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Government Strategic Planning 2023: Examples & Helpful Tips

When it comes to getting things done as a local government, two of the most critical variables are budgets and timeframes. To be as efficient as possible, you’ll need an ironclad strategic plan for your local government that showcases how you’ll spend your local budget and how you and your subcontractors will meet timeframe deliverables on public projects.

Here, we’ll explore the key reasons that you owe it to your constituents to have a local government strategic plan, along with examples and tips for crafting the best plan possible. 

What is a Government Strategic Plan?

A local government strategic plan is the process of assessing and addressing the current situations in your area as they pertain to critical physical infrastructure, regional natural disasters, government technology, cyber-security, the health of your constituents, and other variables that will have a direct impact on your neighborhood and constituents. Once your local government identifies the largest threats for your neighborhood, the key to a high-quality government strategic planning process is forming a plan for mitigating risk and completing infrastructure projects as cheaply and quickly as possible. 

Why is a Strategic Plan Critical for a Local Government?

Without a gameplan, your locality is more likely to blow through your departmental budgets and miss deadlines for infrastructure projects. Strategic plans allow your governmental officials to give serious consideration to the future before building a roadmap that will help your team to achieve goals that matter to your constituents. 

What Should Be Included in a Government Strategic Plan? 

Your local government will need to consider national issues that pertain to town and city governments across the United States as well as regional issues that more directly impact your community than localities elsewhere. 

Here’s a look at the common features of a local government strategic plan:

1. voices across government departments & roles.

While government leadership should play a major role throughout the strategic planning process, a true risk mitigation effort needs to consider various perspectives and potential future outcomes. Working with a diverse rank of government officials across departments and leadership levels will allow you to craft a well-rounded strategy.

2. Consider Your Mission

Your local government needs to build your plan around a general mission statement. At a high-level, what are the issues your government is most determined to address? What upcoming public projects matter most to your constituents? 

Giving these questions serious thought will allow you to articulate the key components of your strategy in a simple mission statement. 

3. Holistic Risk-Assessment

Every government has risks to consider and address with policy and infrastructure projects. A holistic view of the various threats to your locality will include:

• National issues: social and economic challenges are occurring at the national level, and constituents on both sides of the aisle are frustrated with their government’s inadequacies. Consideration to which issues matter most at a national level will allow your locality to take localized efforts to address them. 
• Constituent frustrations: angered constituents equates to a failed re-election effort. Your local government needs to consider which issues matter most to your constituents, and assess these issues to prevent bad government-constituent relations. Read this guide to learn more about Why the Public is Losing Trust in Local Governments
• Economic hardship: especially as we enter a period of recession, your local government will need to consider the impact of inflation on local businesses, constituents, and budgets.
• Natural disasters: which particular natural disasters pose the largest risk to your area? What actions have / are being taken to address these disasters, mitigate risks, and communicate with the public?
• Cyber attacks: hackers have been causing local government data breaches for years, and attacks are becoming more frequent. Have you made the effort to embrace cyber secure technology and back up your government data?
• Intergovernmental challenges: are you having issues recruiting new government workers? Are your internal processes inefficient and expensive? Is your information technology strategy up to date? Failure to recognize and address these types of issues is one of the biggest causes of inefficient bureaucracy. 
• Public policy: which national and state laws are the highest priority for your locality to address in the near future? What penalties will you face for failing to address these policies?

4. A Refined List of Issues

Once you’ve considered all of the broad risks, it’s time to prioritize the most important ones and build your strategic plan to address them. The top issues should be concerning to your constituents, pose serious risks to the health, quality, safety, economy etc. of your community, and will be quintessential to the future endeavors of the local government and township as a whole. 

5. An Actionable Gameplan 

Now that you’ve collectively agreed on the major issues, it’s time to consider the course of action to address them. Your local government strategic planning needs to articulate where departmental budgets will be allocated in coming months and time frames for getting work completed along with actionable strategies for hitting these deadlines.

To save time and money, many local governments are embracing a digital transformation with government management software. This software automates government tasks and stores financial data in real time, meaning you’ll be able to regularly assess your budgets and save time on government projects. 

6. Use Measurable KPIs

To assess your performance, you’ll need to determine which key performance indicators (KPIs) matter most in your strategic plan and set measurable goals for each.

Consider the following goal types when setting your KPIs:

• How much is this public infrastructure project expected to cost?
• How long is this government project going to take?
• Are constituents happy with the efforts being taken by our locality?

Gauging timelines, public perception, project budgets, and other key aspects of a strategic plan will make it easy to see if you're nailing your goals or missing the mark. Learn more in our guide to Setting Measurable Local Government Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 

Once KPIs are identified, outline who’s doing what and assign them a task via your local government management platform to keep everyone organized and accountable.

7. Put Your Plan Into Action

Upon the completion of your plan and approval of the policymakers for budgets and timeframes pertaining to the key projects, it’s time to take action on implementing your government projects. Release RFPs for private-sector partnerships, begin filing the key paperwork, and ensure intergovernmental communications make it explicitly clear who’s doing what and when. 

Here’s a real-life strategic planning example of How Jackson, NJ Successfully Took Action on Their Government-Wide Digital Transformation Goal .

8. Get Back to the Drawing Board

Taking strategic action to address risks obviously involves some risk in itself. You’ll need to pay key attention to your KPIs, and pivot if issues arise with meeting timeline and budgetary goals. 

If these types of issues do occur, you’ll need to consider which aspects of the process could be streamlined with government technology . Automation will save time and money to increase the success rate of projects outlined in your management planning. 

Pro Tips for Mastering Local Government Strategic Planning 

While the above section highlighted the key aspects of the government strategic planning process, this section will teach you the best practices for taking it to the next level. 

Here are some key tips for mastering strategic planning:

• Don’t be late to making a digital transformation: states like NJ and FL are setting the tone by passing electronic permitting and inspection laws for a reason: because it saves governments time and money and boosts the local economy. To mitigate risk across the board before you even get to strategic planning, going digital will make future endeavors more efficient and timely (and mitigate cybersecurity threats!.)
• Correspond with constituents constantly : your constituents elected local leadership because they believed you’d make serious strides towards improving their local quality of life. To make that happen, you’ll need to truly understand which issues are most concerning to them. Having a firm grasp on constituents’ takes on major issues and where public funds should be allocated will make it easier to make a strategic plan that positively benefits the people in your neighborhood. 
• Give government officials time to think about the strategic plan: Government leadership should let government workers know in advance that they’ll be asked for input on the government strategic plan. That will give them time to truly ask big questions when it comes to the biggest issues in your locality to prioritize. 
• Check in on your financial dashboards: knowing where your taxpayer dollars and federal grants (from recent legislation like the American Rescue Plan and Infrastructure Investments & Job Acts) are being allocated is quintessential to seeing a government strategic plan through. With GovPilot, data across departments is pulled into financial dashboards in real time, allowing you to see where money is being spent and how cost per project is lining up against your budget. 
• Use automated RFP notifications for local business partners: efficient and cost effective private-sector partners will be critical to seeing your highest priority physical & digital infrastructure projects through. With automated RFP software, you can send email blasts / texts out to local private sector businesses and collect proposals in a simple online platform. Learn more in our guide to the Best Software for Government Procurement . 

Understanding the Government Strategic Planning Process

Failure to prepare is preparing to fail. Your constituents deserve a well-thought out gameplan for how their tax dollars are being spent and how their elected officials are bringing about meaningful change. Take the time to strategic plan across the entirety of your municipal or county government by considering the largest risks and how you’ll address them. Answer big questions regarding costs and timelines, and set actionable KPIs to turn your plan into action. And use government technology to automate workflows, track budget allocation, and get paperwork filed quickly.

Learn more about how GovPilot government software can transform your local government processes with a free demo. 

Real Life Government Strategic Plan Examples & Success Stories

GovPilot takes pride in being the operating system for local governments. Here are some case study examples of challenges that localities were facing, and how shifting online helped them to hit their strategic planning goals across departments:

• Big Bear Lake, CA’s Economic Goal: Increase Vacation / Short-Term Rentals With Online Applications 
• How Galloway, NJ Improved Their Public Records & Document Request Processes
• How Bexar County, TX Streamlined the Permitting Review Process
• How Atlantic City, NJ Maintained Zoning Processes During the Pandemic Lockdowns
• Atlantic City Had a Goal to Modernize IT. Here’s How They Did It in Weeks
• Local Government Accountability: Operating a Truly Ethical Local Government
• How Do Online Permitting Systems Work?
• Government Data Breach Prevention: Preventing Data Loss & Leaks
• What is GovTech? Everything to Know About Government Technology
• Modern Government Trends, Events, & Technology
• Tornado Mitigation & Disaster Plan
• Wildfire Mitigation & Disaster Plan
• Local Government Disaster Preparedness Guide
• Continuity of Government: Government Procedures During a Crisis
• Best Software for Government Procurement
• How to Build a 15-Minute City
• Building Inspections 101: How Municipalities Can Improve Public Safety
• Government Cybersecurity: How to Prevent Ransomware Attacks
• Municipal Planning: Reclaiming Your City Streets
• Government Blockchain: How Local Government Can Use Crypto
• How Local Governments Can Encourage Civic Engagement

Tags: Constituent Engagement , Government Efficiency , Constituent Experience , Digital Transformation , Blog

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Local Government Strategic Planning Process + Example

Strategic planning in government can be challenging. You need to ensure stakeholder input is taken into account, your strategy is aligned across all city departments, capital projects are linked to multiple plans, and all involved are bought into the strategy.

The good news is, it can be done and the process may be easier than you think. The even better news is, we'll be sharing our local government strategic planning process for achieving this here.

We've worked with a number of local governments through the process of implementing strategy in their organization. During these implementation projects we're often asked about the best way to structure and create their strategic plan.

In order to shed some light on this recurring issue, we've decided to address this in our local government strategic planning guide.

Local Government Strategic Planning Process

The local government strategic planning process should follow the steps below:

Environmental Scan

• Writing Your City Strategic Plan
• Strategy Roll-out to Divisions and Departments (We will touch on this in later articles)
• Executing Strategic Plan (We will touch on this in later articles)

While the above steps are a slightly simplified version of our local government strategic planning process, it should help give you an understanding of the phases in the strategy cycle as a basis - before you get caught up in the detail of the different things involved in each step.

We'll now look into the first two phases mentioned above and explain what it is, what the different components are, and how to go through each phase successfully to arrive at the next to create you government strategic plan.

When city/town managers and other executive leaders take on the task of strategic planning in government, an environmental scan should always be the first step. The environmental scan will require local governments to study and analyze the current and emerging forces that exist within their municipalities internal and external environment.

It provides city managers with comprehensive information on the current conditions of the city that may present potential opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses to take advantage of or mitigate. 

