Wrap up of Regional Advocacy Meetings

The snack basket from the road trips is almost empty which means the series of ten Regional Advocacy Meetings must have wrapped up.

More elected officials and city staff than ever before attended this year’s meetings, and our legislative staff was able to gather some important insight and input as we work through the process of identifying which legislative initiatives to pursue for 2015.

Some of the top issues that came out in every meeting involved public safety, blight, roads and infrastructure, open meetings, annexation and funding of services.


Local officials brought up lots of specific issues that our legislative staff will synthesize and research to present to the Association’s legislative committee on November 3. The committee will then make recommendations to the board which will approve the initiatives to pursue for 2015. Stay tuned for specifics in late November.

For the first time, we invited local legislators to join us at the regional meetings this year. That was a great success! Their resounding theme was they want to hear from local officials about how legislation affects their city or town. All seemed very appreciative of the invitation and the time with local officials.


Just for kicks, here are a few numbers from the Regional Advocacy Meetings:

· 350+ elected officials and staff 
· 25+ legislators 
· 10 great city venues with excellent food from local restaurants
· 200+ cities and towns represented
· 20+ hours of discussion and fellowship 
· 50+ pages of flip chart notes filled with issues and concerns
· 1450+ miles driven

For a weekly recap of the Regional Advocacy Meetings, read the blog posts from the past three Fridays. Also, visit the Association’s website for links to the meeting handouts.