Contacting Councilmembers in Montgomery County, MD

Know which district your Library Advisory Committee (LAC) or Friends of the Library (FOL) is in.

Special Needs Library is a systemwide service as is the Multicultural Service, the Children's Resource Center and the Noyes Library for Young Children, the Rockville Library might be appropriate for every one of the councilmembers since it is near where they work.

SOME ADVOCACY PROTOCOLS
Sending Emails to County Councilmembers
Meeting with Councilmembers

COUNCIL DISTRICTS, Etc.
County Councilmembers by District with Libraries Listed
At-Large Councilmembers
Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee (deals with Library Department matters)

CONTACT INFORMATION
Mail
Council Phone Numbers
Email

Montgomery County Council Website:
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/csltmpl.asp?url=/content/council/index.asp
Montgomery County Council Agendas:
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/csltmpl.asp?url=/content/council/agenda2005.asp
Montgomery County Council Email Addresses:
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/csltmpl.asp?url=/content/council/councilm.asp



Some Advocacy Protocols

Sending Emails

Note—
Mail that goes to the Council President is no longer copied to everyone. The rest of the Council gets a tally sheet which says which issues and how many items were received.

Protocol

Process





Meeting with Councilmembers

Stay on Message

Stay Focused

Bring Handouts

Leave something behind that conveys the gist of your presentation to the Councilmember or staffer. This serves as a reminder of your talking points and can also give more depth to topics that you didn't have time to elaborate on.


Other Bits:

Convey, if you can, a willingness to bear the tax burden for library service; a willingness to see the Council override the tax cap, if need be. It is easier to justify going all out for something that a wide base of the community supports money-wise.

Final spending affordability guidelines come up by the middle of April— act before this, if possible. It gives the Council an idea of what is important to the community, i.e. what they should spend.





Council Districts


County Council Members by District with Libraries Listed:
At-Large Councilmembers:


Note—
LACs close to where they live are effective here but everyone county-wide is still okay visiting/contacting/emailing these guys.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee


This is the County Council Committee that deals with Library matters throughout the year. After the County Executive's proposed County budget is announced [March 15 for the Operating Budget] and the full Council's Public Hearings have been held [the first week or so of April], HHS works through the first budget reconciliation process (where budget items may be taken out or added in). These hearings are open to the public. The later part of the process is with the full Council.



Contact Information

Mail— Write to County Council members at:
Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850

Council Phone Numbers—

Email—


02 October 2005
Send questions or comments to:
E-Mail: "pdickerson (at) hers.com"
Paper Mail: Paulette Dickerson, P.O.Box 598, Kensington, MD 20895-0598, USA
A LibrariesŐ Friend Home Page: http://www.librariesfriend.com/
Chevy Chase FOL/LAC Advocacy Pages: http://www.librariesfriend.com/chevychasefol-lac/index.html