Internal Analysis

An internal analysis examines your organization’s internal environment in order to assess its resources, competencies, and competitive advantages. Performing an internal analysis allows you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your organization, as well as the opportunities and threats that face your organization.

This knowledge aids the strategic decision making of management while they carry out the strategy formulation and execution process. We've already created a guide to conducting an internal analysis in an earlier article, so check it out , and then come on back here to continue. As a quick overview, things you'll probably want to cover in your internal analysis will include:

• A Strategy Analysis - to help you evaluate how well you performed against your current strategic plan, what you can do better, and where you should be focusing. 
• Internal Stakeholder Analysis - allows you to gather insight into the concerns and views of all internal stakeholders of your city and the impact they may have. 
• SWOT Analysis - will be beneficial in gaining a holistic view of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that face your city/town. 
• VRIO Analysis - will help you identify any competitive advantages you have, and how to turn them into sustained competitive advantages. 

External Analysis

An external analysis is the process of researching and examining the external environment your organization operates in, in order to determine where opportunities and threats to your town/city lie.

Just like any organization, local governments are affected by factors outside of their immediate control that they must prepare for. For example, changing legislation and policies, demographic changes, or climate concerns. Things you'll probably want to cover in an external analysis will include:

• A PESTLE analysis - to assist in identifying the different areas that may impact your city. 
• An External Stakeholder Analysis - allows you to gather insight into the concerns and views of all external stakeholders of your local government and the impact they may have.

Local Government Strategic Plan Example

The actual creation of your cities strategic plan can now begin. Armed with the information and insights gathered during your environmental scan, you should now be well equipped to formulate great strategies to achieve your municipalities goals.

There is one more thing you will need to consider before actually writing your strategy - and that is the 'model' (design of strategic plan structure) that you will actually use. For the purpose of this article we're going to be using 'The Cascade Model' as we have found that this approach to strategic model is simply more effective when it comes to execution than any other model we've tried.

We've slightly adapted some of the terminology in the model to work in the context of local governments. So, with that being said.. 

What is the Cascade Model?

The Cascade Model is made up of 6 components. We've put together a diagram below of what the components of The Cascade Model look like in use for local government.

Your vision statement defines  where you want to get to . Your Vision Statement is the anchor that stops you getting lost at sea. It will help to tunnel your strategy towards the outcomes that matter the most to your municipality.

Every single thing that you write into your plan from this point onward, will ultimately be helping you to get closer to your Vision. If your city needs a hand writing it's vision statement, check out this article for a complete guide.  

An example vision statement for a local government may be.. 'A safer, smarter, healthier city which allows all our citizens to thrive'

Values represent  how you'll behave as an organization as you work towards your vision. Think of Values as the 'enablers' to your Vision Statement. Don't be afraid to be honest about how you want the people in your local government organization to act and think through their day to day work contributing to the strategy. If you need a hand finding the core values of your city, check out this article for a complete guide . 

An examples of values held by a local government may include.. 'Diversity' 'Respect' 'Innovation' 'Trust'.

Focus Areas

Your focus areas are  the high level areas that you’ll be focusing your city's efforts around as you strive towards your vision. We usually suggest creating between 3 to 5 Focus Areas. Any fewer and they will probably be too vague. Any more, and well.....I for one certainly can't focus on more than 5 things at once! For a complete guide on creating key focus areas, check out this article!

Continuing on with our local government example, focus areas may include.. 'Safe & healthy community' 'Urban experience' 'Innovative infrastructure' ''Economic vibrancy and employment'. 

Strategic Objectives

Strategic Objectives represent  what your city actually want to accomplish  - they’re reasonably high level, but should still have a deadline attached. Your Strategic Objectives (also known as strategic goals) should align to one or more of your Focus Areas and should start to put some tangibility into what you think achieving your focus areas will look like. Typically you’ll have between 3-6 objectives for each focus area. Check out this article for a complete guide to creating awesome strategic objectives.

Borrowing from our example of focus areas above, if we were creating strategic objectives for the focus area 'Safe & Healthy Community', examples of strategic objectives may be

• 'Improve neighborhood safety by 31st of December 2022'   
• 'Increase housing security by 30th of June 2022'
• 'Improve services to youth and vulnerable populations by 31st of December 2022'

Work plans describe  what you will do  to accomplish your objectives (or goals). They help convert the big picture into smaller, more manageable outcomes and tasks. It is at this point in your strategic planning process that you will start to scope out exactly what actions you will take in order to achieve certain objectives, and what skills, experience and resources will be needed. If you need a hand creating your work plans, check out this resource.

Taking our strategic objective from above 'Improve services to youth and vulnerable populations by 31st of December 2021' , an example of a work plan that would fall under this may be 'Fund an collaborate with a myriad of community organizations working in human and social services' 

KPI’s are  how you will measure progress towards your strategic objectives. KPI's are measurable values that show your organization’s progress towards achieving key business objectives. 

KPIs should be developed to contribute to achieving a specific goal or objective, and are how you will know if you have achieved your strategic objective or not. If you need a hand developing great KPIs, we've created a 4 step process for creating awesome KPIs.

An example of a KPI for the strategic objective ' Improve services to youth and vulnerable populations by 31st of December 2021' may be something like 'Decrease the unmet need for mental health services to 0% by 31st of December 2021'. 

Local Government Strategic Plan

Following the steps detailed in this article should allow you to create a great city strategic plan. The strategic planning process should not stop here though, the strategy roll out is just as crucial to the planning process as writing the city strategic plan.

This is because the roll-out phase is when you'll have the opportunity to share the strategy with the rest of the departments in your municipality, in order for those departments to then create their own strategic plans based off the cities plan.

Without cascading the city strategy down through the organization, poor alignment between departments can foster, and confusion and inefficiencies are created.

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Business Plan Template for Government Agencies

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Creating a solid business plan is essential for any organization, including government agencies. It's not just about setting goals and objectives, but also about efficiently utilizing resources and showcasing transparency. That's why ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Government Agencies is here to help!

With this template, government agencies can:

• Clearly define their strategic goals and objectives for maximum impact
• Develop actionable plans to allocate resources effectively and drive performance
• Demonstrate accountability to stakeholders and the public through transparent reporting

Whether you're a local council or a federal agency, ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Government Agencies empowers you to create a comprehensive and compelling roadmap for success—all in one centralized location. Start planning for a better future today!

Business Plan Template for Government Agencies Benefits

A business plan template for government agencies offers numerous benefits, including:

• Streamlining the strategic planning process and ensuring alignment with organizational goals and objectives
• Facilitating effective resource allocation and budget management to maximize efficiency and productivity
• Providing a clear roadmap for action, enabling agencies to prioritize initiatives and track progress
• Enhancing transparency and accountability by clearly communicating the agency's mission, vision, and performance metrics to stakeholders
• Enabling agencies to adapt and respond to changing priorities and external factors, ensuring long-term success and sustainability.

Main Elements of Government Agencies Business Plan Template

ClickUp's Business Plan Template for Government Agencies is designed to help government agencies effectively outline and manage their strategic goals, objectives, and action plans. Here are the main elements of this template:

• Custom Statuses: Easily track progress with four custom statuses - Complete, In Progress, Needs Revision, and To Do - to ensure that all tasks and sections of the business plan are properly managed and updated.
• Custom Fields: Use three custom fields - Reference, Approved, and Section - to add vital information and metadata to each task, allowing for easy organization and filtering of business plan sections.
• Custom Views: Utilize five different views, including Topics, Status, Timeline, Business Plan, and Getting Started Guide, to gain different perspectives on your business plan, track progress, and ensure alignment with strategic objectives.
• Collaboration and Accountability: Enhance collaboration and accountability by utilizing features such as task comments, mentions, file attachments, and assigning responsibilities to team members.
• Reporting and Analytics: Leverage ClickUp's reporting and analytics features to gain insights into progress, performance, and resource allocation, enabling effective decision-making and demonstrating accountability to stakeholders and the public.

How To Use Business Plan Template for Government Agencies

If you're a government agency looking to create a comprehensive business plan, follow these steps to make the process easier using the Business Plan Template in ClickUp:

1. Define your mission and objectives

Start by clearly defining the mission and objectives of your government agency. What is the purpose of your agency and what do you hope to achieve? This step is crucial as it sets the foundation for the rest of your business plan.

Use the Goals feature in ClickUp to create and track your agency's mission and objectives.

2. Assess your current situation

Take a deep dive into your agency's current situation. Analyze your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis). This will help you identify areas of improvement and potential challenges that need to be addressed in your business plan.

Use the Table view in ClickUp to create a SWOT analysis and track your agency's current situation.

3. Develop your strategies and action plans

Based on your mission, objectives, and SWOT analysis, develop strategies and action plans to achieve your goals. Outline the specific steps you will take to address the challenges identified and leverage your agency's strengths.

Use tasks in ClickUp to create action plans and assign responsibilities to team members.

4. Monitor and review

Once your business plan is in place, it's important to regularly monitor and review your progress. Keep track of key performance indicators (KPIs) and milestones to measure the success of your strategies and action plans. Make adjustments as needed to stay on track and ensure the continued success of your government agency.

Use Dashboards in ClickUp to visualize and monitor your KPIs and milestones.

By following these steps and utilizing the features in ClickUp's Business Plan Template, your government agency can create a well-structured and effective business plan to guide your operations and achieve your objectives.

Get Started with ClickUp’s Business Plan Template for Government Agencies

Government agencies can use the Business Plan Template for Government Agencies in ClickUp to streamline their strategic planning process and ensure alignment with organizational goals and objectives.

To get started, hit "Add Template" to sign up for ClickUp and add the template to your Workspace. Make sure you designate which Space or location in your Workspace you'd like this template applied.

Next, invite relevant members or guests to your Workspace to start collaborating.

Now you can take advantage of the full potential of this template to create a comprehensive business plan:

• Use the Topics View to outline and organize key sections and topics of your business plan
• The Status View will help you track the progress of each section, with statuses such as Complete, In Progress, Needs Revision, and To Do
• Utilize the Timeline View to set deadlines and visualize the timeline of your business plan
• The Business Plan View provides a holistic overview of your entire plan, allowing you to easily navigate between sections
• The Getting Started Guide View offers step-by-step instructions and guidance to help you kickstart your business plan creation process

Additionally, customize your business plan template with the following custom fields:

• Reference: Add references or sources to support your business plan
• Approved: Indicate whether each section has been approved or not
• Section: Categorize each section of your business plan for easy organization and filtering

With this template, government agencies can efficiently create, manage, and update their business plans, ensuring transparency, accountability, and successful execution of strategic initiatives.

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• 7 Best Pract...

7 Best Practices for Local Government Strategic Planning

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A local government strategic plan provides an opportunity for city and county managers to shape everything from their jurisdiction’s youth services, accessibility, and downtown landscape. This two-to-five-year plan is a vision for the future—one that finds the balance between available resources and big dreams. 

