Whose interests are your elected officials representing: the people--or the special interests?Too many voters haven’t got a clue—so East County Magazine is shedding light into those smoke-hazed back-rooms in Washington D.C. and Sacramento, enabling you to keep up with what your elected officials are doing – and decide whether or not they deserve your vote next election. You can also share your views on key issues with the handy tools we’ve provided. Find out how they voted: Major bills are listed at http://votesmart.org/ a nonpartisan organization, as well as key measures tracked by public interest groups. We also have articles on many recent bills in our Politics section at East County MagazineContact your elected officials, or to find out who represents you: visit our Sound Off! section in our “Citizens’ “Take Action” Center.
Calls, e-mails and letters to your elected officials often do make a difference. It’s important for public officials to know how the people feel about important issues and votes. It’s vital to let our elected members know that we are keeping an eye on how they vote – and will hold them accountable at election time if they ignore the will of the people!When contacting officials, your efforts are most apt to be successful if you are polite, keep comments brief, include a bill number if you can, and add a pertinent example (for instance, “Please support increased funds to treat wounded veterans so we can help people like my cousin, Joe, an Iraq war veteran who needs state-of-the-art treatment to help his recovery from a brain injury.”) Be aware that letters mailed to Congress or the U.S. Senate can be delayed weeks or even months because of screening mail for Anthrax. So…