New Arena Crunch Time - How to contact your legislator

[paulpressey25]

This next week is going to be very important as it relates to the arena. There is a still a decent chance this is included in the State budget but it will need help from you to contact you legislators and also contact key reps outside your district.

The SOB piece gives a primer on suggested ways to find your legislator and what to say when you call.

http://saveourbucks.com/contacting-legi ... -a-primer/

Let's use this thread solely for discussion of how to contact legislators and feedback you get from them. If you want to analyze specifics of the funding plan and debate those, please use the Arena Funding Plan thread.

Thanks.

[ReasonablySober]

An aid for my rep got back to me this morning. They wanted to get my address so as to confirm they were really my rep. Politics are so dumb. So very, very dumb.

[paulpressey25]

An aid for my rep got back to me this morning. They wanted to get my address so as to confirm they were really my rep. Politics are so dumb. So very, very dumb.

Agreed. That said thank you for doing this.

For those of you who are calling/emailing, you do have to be legit with your name/address as they want to record the comments to make sure they are getting accurate feedback and not a bunch of robo callers or robo emailers.

What people are saying works best is asking whether your rep supports the proposal or not. That usually draws out some interest and accountability.

From the State standpoint for reps in the 71 counties (other than MKE county), there really isn't a fiscal reason to oppose this. They can oppose it on moral grounds but not fiscal grounds. So keep your discussion focused on fiscal grounds and how the jock tax pays for the State portion of the bonds by like a 3 to 1 ratio.

For the MKE County based reps it gets a bit more complicated since they've got the City, County and WCD involved in the payback of the bonds. That said, the MKE reps are having the project built in their County, so they've got a big reason to support this.

[salsa]

Just emailed my Rep. Melissa Sargent in Madison.

[step3profit]

OK, well, that was a 12 minute call instead of a 2 minute call.

The gentleman I spoke with sounded tired and frustrated with the process. He spoke a lot about the other moving parts in the city council, etc, etc. He said that their office is feeling very outside the loop, not included in any talks, they don't understand why the governor's original bond plan wasn't approved, stating that "bonds are how we build things in this state". I would stress that he was professional and courteous, but seemed basically at a loss for what will come next.

He also said that they previously had received a lot of pro-Arena deal calls, but lately it was been very anti-arena. He stated that he gets more calls from (for example) Oak Creek in favor of the Arena, then from Milwaukee proper... which I thought was interesting/weird.

I was told Chris Larson won't vote for any deal if it is in the budget (read: he is a Democrat, and no Democrat will vote for the budget). He isn't sure of what his position is if the deal is separated from the budget, it would just depend on that actually came up for a vote.

I made clear that I understand that Democrats won't vote for a Republican budget, but if the deal is separated from the budget and Larson still votes against it, I'd have to oppose him in the next election based on this issue. I left my name and phone number, though I don't think they will have a particular reason to call me back.

For the record, my personal stance on this is "I don't care what it takes or how it is paid for, but don't lose the Bucks due to politics." I have always been confident that a deal will be worked out but now we are at crunch time, 2017 isn't very far away, and a deal needs to be done ASAP, even if it's not your personal favorite plan. In the long run, it doesn't matter how it is paid for. What matters is that the team stays here.

I will call my state rep as well in a while.

[paulpressey25]

I made clear that I understand that Democrats won't vote for a Republican budget, but if the deal is separated from the budget and Larson still votes against it, I'd have to oppose him in the next election based on this issue. I left my name and phone number, though I don't think they will have a particular reason to call me back. .

Thanks for calling Senator Chris Larson.

I think the GOP understands that someone like Larson will not vote for their budget regardless of whether or not the arena is in there.

That said, the Milwaukee democratic reps need to hear these calls now. They also need to come out and publicly speak in favor of arena funding and the project rather than falling back on politics. If the Milwaukee democrats hang back, it ends up getting the outside GOP reps more nervous about things. The Dems should want this in the budget so they don't have to deal with it in a separate vote.

And if at the end of the day, this does go to a separate vote, it is good for people like Larson to hear your thoughts now.

[Max Green]

An aid for my rep got back to me this morning. They wanted to get my address so as to confirm they were really my rep. Politics are so dumb. So very, very dumb.

An aid for my rep also got back to me and wanted my address as well so my rep could send me a letter. I gave it to him, I will post what the letter says when it arrives.

[paulpressey25]

For those of you calling and writing---great job.

And let's give them all well earned "And1's" for the effort.

[JackSIKMA43]

Holy hell .. that Seattle Facebook page totally has my blood boiling. Furthermore, I feel helpless, since, as an Illinois resident, they probably won't even bother with my letters and e-mails. This sucks.

[J-Nut]

I e-mailed my legislators: Senate District 6 - Senator Nikiya Harris Dodd and Assembly District 17 - Representative LaTonya Johnson. I'll let you know if I get a response.

[step3profit]

It was interesting calling on the phone instead of sending an email. I've sent email several times before about various issues, but never called. I kind of assumed I would be brushed off and rushed off the phone, or met with hostility, or something. But it wasn't like that at all. I'd encourage people to call just as an exercise in learning as much as anything else.