A strategic plan is an opportunity for local government managers to connect to their community’s needs and to build initiatives based on resident priorities. To that end, it’s one of the most valuable work products local government leaders will draft and oversee. Preparing it must come with careful consideration. However, developing a strategic plan also involves some complexity and several moving parts. Council members must also approve the plan. Adhering to the following best practices for local government strategic planning can help you streamline your planning process and ultimately improve your strategic plan.

Local government strategic planning best practices

The strategic planning best practices below will help city and county managers draft and execute a successful plan.

1. Obtain community input

A strategic plan serves the community, so it should take the community’s needs into consideration . Seeking community input during the planning process is critical. Additionally, mechanisms to ensure that resident feedback is heard should be established. These mechanisms include public meetings, surveys, hearings, workshops, and technological solutions for broader participation by those who would not necessarily participate.

2. Put vision before resources

Policy experts often recommend that the vision of the strategic plan not be hampered by available resources. The GFOA Best Practices: Establishment of Strategic Plans states that a strategic plan is about “influencing the future, not just preparing for it or adapting to it.” It goes on to say that it is the vision itself that should drive the allocation of resources. In other words, while it is important to consider resources, strategic plans are a roadmap. And as they don’t require dollar-for-dollar accounting, you should see your strategic plan as an opportunity to dream big.

3. Incorporate equity from the first step

Including DEI in your strategic plan ensures that you’re serving all parts of your community – not just the active participants. The American Planning Association defines this as “recognizing planning practices that have had an unequal impact on specific communities and actively working with affected residents to create better communities for all.” Establishing equitable and inclusive processes from the ideation phase ensures that all residents have a voice in shaping the vision and setting strategic priorities, ensuring that all residents benefit from your strategic plan.

Too often, the most active participants in local government do not necessarily speak for the entire community. More so, the most vulnerable members of your community may face barriers to participation. These include language barriers, accessibility, and even a lack of knowledge that taking part in local government is possible. Lowering these barriers and including underrepresented voices in your strategic plan helps you build a city with all of the communities you serve. For city and county managers, this means broadening the ways by which you hear from the community and gather feedback.

4. Build on the past

A successful strategic plan doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel. City and county managers should borrow from the successes of previous strategic plans, and from the successes of their neighbors. Similarly, local governments can benchmark against similar communities .

5. Utilize data to support your plan

Perhaps one of the most important steps in creating a strategic plan is the approval process. The process of creating a plan varies by jurisdiction: in some cities and towns, managers are responsible for creating the plan, while in other jurisdictions the plan is created by a committee. One constant, however, is that strategic plans and the priorities they establish must be approved by elected officials such as council members. The challenge is that it can be difficult to approve policies that are endorsed by more than just the loudest members if council members are not heard by the entire community.

For this reason, data is one of the most valuable tools local governments leaders can harness, as it means backing up proposed initiatives with the priorities of the community at large. This is where community input comes into play, and it is representative and diverse community input. Using organic feedback and broad-reaching surveys can help local government leaders get elected officials on board and approve their strategic plan.

6. Measure your performance

A successful local government strategic plan provides a vision for the future and also lays out necessary steps to achieve those goals. Performance management is the assessment of the implementation of a strategic plan through key performance indicators (KPIs) and data analysis. Without KPIs, it’s impossible to know whether implementation is going according to plan and which areas need to be optimized. Performance management is an opportunity to evaluate your strategic plan in real-time —or even just a portion of it. Perhaps equally importantly, performance management also provides a foundation for future plans.

7. Stay flexible

If the Covid-19 pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that even the best-laid plans can go awry. For that reason, staying flexible and dynamic is a must for executing a strong strategic plan. City and county managers must be able to set a course in both the development and implementation of a strategic plan. Additionally, they need to adapt to changes in the environment and lessons learned through performance management and evaluation. Doing so is a recipe for success.

Local government strategic planning: next steps

Following these best practices puts local government leaders on the path to a dynamic strategic plan that serves all members of the community. However, with each of these best practices come new challenges that must be considered in order to be truly successful.

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Roles and Responsibilities of Local Government Leaders

This page provides a broad overview of the powers of the legislative and executive branches of cities and counties in Washington State, the role of the city attorney or county prosecutor, and practical tips for avoiding conflicts.

Special purpose districts are not covered on this page as each is unique, and the roles and responsibilities of the various bodies are more difficult to generalize.

However, some information on roles and responsibilities can be found in our publication Knowing the Territory: Basic Legal Guidelines for Washington City, County, and Special Purpose District Officials .

The responsibilities and levels of authority of city and county elected officials differ from those held by executive staff, and it is critical to understand the difference in order to avoid unnecessary conflict and confusion. These roles and responsibilities derive from the state constitution, state laws, local ordinances, and (for home rule cities/counties) local charters.

Unclear or misunderstood roles and responsibilities can lead to conflict and reduced effectiveness. On the other hand, a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities can lead to more collaboration and increase the effectiveness of all participants.

Legislative Bodies

City, town, and county councilmembers and county commissioners are legislators. Together, the councilmembers or commissioners constitute a legislative body that is given authority by the state constitution and state law to make local laws.

Our political system is a representative democracy. Voters elect legislators to make policy decisions and enact laws on our behalf, which the legislators do by taking action during open public meetings. Except through the exercise of the  initiative and referendum , citizens do not practice direct democracy. The essence of the legislative process is the give and take of different interests and the search for compromises acceptable to the majority.

Local governments involve citizens and interest groups in the policymaking process in a variety of ways, such as public comment periods during regular meetings and special neighborhood meetings on issues affecting that area. But in the end, legislative bodies make the decisions, and voters must abide by these decisions. Those who are not satisfied with outcomes can seek to change their representatives by voting for other candidates.

Local legislative authority is generally limited to what the state specifically grants to counties, cities, and towns. However, code cities, charter cities, and charter counties have more extensive powers called "home rule" that permit them to exercise authority not specifically granted by the state, provided that these are not specifically prohibited.

There are some factors that make the policymaking process of counties different than cities. Elected county offices are partisan in the majority of counties; candidates must declare party affiliation when they run for office. In comparison, all elected city offices are nonpartisan.

In addition, county commissioners also share power with other elected county officials such as the assessor, auditor, prosecuting attorney, sheriff, county clerk, and treasurer. (For more information, see our page on  County Elected and Appointed Officials .) In comparison, there are only a handful of Washington cities that elect anyone other than mayors or councilmembers.

For more details on the responsibilities and authority of legislative bodies, see the following MRSC publications:

• Knowing the Territory: Basic Legal Guidelines for Washington City, County and Special Purpose District Officials

Mayor and Councilmember Handbook

• County Commissioners Guide

Mayors and city managers serve in the executive roles for cities. In counties, executive authority lies with the commission, the county executive or county administrator, or a combination of the two. While executives often develop and propose policies, their basic responsibility is to carry out the legislative body’s directives and policies.

The relationship of the executive to the legislative body varies by form of local government: for cities, either mayor-council or council-manager, and for counties, either standard commission or home rule charter. MRSC’s pages on  City and Town Forms of Government and County Forms of Government explain the distinctions between the different forms of government.

The separation of authority between the legislative body and the chief executive is very similar in the mayor-council, county executive, and council-manager forms of government.

In the mayor-council form of government, the mayor is the chief administrative officer who is responsible for all administrative functions. Some mayor-council cities have also hired professional city administrators or chief administrative officers to serve under the mayor and take responsibility for many administrative duties. In the council-manager form, the appointed manager is the chief administrative officer.

A few charter counties, including King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Whatcom counties, have a separately elected county executive who serves as chief administrative officer.

Some other charter or commission counties appoint a professional county administrator and delegate some or all of their administrative authority to the administrator, although there is no requirement to do so.

Common Questions About Legislative vs. Executive Authority

Some of the most common questions about the legislative body and the executive authority are related to personnel matters, agenda setting, veto power, policy setting, contracting authority, and emergency powers.

Personnel Matters

In cities, the council creates departments, authorizes positions, adopts job descriptions, and fixes compensation. However, day-to-day administration of staff, including hiring, directing the work, and firing, is the responsibility of the executive, whether that be the elected mayor or appointed city manager (see  RCW 35A.12.090-.100 ,  RCW 35A.13.080 , and  RCW 35A.13.120 ).

The city council is not involved in these types of day-to-day personnel matters, although local ordinances may require council confirmation of certain appointments in the mayor-council form of government ( RCW 35A.12.090 ). The mayor or city manager’s authority to hire and fire may be delegated to department heads ( RCW 35.18.090  and  RCW 35A.13.100 ).

The role of the county commissioner or county councilmember in personnel matters differs depending on the county's form of government. County commissioners in the noncharter, commission form of government have a dual legislative and executive role. Therefore, they often play a critical role in hiring and supervising their own management staff.

County commissioners do not, however, play a direct role in hiring and supervising staff in other departments, such as the prosecuting attorney’s office or the auditor’s office. Their role in that context is limited to eliminating and establishing employee positions in county departments, setting department budgets, and creating new departments. See  Smith v. Board of Walla Walla County Comm’rs (1987) and  Osborn v. Grant County (1996).

The role that county councilmembers in home rule charter counties have in personnel matters will be set forth in the county charter. The general role of county councilmembers for charter counties is often limited to legislative functions, although charters sometimes require the council to approve the executive’s appointment and dismissal of department heads. MRSC’s topic page County Commissioner Roles and Responsibilities  explores this role in more detail.

Agenda Setting

State law doesn’t address who prepares the regular meeting agendas; therefore, it is common for local policies and procedures to identify who is responsible for agenda preparation.

Counties often delegate agenda preparation to the board chair, county administrator, or clerk. Similarly, mayors, city managers, and/or city clerks often prepare preliminary meeting agendas for cities.

Members of the governing body can request agenda items be added either prior to or during the meeting. The method for making these requests is set forth in the local rules of procedure and can include, for example, two or three councilmembers jointly requesting an item be added to a preliminary agenda or a single member making a motion to add an item to the agenda.

MRSC has several topic pages exploring public meeting matters, including Council Voting , City Council Meeting Agendas , and Council/Board of Commissioners Rules of Procedure .

Mayors in mayor-council cities (but not towns) can veto ordinances passed by the council; mayors in towns and council-manager cities are not authorized to veto ordinances.

Mayoral vetoes are limited to ordinances and are not authorized for any other council action. The city council can override a mayoral veto by a majority plus one. If the city council overrides the veto and the mayor still refuses to sign the ordinance, the ordinance is valid without the mayor’s signature. For more information on mayoral voting and vetoes, see our page on  Council Voting .

Some charter counties specifically give county executives veto authority over ordinances in the county charter, with the ability for the council to override that veto. For example,  Snohomish County Charter Sec. 2.110 allows for the executive’s veto to be overridden by a majority of the council plus one.

