alongside. Our goal is to provide the electorate—you—with information about how things work and directories of elected representatives working in the community.

Your elected representatives work for you, whether you voted for them or not. They can be valuable allies in the common goal of making the community better, and they need your input to get their job done.

Reach out to your elected reps, because there’s a lot going on in your community and in the state.