[Brand X]

Thought I would post my message to my senator and assemblyman. I read the SOB piece after I had already sent this, so I am somewhat wishing I had asked my reps what their position is before stating mine, but I was figuring that I would be lucky to have someone read my email, much less starting a back-and-forth conversation. It is cool to read this thread though and see that people are getting responses from their reps-looks like this issue has the people's attention.

Here it is...Feel free to take anything I say and fit it to your message. Let's get this done!

Dear Senator Larson,

I would like to write to you to express my thoughts and concerns regarding a Milwaukee arena. By way of introduction, I am XX years old, an attorney, and was born and raised in Milwaukee. I currently live in the XXXXX zip code. I am a Bucks fan and a huge believer in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.

I am strongly in favor of a new arena for the Bucks. Truth be told I would support keeping the team under most scenarios, but the current proposal seems like such a no-brainer (for the state at least-county and city burdens are a separate issue) that I truly believe the only thing that can get in the way of this transformative project is politicians being politicians. I understand that you, as a Democratic state Senator, will not vote for Gov. Walker’s budget no matter what. Although I do not agree with that position, I understand it and realize I am not going to convince you otherwise. I would just like to express to you how important this issue is for me and other young people in this area so that, in the event this matter is put to a separate vote outside the budget bill, my voice is heard encouraging you to vote in favor of the deal.

The deal, from the state’s perspective, could not present an easier decision, in my opinion. The gigantic increases in revenue from the player’s salaries that will come with the new TV deal the NBA has signed will more than cover the state’s $55 million burden, and then some. The salary cap is set to expand from $60 million this year to over $110 in the next 3 years. With live sports entertainment only increasing in value because it is the only real appointment viewing in today’s DVR world, and the NBA’s popularity soaring around the globe, this value is only going in one direction. There is truly no replacing this revenue stream-no professional sports team is ever going to even consider the state of WI again if this deal falls through.

There is also the intangible, but very real, psychological effect losing the bucks would have on the city and state. It is more difficult to quantify this in terms of dollars, but this loss of one of Wisconsin’s biggest and most-recognizable cultural assets would have a significant effect on the community of this city and state, as well as its perception to talented individuals and businesses around the country and the world.

My wife and I are planning to move to XXXX in the coming months, likely for a few years. However, if Milwaukee and Wisconsin’s leaders decide that they are going to let the Bucks leave, whether it be from stubborn adherence to political party rivalries or misplaced skepticism over the very real economic benefits of the deal, then it will be a clear message to my wife and I that Milwaukee and Wisconsin do not value the assets that they have, and would definitely influence us not to return one day.

I apologize for the length of this message, but I feel very strongly about this issue. I hope you will consider my thoughts and realize that many young people like my wife and I feel just as strongly about the benefits of keeping the Bucks.

Thank you.

[EastSideBucksFan]

Prewritten, form letters are up.

Email again using these, even if you already have sent your own.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MMACBaas/status/610526519622893569[/tweet]

[Garden Of Edens]

I have not only sent an email to my district but also to at least 10 others. Not sure what more we can do but I'm starting to get more worried and worried this is not going to pass

[BobbyLight]

Prewritten, form letters are up.

Email again using these, even if you already have sent your own.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MMACBaas/status/610526519622893569[/tweet]

That couldn't have been any easier. Sent.

Also posting the link here just incase people don't see the embedded tweet.

http://mmaction.channeldemocracy.com/connect/write?alert=1811

[step3profit]

The spacing between the sentences in those prewritten emails is weird. Like, sometimes it is 4, but usually 3, spaces after a period. I just edited my own to make it 2 spaces, like the nuns taught me in grade school.

[JackSIKMA43]

No intention to start a pissing contest between anyone over political views, but which party is likely to cause more of a roadblock to getting this done? I don't really know Milwaukee or Wisconsin politics enough to know.

[BuildingBucks]

I just emailed mine as well, legislators are Senator Tim Carpenter in Senate District 3 and Representative Josh Zepnick in Assembly District 9. I'm a college student at UWM so I mentioned that as well, and how I am concerned about the message this would send to other businesses in Wisconsin or businesses considering Wisconsin if we fail to keep this team. Hope I get a response soon and I'll let you know what they say.

[trwi7]

No intention to start a pissing contest between anyone over political views, but which party is likely to cause more of a roadblock to getting this done? I don't really know Milwaukee or Wisconsin politics enough to know.

If it stays in the budget, Republicans because Democrats aren't going to vote in favor of the budget no matter what. Both if it's taken out of the budget.

[paulpressey25]

No intention to start a pissing contest between anyone over political views, but which party is likely to cause more of a roadblock to getting this done? I don't really know Milwaukee or Wisconsin politics enough to know.

Let's take the specific pissing contest to the other thread, as there are factions on both sides tossing sand in the gears at the moment.

I would say this, if you want this arena, you need to let your legislators hear from you preferably with a phone call now.