Policy Setting

Mayors, county executives, city managers, and staff do not make policy d​​​​ecisions. However, they have strong influence on the policymaking process and its resultant decisions. For example, they propose budgets, oversee staff-led studies and analyses related to proposed policies, and make policy recommendations to councils.

Through their ongoing contacts with key interest groups, elected and appointed chief administrative officers and department heads influence (and are influenced by) other participants in the policy development process.

Contracting Authority

The city council has the authority to enter into contracts on behalf of the city and can delegate such authority to the mayor, city manager, or another department head ( RCW 35.23.440 (32), RCW 35A.11.010 , and  RCW 35.27.370 ). Commonly, this delegation will occur in the city code or local policy and will identify the specific contracting limits at which the mayor, city manager, or department head can execute the contracts. Any contracts above those limits still require council approval.

Similar to cities, the board of county commissioners have general supervisory authority over county funds ( RCW 36.32.120 (6)). However, case law provides that individual county elected department heads have broad control over their departments, including authority to sign contracts that are within the budget allocation for the department without advance approval of the board (see State ex rel. Taylor v. Superior Court for King County (1940) and  Miller v. Pacific County (1973)). Counties do adopt purchasing policies, including controls such as specific thresholds for board approval. See, for example, Clallam County Purchasing, Bids and Contracts Policy , Section 4.1, which requires board approval for contracts over $50,000 in a calendar year and most contracts of $25,000 per year that span multiple calendar years.

For additional examples of local procurement policies detailing contract signature authority, see our page on Procurement Policy Guidelines .

Emergency Powers

Both the legislative body and the executive have emergency management powers under state law. While both have the authority to declare that an emergency exists, it is often the mayor, city manager, or county executive who first declares the emergency because they can act more swiftly than the council as a body. (The council or commission would have to hold a special meeting under RCW 42.30.080  to declare an emergency.) While not required by state law, some local codes require that the legislative body ratify the executive’s emergency declaration. See, for example, Longview Municipal Code Ch. 10.60 .

Once an emergency is declared, the local government can bypass normal procurement and competitive bidding requirements and make the local government eligible for state and federal emergency funding. For more information, see our page on Local Government Emergency Planning .

Role of the City Attorney and County Prosecutor

City attorneys and county prosecutors have a unique relationship with the legislative body and the executive branch.

The city attorney’s client is the city as an entity, and city attorney's role is to provide legal advice to all branches of city government, including the legislative body and executive. The city attorney will also represent the city in all actions brought by and against the city.

Cities can either hire an “in house” city attorney or enter into a contract for legal services. While the city council creates the position and sets the compensation for an in-house city attorney, the executive (the mayor or city manager) selects the person to fill the role (sometimes subject to council confirmation). Similarly, if the position of city attorney has been made an office by ordinance or charter provision and that office is filled by contracting for legal services, the mayor or city manager selects someone to fill that office, subject to possible council confirmation.

The only instance in which the city council has the authority to select and hire (as well as fire) the city attorney is if the city attorney is contracted and the position of city attorney has not been made an office by ordinance or charter provision. See Koler v. Black Diamond  (2021). Regardless of how they are selected, the city attorney advises all city officials, including councilmembers, and the city council should rely on the city attorney for legal advice on city affairs. For more information, see our blog post Roles of the Mayor/Manager and the City or Town Council 101: Acquiring Legal Services .

Similar to the city attorney, the elected county prosecuting attorney represents the county as an entity and advises all branches of county government, prosecutes actions on behalf of the county, and defends the county against legal actions. The duties of the prosecuting attorney are set forth in RCW 36.27.020 .

Hiring Outside Counsel

In rare circumstances where the city attorney has a conflict and cannot advise both the executive and the city council, a contract with outside counsel is appropriate.

For counties, the county council cannot contract for legal counsel separate from the elected prosecutor without court approval ( RCW 36.32.200 ). We explore this issue in more detail in our publication Knowing the Territory .

What Staff Needs to Know about Elected Officials

Policy development processes are most effective and productive when the legislative body, the executive, and staff work well together. Each party has a role to play, along with clearly defined responsibilities. Conflicts often develop when the legitimate needs and roles of one party are not understood by another. Here are some suggestions that might make the policy development process more effective.

• Elected officials have different needs than staff . To be effective, elected officials must be responsive to the needs of their constituents. Elected officials will sometimes focus on fairness or responding to the minority view so that their constituents feel adequately represented.
• Elected officials want to know where various groups stand on an issue . This information is important in attempting to balance the conflicting values that often come into play during the policymaking process.
• Elected officials do not like surprises. This is particularly true at the end of a long and arduous process. A staff member's credibility can be seriously undermined if relevant, new information is introduced at a final public hearing before action is to be taken. Councilmembers depend on staff to provide pertinent, timely, and complete information on issues the council must take under consideration.
• Elected officials like to have choices . No one likes to feel backed into a corner with only one solution. Even a brilliant staff proposal may not carry the day if other choices were not seriously considered.

What Elected Officials Need to Know about Staff

• Some key staff belong to national and state associations that hold members to professional and ethical standards. For example, many city managers and administrators belong to the Washington City/County Management Association  (WCMA) and are bound by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) code of ethics .
• Don’t ask for personal help with campaign and election issues. It is not appropriate to ask staff to help on personal political matters, and state law prohibits the use of public facilities for election campaigns .
• Explore challenging issues with staff and encourage their creativity. Staff will sometimes take the position that they cannot pursue a certain initiative because it is contrary to existing code or policies. Work with staff on exploring creative ideas for achieving a community goal.
• Get to know and trust key staff. Staff can be a tremendous help in developing ideas, structuring good processes, and generally keeping you out of trouble.
• Treat staff respectfully. Otherwise, you may not get that extra effort that can make a difference in effectiveness.
• Avoid public criticism of staff. If elected officials have a legitimate concern about staff, discuss the matter with the executive, mayor, city manager, or department head, as appropriate. Remember that a councilmember does not have the authority to direct employees.
• Show appreciation for good work. Say "thanks." Share credit. Understanding and appreciating the differing roles of your team members will improve the policymaking and decision-making process.

Weekly E-News

Get the latest local government news, analysis, and training opportunities in Washington State with MRSC’s Weekly Insights .

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• Section 1. Writing Letters to Elected Officials

Chapter 33 Sections

• Section 2. Writing Letters to the Editor
• Section 3. Criticizing Unfavorable Action
• Section 4. Filing a Complaint
• Section 5. Seeking Enforcement of Existing Laws or Policies
• Section 6. Using Personal Testimony
• Section 7. Lobbying Decisionmakers
• Section 8. Establishing Lines of Communication with the Opposition's Traditional Allies
• Section 9. Conducting a Petition Drive
• Section 10. General Rules for Organizing for Legislative Advocacy
• Section 11. Developing and Maintaining Ongoing Relationships with Legislators and their Aides
• Section 12. Registering Voters
• Section 13. Conducting a Public Hearing
• Section 14. Organizing Public Demonstrations
• Section 15. Seeking a Negotiator, Mediator, or Fact-Finder
• Section 16. Initiating Legal Action
• Section 17. Organizing a Boycott
• Section 18. Organizing a Strike
• Section 19. Using Social Media for Digital Advocacy
• Section 20. Advocacy Over and For the Long Term
• Main Section

What is a letter to an elected official?

By now you are probably looking for ways to get your issue noticed by people who have the power to help you. To get the best results, you will probably want to try several of the direct action methods discussed in this chapter. In this section, we will show you the best way to write a letter to your elected officials.

A well-written personal letter may be the most effective way to communicate with elected officials. They want to know how their constituents feel about issues, especially when those issues involve decisions made by them.

Your elected officials usually know what advocacy groups are saying about an issue, but they may not understand how a particular decision affects you. A well-written letter describing your experiences, observations, and opinions may help persuade an official in your favor.

Until a short time ago, you had two options if you wanted to contact an elected official: telephone and the mail. In the last several years, e-mail has been added and become the medium of choice. It’s fast, it gets read, and – at least in the U.S. – virtually all elected officials, from town councils to the President, use and welcome e-mail communication. Any guidelines for writing letters in this section – the style to use, the information to include – apply to e-mail as well. A letter to your Congressman, whether it’s sent through the post office or electronically, should be formal and as well-written as you can make it. A political communication, to be taken seriously, should send the message that you care enough about the subject to take some care in writing about it. In the days before e-mail, officials generally considered letters more important than phone calls, because they took more thought and effort. A proper e-mail letter carries the same message – this person has really thought about this, and has put some work into sending his opinion.

Why write to elected officials?

Maybe you're not convinced that writing a letter to your elected official is the best way to spend your time. There are several reasons it’s worth your while, including:

• To explain to an official how a particular issue affects you or your group.
• To express support for a proposed law, policy, or course of action.
• To oppose a proposed law, policy, or course of action.

In any of the above cases, the letter may include information about the issue that the official may not have, or suggest an alternate course of action that she hasn’t previously heard about.

• To demonstrate to an official that his constituents are aware of an issue and have a real interest in the outcome.
• To inform an official about an issue or situation, giving background and history that she may not have.
• To attempt to persuade an official to vote in a certain way on an issue, or to take other related action.
• To build your reputation as a thoughtful person in the eyes of the officials, and thus make your criticism or support more influential, or to put yourself in the position of the person to be consulted when the official needs information about your issue.
• To request a meeting to discuss the issue or some related matter of concern.
• To thank an official for support given, or action taken.
• To criticize an official for a past vote or action.
• To put an official on notice that you and your group are watching his actions, and that he needs to take your votes into account at election time.
• To ask an official to state her position on a particular issue, or to reveal her voting record.
• To ask for help or support.

This type of letter often falls under the heading of “constituent support,” and concern individual problems with government – being denied military disability payments, for example, or being singled out for harassment by a local official.  The reason it’s included in this list is that it can sometimes lead an official to work to change procedures, policies, or laws that discriminate against or make life harder for a whole class of people – veterans, farmers, widows, etc.. Another purpose of this type of letter is to enlist the official’s support in a community or larger initiative of some sort.  This may be a request that he become a legislative champion for the effort, that he simply lend his name to the initiative’s list of public supporters or sponsors, or that he serve on a board or steering committee for the effort.

The letter may include information about the issue that the official may not have, or suggest an alternate course of action that she hasn’t previously heard about.

This type of letter often falls under the heading of “constituent support,” and concern individual problems with government – being denied military disability payments, for example, or being singled out for harassment by a local official. The reason it’s included in this list is that it can sometimes lead an official to work to change procedures, policies, or laws that discriminate against or make life harder for a whole class of people – veterans, farmers, widows, etc..

Another purpose of this type of letter is to enlist the official’s support in a community or larger initiative of some sort. This may be a request that he become a legislative champion for the effort, that he simply lend his name to the initiative’s list of public supporters or sponsors, or that he serve on a board or steering committee for the effort.

