Easy and Effective Ways for Town Officials to Have Positive Impacts on Their Communities

Town officials have tremendous responsibilities placed upon them as they consistently determine what's best for a destination and all the citizens living there. By putting extra thought into how they spend their time and energy, these individuals can have notable positive impacts on everyone who lives in a town or interacts with them in any form. 

Pitch in to Relieve the Effects of the Coronavirus Crisis

People often perceive the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic as such a major issue that it seems outside of their control to do anything to lessen its effect. However, town officials are in excellent positions to see the biggest effects and the people who are suffering the most. They can then use that information to guide when and how they provide help to the people, families, or businesses that need it. 

Distributing food to the hungry, calling people from high-risk groups who cannot leave their homes, and launching a system to help people who require emergency funding are just a few ideas to get started. The ideal approach to take is for town officials to spend at least several days interacting with those in the town and listening to their perspectives on how the COVID-19 pandemic affects them. 

Show You're Open to Hearing From Community Members

People who live in towns overseen by the respective elected officials typically don't want to feel that the politicians in those offices wouldn't want to hear what they have to say in any case. Elected officials should ideally show through their words and actions that they are ready and willing to listen to people living in the community and take their words to heart. 

Elected officials should also become familiar with the ways people may contact them, and come up with systems that make those residents feel their voices are heard and respected. For example, if an elected official has a secretary or a team of volunteers to handle phone calls for them, they should instruct those individuals on how to reply so that callers don't feel ignored.

Similarly, if the email is another contact method, elected officials can set up auto-response messages that tell people when to expect replies or what they can do to follow up on the content of a message if needed. People want to come away feeling that their efforts to get in touch were genuinely worthwhile. 

Provide People With Several Ways to Get in Contact

Another crucial way for elected officials to positively impact their communities is to provide a dedicated place for people to get in touch that offers more than one contact method. Mike Tawil, a current elected Town Justice in Ossining, New York, does that through a page that includes a telephone number and email address, plus an online form to fill out. There is also an address so that people could write letters to send through the postal mail if desired.

Accessibility is a huge part of an elected official showing they are available and ready to help wherever possible. Offering a contact page that's easy to use and locate are two first steps to take.

These are not the only useful ways for elected officials to impact their communities in long-lasting, appreciated ways. However, they're excellent starting points to consider.