5 Simple Steps to Get Your City to Sign onto the Bring the National Guard Home Resolution Step One - Organize a working group Make a list of names of people & organizations in your city who might be interested in this campaign. Pick a date & time for a meeting. Call each person and convene a meeting to kick off the campaign.  Depending on your city this could be a public meeting of 30-50 people or it could be a meeting of 3-8 people. Email general meeting time & location announcement to CODEPINK women in your city. (email mzsam@bayareacodepink.org if you need the email sent out to your area) At the meeting, divide up the following tasks: 1.    Choose one person to be the liaison to the Regional Working Group & make sure that you report back your progress. 2.    Contact / liaison to each council member. During the meeting brainstorm the potential supporters on the council. Identify the best member of the group to connect with each council member. (Contact information & list of council members should be available in the blue pages of your local phone book or on the City website online.) 3.    Outreach to the broader community; building support a network in your city w/like-minded groups including national guard members, Iraq veterans, military families, united for peace & justice, peace groups, religious/spiritual groups. Click here for tips for Outreach & Coalition Building. Step Two - Get the resolution on the City Council Agenda Each person needs to call the city council member(s) they have taken responsibilty for and attempt to speak to them. (As soon as possible) If you reach staff only, let them know what you are calling about and feel them out. Get the attached resolution to their office. For more help, use the sample script to talk to your city council person. If they are leaning toward going forward but do not immediately go forward with the resolution, make an appointment to speak with them as soon as possible.  See Tips for contacting Politicians for more help. Follow-up with your original contact in a few days and call several others or check in with the original person to see what kind of results they have gotten from contacting their colleagues.  Request that the resolution be put on the agenda of the NEXT council meeting.  Ask what kind of help they need. This is also a great place to involve key people in your community & have them lobby city council members to get them on board. Step Three - Make sure you've got the votes Once you have gotten a city council member to agree to introduce the resolution, follow up with the other council members to ensure you will have enough votes to pass the resolution. Strategize with the council member who will be introducing the resolution for suggestions on how to get the votes you'll need. Step Four - Prepare for Public Comment When the resolution gets on the agenda, make sure you speakers from the community lined up for public comment. Work with them ahead of time to make sure their statement is concise, on point and powerful. This is a great opportunity to involve National Guard members and military families by inviting them to speak at the meeting. Step Five - Show community support at the meeting On the night of the meeting get as many people from the peace community there as possible. Organize a rally before the meeting outside of City Hall. Invite the press. The more support you can show, the more pressured your city will feel to listen to their constituents. Success!!!! Send out a press release the next day announcing that resolution has passed. Be sure that you send us copies  so that we can post them online. E-mail  links to any articles & press  to Tiffany at tiffany@codepinkalert.org