When should you write letters to elected officials?

When would you want to write that letter? Whenever an issue arises that concerns your group, but especially when:

• You want an official to consider a certain action or policy (e.g., increasing funding for a program for senior citizens).
• There is an upcoming vote on a policy that concerns your group. Letters are most effective when the vote is about to be taken. This is a good time to use e-mail.
• You want to respond (positively or negatively) to a completed action or a change in policy (e.g., enacting a law that requires people to wear seatbelts).
• You want to point out a deficiency or need in a particular area (e.g. more public transportation to the community health clinics, more police patrols through your neighborhood).
• You need information (e.g. about what happened the last time a certain issue came up for a vote).
• You need advice (how to approach another official, what kind of event will attract large numbers of officials to take notice, etc.). In this instance, you’d probably be writing to an official that you’ve already had positive contact with.

Another way to look at this question is to think about when a letter will have the most effect. There are particular times when letters are more likely to be carefully considered, and when officials are more likely to be responsive.

• Just before an election. Most elected officials become extremely anxious to please when they’re running for reelection.
• Right before an important vote. Officials will usually be receiving communication from many people on both sides of the issue when an important vote is coming up, so this is an especially crucial time to let your opinion be known.
• Just before and in the midst of the budget process. One of the most important things that legislators, town councils, and some other bodies do is set the budget for the coming year. Whether your concern is local, regional, state or provincial, or nationwide, most of the coming year’s policy and action related to health and human services, the environment, public safety, education, transportation, and a number of other important issues is determined, not by laws, but by the amount of money allowed for them in the annual budget. If you have priorities for funding, now is the time to make them known.
• Immediately after an official has done something you approve or disapprove of. There are two reasons why this communication should be immediate. The first is so that the action is still fresh in the official’s mind, and he can respond to your support or criticism. The second is that he will be hearing from folks on the other side, and he needs to know either that not everyone approves of his action, or that, regardless of all the negative letters, there are people out there who think he’s doing the right thing. Officials need to know who supports or objects to which of their positions. It can help them continue to work for the things you care about in the face of opposition, or can push them in that direction if they’re not doing it already.

The really crucial times to write this sort of letter are when an official is under attack for doing something you believe in – think of officials in the American South in the 1950’s and ‘60’s who supported racial integration – or has just done something outrageous – given out a billion-dollar contract in return for a huge bribe, for example. In either of these cases, the official needs to know either that you support her wholeheartedly, and will work to help her, or that you want her to resign now, and will work to have her prosecuted and jailed.

How do you write letters to public officials?

So how do you write letters to public officials, anyhow? We have a number of guidelines that should help you not only write the letter, but increase the chances that it will be actually read and taken seriously.

Decide on the recipient.

Get the name, title, and address of the official who will make the decision about your issue. Watch to make sure that all names are spelled correctly and that you have the proper address. An incorrect name counts against you. An incorrect address may mean your letter might not arrive at all.

If you’re concerned with politics or issues at all, you should make it your business to know the names and contact information (address, office phone, and e-mail) of all those who represent you, from the most local to the federal government. In the U.S., at least, you can get to know your representatives at any level of government if you make the effort. If you’re an activist, you may meet with them, or at least speak to them or their aides fairly regularly. If that’s the case, letters from you will be taken seriously.

Open the letter in an official manner.

If you are writing to an elected official, show respect for the position by using the title of the office, and the official's full name. In any other letter, use the familiar term "Dear," the title Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, or Dr., and the official's full name.

Example: January 5, 2008 Title [Name of Representative or Senator] House of Representatives [OR] U.S. Senate Office Address Washington, D.C. 20515

Explain the purpose for your letter.

Let your reader know immediately what your letter is about. Tell him/her why you are concerned or pleased that a particular decision is being considered.

Example: The proposed increase in the gasoline tax will make the cost of transportation unreasonably high for commuters in the metropolitan area.

Summarize your understanding of the issue/decision being considered.

State the general impact that you expect to occur if a particular decision is made.

Example: The creation of a peer-counseling program at our high school will help reduce the number of teen pregnancies in our community.

Explain your position on this issue.

Describe in detail why you feel the decision made will lead to the impact you foresee.

Example: This will provide opportunities for our high school students to discuss pressures they experience with their peers at this critical time in their lives.

Describe what any changes will mean to you, and to others.

Describe specifically the positive or negative effects the decision will have on you personally and on those you represent. The more people affected by the decision, the more convincing you may be.

Example: This program will help provide career opportunities for teenagers in our community.

Identify others who may be affected by this decision.

Tell the official which, and how many, people will be affected. Statistics can be very helpful here.

Example: A recent study showed that 80% of minors who smoke obtain cigarettes at stores that do not ask for any identification. Increased enforcement of the existing laws prohibiting tobacco sales to minors could significantly reduce the rate of smoking among our youth.

Acknowledge past support.

Mention appropriate actions and decisions the official has made in the past and express thanks for them.

Example: We appreciate your past support of the bill protecting the rights of emergency medical crews to not be tested for HIV.

Describe what action you hope the official will take.

State specifically what action you (and those you represent) hope the official will take--and by what date, if there is a deadline.

Example: We hope you realize the best course of action to protect our community's infants and young children is to vote "yes" to House Bill #689b.

If you have written a letter that opposes some action, offer an alternative.

Example: I believe that rather than increasing the number of police cars patrolling our neighborhood, a cheaper and more effective alternative would be to work with our community to develop a community-policing program.

If you have time and you are committed, ask how you can help

Example: Our group is more than willing to explore the various options in helping make our community a safer place to live.

Close and sign your letter.

Thank the official and sign your full name. Make sure your address, and phone number are included.

Check your letter for spelling and grammatical errors.

Correct spelling and grammar won't do the job by themselves, but they can help. Why not give your letter every possible advantage?

Letter-writing campaigns

So far, we’ve discussed individual letters. A letter-writing tactic that can be particularly effective is a letter-writing campaign, where dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people write either to the same official (if they’re all in, or somehow represent people who are in, her district) or to many officials about a specific vote, policy, or budget item. This can be extremely effective, especially when the letter-writers are people who don’t usually contact their elected officials.

In Massachusetts, when funding for Adult Basic Education (ABE) and English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) was being debated in the state legislature, over a thousand ABE and ESOL students wrote letters to their representatives explaining why funding was important to them personally. At the same time, program staff and administrators, volunteers, and advocates wrote letters to their own representatives explaining why ABE and ESOL were important to their communities and to the state. The letters from students were particularly powerful, many of them explaining that a year or two earlier, they couldn’t have written those letters. It was the opportunity to enter an ABE or ESOL program that had made the difference. Legislators responded, and funding for adult education was significantly increased.

If you want to engage in a letter-writing campaign, you have to prepare properly. Many people, especially people who see themselves as powerless and unimportant, and who may have little education, are intimidated by the thought of writing to someone in power. In many countries, writing such a letter can carry a certain amount of economic, social, or physical risk. (After a State House rally in the same year as the letter-writing campaign described above, one ESOL student was overheard to remark, “In my country, they shoot you for this.”) Even in democracies governed by the rule of law, people may be fearful of being punished for speaking out.

In addition to reluctance based on feelings of fear and intimidation, many people affected by an issue – especially those with low levels of education – can be embarrassed by their poor writing skills, or feel that they don’t have anything convincing to say. They need help putting their letters together, and they need a model to go by. The coordinators of the letter-writing campaign should be aware of what they have to do to meet these needs.

First, the campaign should contact potential letter writers with a request for letters, and a simple but complete explanation of why the campaign is needed, and what the important issues relating to it are. People can’t write letters that make sense unless they understand clearly why they’re writing. The chances are that, while advocates can – and perhaps do – go over the politics of the issue in their sleep, most people affected by it know very little about how it plays out politically, or even about how the political system handles issues. The better they understand what’s happening and the specific job their letters are expected to do, the more persuasive the letters they can write.

Along with this, the campaign should provide one or more templates for letters. A template is a pattern for the letters, illustrating the form of the letter on the page, with the sender’s and recipient’s addresses and date in the appropriate places at the top, and a formal signature at the bottom, as well as a sample of the content of the letter.

A template literally means a cut-out pattern that is used to make several identical pieces of wood, metal, or some other material that are part of something larger. A builder might use a paper or wooden template to cut a number of identical rafters to hold up a roof, for example.

In general, people affected by the issue should include : A description of who they are – single working mother, person with a disability, job training participant, ex-Marine. The fact that they’re residents of the official’s district, or participants in a program in his district. What they want the official to do. Their connection to the issue – program participant, staff person, community volunteer, parent of a child with disabilities.

Anywhere from one sentence up to a paragraph or two explaining what the issue means to them and/or how it has affected them personally. For program participants and others affected by the issue, this is by far the most important part of the letter. Officials are more often swayed by personal stories than by impersonal statistics, no matter how telling those statistics may be. If people can explain how a program changed their lives for the better, or how the lack of services has been a barrier for them, it’s likely that officials will pay attention.

Finally, campaign coordinators should make sure that those for whom letter-writing is difficult have access to help. In the Massachusetts adult education campaign, that was easy: letters were often written as part of a class, and students approached them as writing assignments, completing two or three drafts before the letter was ready to be sent. In other situations, you’ll have to make sure that program staff and others are available to encourage and empower people, and to help them write the best letters they can.

Should you use e-mail?

With the speed and ease of delivery, it's common to use e-mail and send your correspondence via the computer. Doing so, particularly for formal letters, has several advantages:

• It is much faster than normal mail. This also makes it possible for the official to respond much more quickly.
• It saves the trouble of addressing an envelope, buying a stamp, and mailing your letter.
• Electronic mail is less likely to get lost on the receiver's desk.

However, note that the last can also be a disadvantage . Unless the recipient goes through the trouble to print your message, it may be gone with one tap of the delete key – and out of mind as well. If you are going to use e-mail for your correspondence, be particularly clear and emphatic about your message from the beginning.

Writing letters to elected officials is a good way to explain how an issue affects you or your group. It also can build your reputation as a thoughtful person, giving you more influence with the people in power. A letter is also a good way to get your issue noticed by people who have the power to help you.

Online Resources

Action Tips  provides information for communicating with public officials, and the webpage includes an example letter.

Contact Officials  is a site provided by the United States government with links that give you contact information for the official you’re interested in contacting.

Early Childhood Advocacy Toolkit provides resources on framing your message and communicating with the media as well as policy makers and elected officials.  

Effective E-mail Communication from the University of North Carolina provides tips on professional e-mail writing and communicating via e-mail. 

How Do I Write an Effective Advocacy Letter?  Is a webpage from the Hearing Loss Association of America, Delaware Chapters, and it provides information specific to drafting advocacy letters to elected officials.

10 Tips  provides 10 tips on effectively communicating with legislators to make your message stand out to them.

Writing Your Elected Official is a guide provided by the Children’s Defense Fund, and it provides information on effectively communicating with elected officials.

