Industry Update

ADVOCACY MATTERS

NANCY BURKE, Nancy Burke Consulting, LLC

When you make advocacy a habit, you create a win-win situation for the apartment industry. Engaging as an advocate helps to gain a better understanding of housing provider operations among our policymakers. Sharing your expertise can help to create a favorable environment and help to formulate policies that are reasonable and workable for Austin. Serving as a resource and articulating the impacts of legislative proposals is key. Every elected official should be informed about “how housing works,” and they need to hear it from you!

What Does It All Mean?

Grassroots: People at a local level rather than at the center of major political activity.

Grassroots lobbying: Mobilizing the public or people in a community to lobby elected officials or other decision-makers

for a particular position or cause. Advocacy is the process, through lobbying and grassroots mobilization, of bringing about change in the attitudes of politicians that formulate policy and laws.

Effective advocacy is making your case through communicating effectively with policymakers.

Why Advocate?

• It is your right, and your duty, as an American citizen.

• It can bring about policy change that can enhance our community.

• It is how you make your voice heard.

• You can speak up to make real change.

• It is evidence of our system at work—it helps fulfill checks and balances.

Advocating is a credible and valuable mechanism for sharing key information with policy makers and getting them involved to support what we provide to the community–housing.

The Association Cannot Do It Alone

We all know how overwhelming work and daily life can be. Whether it be via email, television, radio or the Internet, we each deal with a daily onslaught of news and information. Policymakers are no different. In a world with a 24- hour news cycle and options for constant communication, elected officials and their staffs face the same struggle to manage huge amounts of information and make the best public policy decisions possible.

The Apartment Association understands the public policy process and issues that impact housing. We know when to intervene, contact policymakers and mobilize members. Ultimately elected officials make key policy decisions based on the positions and opinions they have heard from their constituents. The bottom line is that nothing else matches the value of elected officials hearing directly from you.

What You Can Do

• Keep an open mind about advocacy: You may already “advocate” in your daily life. Speaking up for your industry is an exercise you can do well, because you are the expert.

• Make advocacy a habit: There are many ways to incorporate advocacy into your routine. Join the association at elected official meetings and share your expertise with elected officials – it makes a difference!

• Stay informed throughout the year: Keep up information about legislative activity impacting the multifamily housing industry throughout the year.

For more information about how you can become more involved and advocate for our industry, please contact Emily at Emily@austinaptassoc.com

Read about AAA’s current advocacy issues at www.austinaptassoc.com/news/advocacy-in-action