Legislators and Letters

One of the popular ways for a legislator to get his or her name in the newspaper is to send a letter to *********. Honestly, you can almost fill that blank in with the Governor, or any particular state agency, or even the President or one of the Departments of U S Government.

There have been a lot of these examples lately. In Western Colorado, this a is a great way to get your name in the newspaper,by sending a letter to somebody about oil and gas drilling. Legislators have sent letters demanding that the BLM be allowed to drill the Roan Plateau, and legislators have sent letters demanding hat the BLM prevent drilling on the Roan Plateau. More recently, a group of legislators have sent a letter to the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission complaining about the proposed, predraft, preliminary rules of the Commission. I actually received some criticism for not signing on to these letters. Now, don't get me wrong, it is entirely appropriate to communicate with the Departments and the Governor's Office and with the Federal Government, too.

My objection is the use of these communications as a method for getting the legislator's name in the Newspaper. These types of letters limit a legislator's real effectiveness in being effective. The letters tend to use words like "outrageous" and "unprecedented" and "devastating."

Several years ago, Hank Brown, the President of the University of Colorado explained to me his personal political philosophy. He told me that he never wanted to be the person who started out every press release with "I'm outraged that..." I've taken this advice to heart. Therefore, I very rarely sign these letters. I much prefer to deal directly with the Governor's office and the Departments. They know what my thoughts are. Although this doesn't get the publicity, I am absolutely certain it is much more effective.