Print Resources

Bates, D. J.(1985). Writing with precision . Washington, DC: Acropolis.

Fitch, B. (2010).  Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials: Citizen Advocacy in State Legislatures and Congress: A Guide for Citizen Lobbyists and Grassroots.  The Capitol Net, Inc. This book offers practical guidance for reaching elected officials with a variety of different communication strategies.

Homan, M.(1994). Promoting community change: Making it happen in the real world . Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks-Cole Publishing Co.

Managing correspondence--Plain letters, [available from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, DC: 20402]

Roman,K., & Raphaelson, J. (1992).  Writing that works . New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Seekins, T., & Fawcett, S. The Research and Training Center on Independent Living.(1984). A guide to writing letters to public officials: Contributing to important decisions affecting you and others. University of Kansas.

Stonecipher, H. (1979). Editorial and persuasive writings: Opinion functions of the news media . New York, NY: Hastings House.

Know How to Write a Letter to the Chairman with 16+ Examples

• Letter Writing
• March 25, 2024
• Formal Letters

Write a Letter to the Chairman: Writing a letter to the chairman of a company or organization can be a daunting task, but it can also be a powerful tool for communicating your concerns or suggestions . Whether you are a customer, employee, or a concerned citizen, a well-written formal letter can make a significant impact on the decision-making process of the organization.

Also Check:

• Formal Complaint Letter of Harassment Format
• Formal Condolence letter Format 

Write a Letter to the Chairman – Tips & Guidelines

Content in this article

Here are some guidelines for how to write a letter to the chairman:

• Begin with a formal salutation addressing the chairman by name, and introduce yourself briefly.
• Clearly state the purpose of your letter, whether it’s to make a complaint, suggestion, or request.
• Provide specific and concise details about your concerns or suggestions. Avoid irrelevant or unnecessary information.
• Use a professional tone throughout the letter, and avoid any offensive or accusatory language.
• If you are making a complaint, suggest a possible solution or course of action to rectify the situation.
• If you are making a suggestion, provide examples or evidence to support your idea, and explain how it could benefit the organization.
• In the closing paragraph, summarize your concerns or suggestions and thank the chairman for their time and consideration.
• Provide your contact information and invite them to contact you if they require any further information or clarification.
• Sign off the letter with a formal closing, such as “Sincerely” or “Yours faithfully.”

Write a Letter to the Chairman – sample format

Here’s a sample format for Write a Letter to the Chairman:

[Your Name] [Your Address] [City, State, Zip Code] [Date]

[Chairman’s Name] [Organization/Company Name] [Company Address] [City, State, Zip Code]

Subject: [Subject of the Letter]

Dear [Chairman’s Name],

I am writing to bring to your attention [state the purpose of your letter concisely].

[Body of the Letter: This is where you provide the details or explanation related to the subject of the letter. Be clear, concise, and organized in your writing.]

[Closing: This is where you conclude your letter. You can express gratitude, suggest further action, or provide contact information if necessary.]

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[Your Name]

Feel free to customize this sample format of Write a Letter to the Chairman according to your specific needs and the purpose of your letter to the Chairman.

Write a Letter to the Chairman – Sample Format

Write a Letter to the Chairman – Example

Here’s an example of Write a Letter to the Chairman:

[Chairman’s Name] [Company/Organization Name] [Company Address] [City, State, Zip Code]

Subject: Request for Improved Facilities in the Workplace

I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits. I am writing to bring to your attention the need for improved facilities in our workplace.

As an employee of [Company/Organization Name] for [number of years], I have observed several areas where enhancements could greatly benefit the productivity and well-being of the workforce. These include:

• Upgrading the cafeteria facilities to provide healthier food options and a more comfortable dining environment.
• Installing ergonomic furniture and equipment to reduce the risk of workplace injuries and improve employee comfort.
• Enhancing the IT infrastructure to ensure seamless connectivity and productivity for all employees.
• Implementing regular maintenance and cleanliness protocols to upkeep the office premises.

I believe that investing in these improvements will not only boost employee morale and satisfaction but also contribute to the overall efficiency and success of our organization.

I kindly request your consideration and support in addressing these concerns. Your leadership and guidance are essential in driving positive changes for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your favorable response.

Feel free to adjust the example of Write a Letter to the Chairman according to your specific situation and the purpose of your letter to the Chairman.

Request letter for a meeting or appointment with the chairman

Here is a Request letter for a meeting or appointment with the chairman:

I am writing to request a meeting or appointment with you at your earliest convenience. As an employee of this organization for several years, I believe that I can offer valuable insights and suggestions that could help improve the company’s operations and performance.

I understand that your schedule may be busy, but I would be grateful for the opportunity to discuss my ideas and concerns with you in person. I am available at any time that is convenient for you, and I am willing to adjust my schedule to accommodate yours.

During the meeting, I would like to discuss the current state of the company and offer suggestions for improving its performance. I have some ideas that I believe could be beneficial to the organization, and I am eager to share them with you.

I appreciate your time and consideration in reading my letter, and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Please let me know if there is any other information that you require from me.

Thank you for your continued leadership and commitment to the success of our organization.

Request Letter for a Meeting or Appointment with the Chairman  

Complaint letter about an issue or problem in the organization with Chairman

Complaint letter about an issue or problem in the organization with Chairman:

I am writing this letter to bring to your attention a serious issue that I have noticed in our organization. I am deeply concerned about the quality of the products that we are currently producing, and the impact that it is having on our customers.

As an employee of the company, I have observed several instances where our products have failed to meet the expectations of our customers, resulting in negative feedback and lost business. This is a matter of great concern, and it is imperative that we take immediate action to address this issue.

I believe that the root cause of this problem is the lack of quality control measures in our production process. We need to implement a rigorous quality control system that will ensure that our products meet the highest standards of quality and reliability.

I urge you to take this matter seriously and take immediate steps to improve the quality of our products. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to your response.

Complaint Letter About an Issue or Problem in the Organization with Chairman

Write a Letter to the Chairman – Template

Here’s a template for a letter addressed to the Chairman:

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to bring to your attention [state the purpose of your letter concisely].

Feel free to use this template and customize it according to your specific needs and the purpose of your letter to the Chairman.

write a letter to the Chairman for business proposal

Below is write a letter to the Chairman for a business proposal:

[Your Name] [Your Position, if applicable] [Your Company Name] [Your Address] [City, State, Zip Code] [Date]

[Chairman’s Name] [Chairman’s Position] [Company Name] [Company Address] [City, State, Zip Code]

Subject: Proposal for [Brief Description of the Proposal]

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to present a business proposal that I believe will be of great interest to [Company Name].

[Provide a brief introduction to your company and your expertise in the industry, if necessary.]

After thorough research and analysis, we have identified an opportunity that aligns closely with [Company Name]’s strategic objectives and strengths. Our proposal aims to [briefly outline the key objectives and benefits of the proposal].

[Provide detailed information about the proposal, including the products or services offered, target market, competitive advantage, revenue projections, and any other relevant details.]

We are confident that this partnership has the potential to yield significant mutual benefits and contribute to the continued success and growth of both our organizations.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this proposal with you in more detail at your earliest convenience. Please let me know a convenient time for a meeting, and I will make the necessary arrangements.

Thank you for considering our proposal. I am excited about the possibility of collaborating with [Company Name] and am looking forward to the opportunity to work together.

[Your Name] [Your Contact Information]

Feel free to customize this letter according to your specific business proposal and the relationship you have with the Chairman.

Write a Letter to the Chairman for Business Proposal

Write a Letter to the Chairman for project approval

Here is Write a Letter to the Chairman requesting project approval:

[Your Name] [Your Position, if applicable] [Your Company/Organization Name] [Your Address] [City, State, Zip Code] [Date]

[Chairman’s Name] [Chairman’s Position] [Company/Organization Name] [Company Address] [City, State, Zip Code]

Subject: Request for Project Approval: [Project Name]

I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits. I am writing to formally request approval for the implementation of the [Project Name] project within [Company/Organization Name].

After thorough planning and deliberation, our team has developed a comprehensive proposal for the [Project Name] project, which we believe aligns closely with the strategic goals and objectives of our organization.

[Provide a brief overview of the project, including its objectives, scope, anticipated outcomes, and potential benefits to the organization.]

We have conducted extensive research and analysis to ensure that the project is feasible and will deliver value to our company. Our team is committed to executing the project efficiently and effectively, and we are confident that it will contribute positively to the growth and success of our organization.

In support of this request, we have attached detailed documentation, including the project proposal, budget estimates, and implementation timeline, for your review.

We understand the importance of your role in making decisions that impact the future of our organization, and we greatly appreciate your attention to this matter. We are eager to receive your approval to proceed with the [Project Name] project and are available to address any questions or concerns you may have.

Thank you for considering our request. We look forward to your favorable response.

[Your Name] [Your Position] [Your Contact Information]

Feel free to customize this Write a Letter to the Chairman according to your specific project details and the relationship you have with the Chairman.

Write a Letter to the Chairman for Project Approval

Letter format for addressing the Chairman for funding request

Here’s a letter format for addressing the Chairman for a funding request:

[Your Name] [Your Position, if applicable] [Your Organization Name] [Your Address] [City, State, Zip Code] [Date]

[Chairman’s Name] [Chairman’s Position] [Chairman’s Organization Name] [Chairman’s Address] [City, State, Zip Code]

Subject: Funding Request for [Project/Initiative Name]

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to request funding support from [Chairman’s Organization Name] for our [Project/Initiative Name].

[Provide a brief introduction to your organization and the purpose of the funding request.]

We have recently developed a [brief description of the project/initiative] that we believe has the potential to [briefly outline the impact and benefits of the project/initiative]. However, in order to successfully implement this project/initiative and achieve our goals, we require additional financial resources.

[Provide specific details about the funding request, including the amount of funding needed, how the funds will be used, and any relevant budgetary information.]

We are confident that this project/initiative aligns with the mission and objectives of [Chairman’s Organization Name], and we believe that your support will greatly contribute to its success. We are committed to using the funds responsibly and transparently to achieve measurable results.

We have attached a detailed proposal outlining the project/initiative and the funding requirements for your review. We would be grateful if you could consider our request and provide your support.

Thank you for considering our funding request. We look forward to the opportunity to discuss this further with you and to potentially collaborate on this important endeavor.

Feel free to customize this letter according to your specific funding request and the relationship you have with the Chairman.

Letter Format for Addressing the Chairman for Funding Request

Write a Letter to the Chairman Congratulatory message for a significant achievement or milestone – Email format

Here’s an Email Format of Write a Letter to the Chairman Congratulatory message for a significant achievement or milestone:

Subject: Congratulations on the Milestone Achievement

I am writing to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you and the entire team on the recent milestone achievement of our organization. It is truly a remarkable accomplishment, and I am honored to be part of such a successful and dynamic team.

