Utility Justice Action Toolkit

Resolution development
1. Work from this resolution template, tweaking the language to be specific to your community. Incorporate local data and context (i.e, rural communities are more at risk for utility-caused wildfires, municipalities with higher poverty rates are more impacted by rising rates, etc.)
2. Work with the sponsoring elected leader to ensure it meets the specific requirements of their governing body, and that you understand the timeline for material submittal and publication.

Assess Elected Officials’ Position on the Resolution
Meet with others on the elected body to inform them about the upcoming item and ask for their support.
1. Note — it is helpful to ask directly if they will support the item, or otherwise gauge how you think they’ll vote. This will inform future steps. Track internally the anticipated vote count, however don’t share specific positions with other elected representatives, as you put them at risk of violating the Brown Act, a transparency law California legislators and agencies must adhere to.
2. For electeds who are on the fence about the resolution, consider making them the target of community outreach and advocacy efforts.

Develop outreach materials and strategy
Outreach to elected offices should happen up until a few days prior to the resolution vote.
1. Individual Outreach: Encourage friends, family, and community members to call and email offices to encourage them to support the resolution.
* Note: One-click emails and petitions are less effective than other approaches, but easier for action-takers.
2. Organizational Support Letter: this is helpful if you think elected officials’ votes will be positively influenced by the endorsement of organizations, and you anticipate being able to secure a compelling number of sign-ons.

Determine your mobilization and communications strategy
Do you want strong in-person turnout at the vote of the decisionmaking body, or is it preferable for the resolution to pass without fanfare? Do you want to spread the word about this as soon as possible, or wait until closer to the meeting date?
A good rule of thumb is to talk with trusted organizers early, but wait to publicize until the item is agendized, to prevent opponents from having ample time to organize against you.
1. Social Media: If you’re wanting to have strong in-person turnout for public comment, consider posting on social media, textbanking, phone banking, doorknocking, flyering, and spreading the word far and wide.
2. Press conference or rally: Do you want to have people gather prior to the Council meeting to pump up energy? Do you want to invite the press to your event? This is an opportunity to have everyone come together, to invite speakers to share their experience, to have chants before heading into the place where the vote will take place. Note – this requires extensive coordination. Check to see if you need to acquire permits to hold the rally. Scale up or down the rally depending on capacity.
3. Engaging the press: If you would like press coverage, you’ll need to create a media advisory and press release and distribute to media contacts. You might also consider submitting an op-ed as well.

Develop day-of plans
1. Identify a point person for communications with sponsoring elected.
2. Identify a person for public comment coordination as well as how to communicate with public commenters if relevant.
• Provide phone # for point person.
• Create a Signal chat.
• Update toolkit with logistics for making public comments in real time.
3. Identify media spokespeople, if relevant.
4. Identify a rally point person, if relevant.
5. Identify a police liaison, if relevant.

Making Public Comment
For some people, it may be their first time making a public comment. To help everyone feel prepared, consider making a public comment toolkit. Toolkit should include:
1. Instructions for how to make comment in-person or virtually (if you have the option)
2. Some sample talking points (which can be drawn from agenda materials and be responsive to self-interest or stated concerns of electeds). It’s good to strike a balance between people speaking from lived experience, drawing connections between the values of the electeds and the content of the resolution, and also providing a data-driven basis for its passage.