The hard work, dedication, and perseverance that went into this achievement is truly commendable. It is a testament to the strong leadership, vision, and commitment to excellence that you have instilled in the company.

This milestone is a significant step forward for our organization and is a result of the collective effort of the entire team. I am proud to be a part of such a forward-thinking and innovative organization.

Once again, congratulations to you and the team on this incredible achievement. I am confident that we will continue to achieve greater heights under your leadership.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement.

Best regards,

Write a Letter to the Chairman Congratulatory Message for a Significant Achievement or Milestone – Email Format

Write a Letter to the Chairman for sponsorship proposal

Below is Write a Letter to the Chairman for a sponsorship proposal:

Subject: Sponsorship Proposal for [Event/Project Name]

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to present a sponsorship proposal on behalf of [Your Organization Name] for our upcoming [Event/Project Name].

[Provide a brief introduction to your organization and the purpose of the event/project.]

[Explain the significance of the event/project and its alignment with the goals and values of the Chairman’s organization.]

We are seeking sponsorship support from [Chairman’s Organization Name] to help us achieve our objectives and make the event/project a success. Your sponsorship will not only provide valuable financial assistance but also demonstrate your commitment to [briefly mention the benefits of sponsoring the event/project].

[Outline the different sponsorship packages available and the associated benefits for the sponsor, such as branding opportunities, promotional materials, and VIP access.]

We are confident that partnering with [Chairman’s Organization Name] will be mutually beneficial and will help us create a memorable and impactful event/project. We are committed to providing excellent visibility and recognition for our sponsors throughout the event/project.

I have attached a detailed sponsorship proposal for your review, which includes more information about the event/project, sponsorship packages, and associated benefits. We would be honored to have [Chairman’s Organization Name] as our sponsor and look forward to the opportunity to discuss this further with you.

Thank you for considering our sponsorship proposal. We appreciate your support and look forward to the possibility of collaborating with you.

Feel free to customize this Write a Letter to the Chairman according to your specific sponsorship proposal and the relationship you have with the Chairman.

Write a Letter to the Chairman for Sponsorship Proposal

Write a Letter to the Chairman for board meeting agenda submission

Below is Write a Letter to the Chairman for submitting a board meeting agenda:

Subject: Submission of Board Meeting Agenda

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to submit the agenda for the upcoming board meeting scheduled for [Date of the Meeting].

[Provide a brief overview of the purpose and importance of the board meeting.]

Attached, please find the proposed agenda for the board meeting. We have carefully outlined the topics to be discussed, including [briefly list the main agenda items]. Each agenda item is accompanied by a brief description to provide context and background information for the discussion.

[If applicable, mention any documents or materials that accompany the agenda, such as reports, presentations, or financial statements.]

We believe that the proposed agenda reflects the key issues and priorities that require the attention and input of the board members. We welcome any feedback or suggestions you may have regarding the agenda and are available to make any necessary revisions.

Please review the attached agenda at your earliest convenience and let us know if there are any changes or additions you would like to make. We will ensure that all board members receive a copy of the finalized agenda in advance of the meeting.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We appreciate your leadership and guidance in facilitating productive and meaningful board meetings.

Feel free to customize this Write a Letter to the Chairman according to your specific board meeting agenda and the relationship you have with the Chairman.

Write a Letter to the Chairman for Board Meeting Agenda Submission

FAQS About How to Write a Letter to the Chairman with Examples

How do i address in write a letter to the chairman.

Write a Letter to the Chairman Address the Chairman formally using their full name and proper title, such as “Mr. John Smith” or “Ms. Jane Doe.”

What is the proper format for Write a Letter to the Chairman?

Write a Letter to the Chairman Use a formal letter format with your contact information, the date, the Chairman’s contact information, a formal salutation, the body of the letter, and a professional closing.

What information should I include in Write a Letter to the Chairman?

Include a clear subject line indicating the purpose of Write a Letter to the Chairman, a brief introduction, the main content of the letter explaining your request or proposal, any supporting details or documents, and a polite closing.

How do I make my letter to the Chairman professional and respectful?

Use formal language, address the Chairman respectfully, keep the tone courteous and professional, and proofread your letter for grammar and spelling errors.

Can you provide examples of letters to the Chairman for different purposes?

Yes, examples include letters for project approval, funding requests, sponsorship proposals, board meeting agenda submissions, and more. Each example should follow the proper format and tone for the specific purpose of the letter.

Writing a letter to the chairman can be an effective way to communicate your concerns or suggestions to an organization. By following these tips, you can ensure that your letter is well-written, concise, and professional, and has the potential to make a positive impact on the organization’s decision-making process.

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Few factors are as critical to the success of local government professional managers and the organizations they lead as is the quality of the relationship between the elected officials and the manager. Making It Work: The Essentials of Council-Manager Relations, a new e-book from ICMA,   provides the competencies needed to build a relationship that is based on mutual respect, understanding of roles, and open communication.

With eight chapters written by two local government experts, Making It Work: The Essentials of Council-Manager Relations, challenges early and seasoned local government professionals to create connections and forge the bonds necessary to tackle the difficult issues that inevitably face all professionals at some point during their careers. Making It Work describes and shows the combination of relationship competencies and operational competencies that underpin a solid foundation for effective council-manager relations.

Local government professionals will find useful insights and approaches not-uncommon to council-manager relationship challenges, from using interpersonal and communication skills to best advantage, to learning how to manage the bumps in the road.

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About the Authors

Kevin Duggan is an ICMA Credentialed Manager and was appointed ICMA’s West Coast Regional Director in May 2011. Prior to that he worked in California city government beginning in 1971, the last 27 years as a city manager for the cities of Campbell and Mountain View. As West Coast Regional Director, Duggan serves as the primary staff link between ICMA and members and professional associations in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Arizona, and Nevada.

Duggan began his career as an administrative intern for the city of Mountain View while earning a bachelor of arts in political science from San Jose State. He then served as an intern for the city of Campbell while obtaining his master of public administration, also from San Jose State. Duggan worked for Campbell for 18 years, the last 6 as city manager. He then returned to Mountain View in 1990 as city manager, where he served until April 2011.

Duggan has served as president of the both the City Manager’s Department of the League of California Cities and Cal-ICMA. Other professional activities have included serving on the California State Board of Fire Services, participating in an International Management Exchange with Limerick County, Ireland, and serving on ICMA’s Task Force on Organizational Structure and Governance. Duggan has served as an ethics trainer for ICMA and has written a number of articles for professional journals on topics ranging from budgeting during tough economic times, city council/city manager relations, and ethics.  

Michael A. (Mike) Conduff, ICMA-CM ICMA Special Liaison for Governance and President and CEO, The Elim Group Denton, Texas [email protected]

Mike Conduff is the president and CEO of The Elim Group—Your Governance Experts, a leadership training and organizational governance consulting firm headquartered in Denton, Texas. He is an

ICMA Credentialed Manager, speaker, multiple-time best-selling author, and corporate coach, and has extensive leadership, management, and governance experience.

During his 30-year career in local government, Conduff served as the city manager of four university communities in the United States, each with extensive municipally owned utilities.

Conduff also served on the executive board of the International City/County Management Association; is a National Academy of Public Administration® Fellow; and is the Special Liaison for Governance for ICMA, in which capacity he writes a regularly occurring governance column for the internationally distributed Public Management magazine.

Conduff is the past chairman of the board of the International Policy Governance® Association, a worldwide organization of leading governance practitioners. His books on governance have been widely recognized and his book, The On Target Board Member—8 Indisputable Behaviors, now in its fourth edition, has been nominated for numerous awards.

How To Write A Formal Letter To A Local Government Chairman?

Suppose you are looking for a way to get some social amenities in your community. In that case, one of the best ways to do this is to write a formal letter to a local government chairman. The chairman presides over your area’s local government. He is tasked with ensuring that your city’s residents receive the necessary services and facilities.

Address The Letter

In a formal letter, you should address the person you are writing to by name. For example, if you know the person’s first name, write “Sir” or “Madam.” You can also use their title if you do not know their first name.

In the first line of your letter, mention the reason for writing it and state the purpose. This is a good place to start, especially if you are making an inquiry or complaining about something.

Next, include your address on the left-hand side of the page. This should contain your street address, city, state, pin code, and phone number.

If you do not have the address of the person, you are writing to, find it on their website or call them to ask for it. Make sure you spell their name correctly and put your name and address in the correct format on the front of the letter, along with the date.

The body of your letter should be written in formal language, and you should try to keep it short. Often, three or four paragraphs are enough for this type of letter.

Your salutation is a greeting you write to the person you are addressing by name. For example, you can use “Sir” or “Madam.” If you do not know their first name, write Dr., Mr., Mrs., or Miss.

You may want to write a subject line, too. Again, this is recommended if you use AMS style, but omit it for block-style letters. The subject line should describe the contents of your letter and should be written in all caps.

If you are a business, include your logo and address in the center of your letter. This will help the recipient find your company easily.

Alternatively, you can leave the area blank for a more informal look. This is also a good place to write your contact details, including phone numbers and email addresses.

The letter should end with a standard complimentary close, such as “Sincerely” or “Yours truly.” If you want to include an authentic signature, skip four lines and type your name and job title on the fourth line.

The Purpose Of The Letter

When writing a formal letter, the format is important . The format can vary depending on the purpose of the letter and the intended recipient. Regardless of the format, it should be professional and respectful in tone. It should also be short and direct.

The first part of the letter is called the salutation, which should be greeted with “Dear” followed by the recipient’s name and title. You can use the person’s full name if you don’t know their gender or include their last name only if it is known.

After the greeting, you should mention the purpose of the letter. This can be to request a meeting or to outline a civic problem. You should also include a few closing sentences summarizing your letter and ask for any further actions the local government chairman might need to take.

You can also write a letter if there is an upcoming vote on a policy that concerns you or your group. This can be very effective, especially if your letter includes background information or suggests an alternate course of action that the official hasn’t heard about before.

Another way to write a formal letter is to create a letter-writing campaign, which can be very effective. This involves dozens or hundreds of people who write to the same local official about a specific issue or vote, which can get your letter to the top of their list.

This can be a great way to get your message heard, as most government officials receive dozens or hundreds of letters daily. In addition, many governments employ professionals who sort through these letters and determine which ones will be read by their officials.

A formal letter should always be polite and professional, even when writing about unpleasant subjects. This is to convey respect for the person you are writing to, and it will show that you have serious intentions about your subject.

The Format Of The Letter

If you are writing a formal letter to your local government chairman, it is important to be respectful and professional. It is also important to be concise and clearly state your purpose for writing the letter.

You may want to write a letter to your local government chairman if you are concerned about a particular issue or if you would like the council to consider a specific action. These letters can be effective and have a large impact on the official.

In addition, these letters are often used for enlisting the support of your local government chairman in a larger initiative or campaign. This may be as simple as asking the council to become a legislative champion or to lend their name to the initiative.

This type of letter can be helpful for people attempting to improve the lives of other citizens, especially in areas where many people need assistance. This can include military veterans, widows, and farmers.

The first part should include your contact information for these types of letters and briefly explain why you are writing the letter. The rest of the letter should be focused on your concerns and requests.

It is important to remember that your government official is busy and will not be able to read a long, rambling letter. Nevertheless, it is still very important to provide all the necessary information to the chairman so that they can understand your concern or request.

The closing section should thank the chairman for his or her time and offer a solution to your concerns. This can be as simple as asking the chairman to meet with you to discuss your issues, or it could be as complex as requiring the council to take certain steps to resolve your concerns.

The closing section of the letter should also include a formal signature and a note that you are grateful for the chairman’s time and consideration of your request. This is important because it will help build trust with the chairman and show you are serious about your concerns.

The Closing

A formal letter is an important part of communicating with government officials. It lets them know you are a serious person and that they can trust you. It also shows that you put time and effort into your correspondence.

You should always proofread your letters before sending them out to ensure they are free of errors and make sense to the recipient. You should also be clear and concise when writing a formal letter to convey your message effectively.

The first thing you need to do when writing a formal letter is to address the letter to the proper person. This is usually done by using “Dear” before their name. This can be their first or last name, depending on whether you know their full name.

Next, you must write your contact information, name, and email address. It’s also a good idea to include your phone and fax numbers, if applicable.

Your letter should be between three and four paragraphs in length, depending on the topic of the letter. The first paragraph will be used to introduce yourself and explain the purpose of your letter. At the same time, the rest should contain relevant information about the matter.

If you’re writing to a public official, your main purpose is likely to support or urge her to act. These can be important, particularly if she has committed a wrong or is under attack for her actions.

To conclude your letter, write a complimentary close like “Yours sincerely” or “Best regards” and sign the letter with your name. It’s also a good idea to write your name on the back of the letter so the government official can see it’s a genuine request.

Remember that a formal letter should be short, and direct but also polite and professional. It should also be proofread before you send it to ensure that it’s free of spelling and grammar errors, which can be damaging to the letter’s credibility.

How To Write A Formal Letter To The Local Government Chairman? Long Guide To Know

Writing a formal letter to a local government chairman can be daunting. However, it is important to get your message across professionally.

Here Is A Step-By-Step Guide On How To Write A Formal Letter To A Local Government Chairman.

• Choose the appropriate format : A formal letter should be written in a standard format that includes the sender’s address, date, recipient’s address, salutation, body, closing, and signature. Make sure to use a clear and legible font.
• Address the letter to the correct person : Address the letter to the local government chairman by name and title. If unsure of the correct name or title, research or call the local government office to confirm.
• Introduce yourself : Begin your letter by introducing yourself and stating the letter’s purpose. This should be done clearly and concisely.
• Provide details : In the body of your letter, provide specific details related to your concern or request. Be sure to include any relevant dates, times, and locations. Use clear and concise language to ensure that your message is easily understood.
• Be professional and courteous : While it is important to state your concerns clearly, it is equally important to maintain a professional and courteous tone throughout the letter. Avoid using overly emotional language and stick to the facts.
• Request action : Be sure to clearly state what action you request from the local government chairman. This may include a specific policy change, request for information, or other action.
• Thank the recipient : End your letter by thanking the local government chairman for their time and attention. You may also offer to provide additional information or assistance if needed.
• Closing : End your letter with a formal closing, such as “Sincerely” or “Respectfully.”
• Proofread and edit : Before sending your letter, proofread it carefully for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Edit your letter as needed to ensure it is clear, concise, and professional.
• Send the letter : Once satisfied with your letter, print it on high-quality paper and sign it in pen. Address the envelope to the local government chairman and send it via mail or email.

Following these steps, you can write a clear and professional formal letter to a local government chairman. Remember to stay focused on your purpose and maintain a courteous tone throughout the letter.

What should I include in my official letter to a chairman of the local government?

Your letter should have a proper introduction, body, and conclusion and be organized, clear, and concise. After a brief introduction of yourself and your intention for writing, make a concise and specific statement about your problem or concern. Make sure to include any suggested solutions or suggestions you might have, as well as any necessary details or evidence to back up your claims. Finish by politely requesting the attention and action of the local government.

In a formal letter to a chairman of the local government, what is the appropriate tone?

Your voice should be professional, courteous, and respectful, and you should avoid using language that is offensive or aggressive. Avoid contractions and slang and speak in a formal manner. Use a respectful and polite tone throughout your letter and address the chairman with the appropriate title, such as “Dear Chairman Smith.”

How should a formal letter to a chairman of the local government be written?

Your name and address ought to be at the top of your letter, followed by the date, the chairman’s name and address, and a formal salutation, in the standard business letter format. Be sure to include a clear subject line as well as a formal closing and signature, and use double spacing between paragraphs.

In my formal letter to a chairman of the local government, how should I address any particular concerns or issues?

Be specific and specific in your discussion of any concerns or issues, supporting your claims with pertinent facts, figures, and evidence. Clearly explain what you want the local government to do and why, and offer any suggestions for solutions or other options.

Should my formal letter to a chairman of a local government contain any attachments or supporting materials?

You should consider attaching any supporting materials to your letter that will help to clarify or reinforce your points, such as reports, studies, or photographs. Make sure to clearly label them and explain how they relate to your letter.

After writing and sending a formal letter to a chairman of a local government, what should I do next?

Verify with the local government that they have received and read your letter by following up. You might need to demand a reaction or a gathering to examine your interests further. Keep accurate records of all correspondence and interactions with the local government, and be patient and persistent.

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How to become a Local Government Chairman in Nigeria

Process to become a local government chairman.

Local government as the third tier of government in Nigeria is the closest government to the people as it deals with the people from the grassroots level.

This article examines the process of being appointed a local government chairperson in Nigeria. Nigeria has 774 Local Governments Areas (LGA), and each LGA is administered by a Local Government Council. The Council comprises of the Chairperson who is the Chief Executive of the LGA, and other elected members referred to as Councillors. The Chairperson supervises the activities of the Local government and presides over all meetings of the Council.

Who is eligible to become a local government chairperson in Nigeria ?

Each local government must have a Chairperson and a Vice-Chairperson. For a person to be qualified to hold office as Chairperson of a local government, the person must:

• be a citizen of Nigeria
• have attained the age of 30 years
• be educated up to at least the School Certificate (WASSCE) level or its equivalent
• Be a member of a political party and must be sponsored by that party.

These conditions must all be met for a person to be qualified to be the Chairperson of a Local Government.

Persons disqualified from Contesting for Local Government Chairperson

A person is disqualified from holding the office of Chairperson of a local government in Lagos State where:

• He/she has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another country other than Nigeria or has made a declaration of allegiance to that other country in cases not permitted by the National Assembly
• He/she is declared to be a lunatic or of unsound mind by a law in force in any part of Nigeria
• He/she has been sentenced to death by a court of law or tribunal in Nigeria or has been sentenced to imprisonment for an offence involving dishonesty or fraud
• He/she is an undischarged bankrupt having been declared bankrupt under any law in force in any part of Nigeria
• He/she is employed in the civil service or public service of the Federation or of any state or any local government and has not retired, resigned or withdrawn from that employment thirty (30) days before the date of the election
• He/she is a member of a secret society
• He/she has been accused/charged for embezzlement or fraud by the Judicial Commission of inquiry or a tribunal under the Tribunals Inquiry Act or any other law set up by the Federal, state or local government.

If a person meets the qualifications above and does not fall under any of the disqualification, then the person is qualified to contest in an election for the position of a local government chairperson.

Tenure of Office

The tenure of a local government chairperson lasts for three (3) years. Generally, a person can only serve one term as a local government chairperson. This means that the Chairperson of a local government must vacate his office at the expiration of three (3) years starting from the date when he took the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Office.

A local government chairperson may be required to leave office before the end of his/her tenure where:

• He/she becomes a member of a legislative house
• He/she becomes President, Vice-President, Governor, Deputy-Governor or a Minister or Commissioner
• He/she resigns from the political party which has sponsored his election or becomes a member of another political party before the end of the period for which he was elected as local government chairperson
• He/she becomes a member of a secret society or does anything that disqualifies him from being the chairperson of a local government.

Thank you for reading this article, we hope you have found it useful. If you have please share with your network using one of the share buttons below.

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April 12, 2024

New Member Appointed to Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service today announced the appointment of marketing executive Trish Jackson to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC). Members are appointed to the committee by the postmaster general to provide expertise in business, history, science, technology, art, education, sports and other areas of public interest. Working together, they make recommendations for future stamp subjects.

Jackson was born in New York City and grew up in Williamsburg, VA, where she first discovered her love and appreciation for American history. She is an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), where she is Molly Stark chapter regent in Manchester, NH. She was an honorary New Hampshire state regent from 2019-2022 and is the national chairman of the DAR Leadership Training Committee. She was recently appointed by Gov. Christopher Sununu to New Hampshire’s America 250! Sesquicentennial Commission.

Jackson has had an extensive career in marketing, focusing on campaign and data analysis. She is currently a marketing campaign analyst for Cigna-Express Scripts. She is a graduate of Colgate University with a double major in political science and international relations.

Jackson lives in New Hampshire with her husband of 32 years, Hans, and has two children, Erin and Connor.

Submitting Stamp Suggestions

Due to the time required for research and approval in the stamp selection process, ideas for stamp subjects should be received at least three years prior to the proposed issuance. Each submission should include pertinent historical information and important dates associated with the subject. Proposals must be in writing and submitted by U.S. Mail. No in-person appeals, phone calls or emails are accepted. Mail your suggestion (one topic per letter) to the address below:

Stamp Development Attn: Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 3300 Washington, DC 20260-3501

Postal Products

Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps , by calling 844-737-7826, or at Post Office locations nationwide. For officially licensed stamp products, shop the USPS Officially Licensed Collection on Amazon .

The United States Postal Service is an independent federal establishment, mandated to be self-financing and to serve every American community through the affordable, reliable and secure delivery of mail and packages to 167 million addresses six and often seven days a week. Overseen by a bipartisan Board of Governors, the Postal Service is implementing a 10-year transformation plan, Delivering for America , to modernize the postal network, restore long-term financial sustainability, dramatically improve service across all mail and shipping categories, and maintain the organization as one of America’s most valued and trusted brands.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

For USPS media resources, including broadcast-quality video and audio and photo stills, visit the USPS Newsroom . Follow us on X , formerly known as Twitter; Instagram ; Pinterest ; Threads and LinkedIn . Subscribe to the USPS YouTube Channel and like us on Facebook . For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and facts.usps.com .

Media contacts

• James McKean [email protected]

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