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Programs
-> Activist's Toolkit
(Last Updated: Mon, Jul 24, 2006)
- Saving Sierra Places: An Activist's Toolkit for Winning Land Use Campaigns (1214kb PDF file)
Full Toolkit - click above to downloadWant to know how CEQA works? Or how to get people to show up to an important hearing? Or how to find out which elected officials are taking money from developers? Saving Sierra Places: An Activist’s Toolkit for Winning Land Use Campaigns is designed to assist community activists in developing effective campaigns to prevent sprawl and foster smart growth. Whether you are contemplating a new land use campaign or deep in a years-long battle, this toolkit is intended to help you organize the most effective campaign and develop new strategies for achieving your goal. Using the links below, you can download the entire toolkit (150 pages), or download individual chapters on everything from General Plan law to holding a press conference. To order a hard copy of the report, send a check for $10 (includes shipping) to Sierra Nevada Alliance, PO Box 7989, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158. To pay by credit card, send an email to P>We want to hear from you! This toolkit is a living document to be updated periodically. Send your stories, feedback and suggestions to P>Download Individual Chapters Below
- Introduction/How To Use (1232kb PDF file)
How to use this toolkit
- Thinking Like a Politician: Understanding the Power Structure in Your Community (201kb PDF file)
Who makes the growth decisions in your community, and what are they thinking? A primer on the local decision-making structure, from the Board of Supervisors on down, as well as the dynamics of political power and influence at the local level.
- CEQA: Getting the Most Out of the Process (202kb PDF file)
The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, is California’s premiere law governing land use decisions. This chapter describes how CEQA works and how best to utilize it to get what you want. More detailed information about the CEQA process can be found in Appendix A.
- The General Plan: A Blueprint for Shaping Community Growth (1783kb PDF file)
The general plan is a city or county's "blueprint" for future growth. This chapter discusses how General Plans work, why they’re important, and how you can make them better. Subdivision maps, zoning ordinances, specific plans and Nevada Master Plans are also discussed.
- Strategic Overview -- What are the Options? (204kb PDF file)
So you’ve just heard about a really bad development plan that is in the works. What are your options? This chapter reviews the four major strategies for land use campaigns, and the strengths and weaknesses of each: organizing to get the votes; litigation; ballot initiative; and referendum.
- Get Organized! Campaign Plans are the Key to Winning (213kb PDF file)
This section introduces a framework for planning your campaign around a clearly-defined goal and a series of strategies to achieve that goal.
- You Can't Do It Alone: Building a Successful Campaign Team (224kb PDF file)
If you’re starting a new land use campaign from scratch, or looking to strengthen and diversify an existing group, recruiting and sustaining a core group of committed, active volunteers is critical to your success. This chapter talks about how to build – and keep – an effective campaign team.
- Building a Coalition (206kb PDF file)
Help strengthen your group's influence in the community by joining together with organizations that have access to different constituencies and, in many cases, different decision makers.
- Talking Growth: Crafting Effective Messages (404kb PDF file)
Land use planning is an inherently complex subject, one that doesn’t boil down easily into sound bites. However, the sound bite, or slogan, is the first opportunity for communication. This chapter discusses how to develop messages that clearly communicate your campaign’s goals, and how to choose messengers that can effectively deliver that message.
- Materials with Impact (404kb PDF file)
This chapter describes guidelines for developing the most basic and inexpensive materials for delivering your message to the community, as well as sophisticated materials for campaigns with more resources.
- Building Community Support: How to Raise Public Awareness of Your Issue (404kb PDF file)
This chapter discusses some tried and true strategies to raise public awareness of your issue and mobilize people to take action.
- Influencing Decision Makers: How to Play the Lobby Game (336kb PDF file)
Land use decisions usually come down to a simple majority vote of your Board of Supervisors or City Council. It’s all about figuring out where you’re going to get that majority of votes. This chapter will help you develop a lobbying strategy.
- People Power! How to Get People to Show Up at Hearings (336kb PDF file)
Land use hearings can be frustrating and disappointing, or they can be empowering exercises in direct democracy, when we fill the room with an energy, excitement and purpose that are impossible for decision makers to ignore. This chapter discusses the keys to making hearings effective and successful.
- Use Your Local Media (336kb PDF file)
This chapter lists some tried and true methods for getting the media to cover your land use issue, as well as suggestions for finding and working with reporters, and ensuring that news coverage is “on message.”
- Fundraising for Land Use Campaigns (349kb PDF file)
This chapter talks about ways to successfully integrate fundraising strategies into your land use campaign.
- When Good Meetings Go Bad: How to keep your meetings productive and positive (275kb PDF file)
How do you make sure your meetings are productive and energizing, so that members and volunteers come back week after week, month after month? This chapter gives some pointers for running meetings of any size.
- Dealing with the Opposition (275kb PDF file)
An interesting fact of life in land use campaigns is this: the more effective you are, the more opposition you will encounter. How should you respond to your opposition? This chapter talks about how best to deal with these situations.
- Building on Success, or making lemonade out of lemons (218kb PDF file)
So what happens when your campaign is over? Win or lose, your efforts were not in vain. Don’t throw in the towel until you’ve thought through the following suggestions for getting the most out of your campaign.
- When and How to Utilize Outside Help (218kb PDF file)
When it comes to local land use issues, you can sometimes feel like you’re one small voice up against a powerful machine. In reality, you have a lot of friends to call upon. This chapter talks about the outside resources available to you, and when and how to utilize them.
- Appendix A: California Environmental Quality Act: CEQA (611kb PDF file)
This Appendix includes: The CEQA Process; What must an agency include in an EIR? What should I include in my comment letter?; and Resources for additional reading.
- Appendix B: The General Plan (611kb PDF file)
This Appendix includes: Legal Requirements for the General Plan; Elements of the General Plan; The General Plan Update Process; and Resources for Additional Reading.
- Appendix C: Ballot Initiatives and Referenda (611kb PDF file)
This Appendix includes: Resources for Additional Reading on Initiatives and Referenda.
- Appendix D: Public Information Laws (611kb PDF file)
This Appendix Includes: The Brown Act, California’s Local Government Open Meeting Law; The California Public Records Act; Nevada’s Open Meeting Law; and Access to public records in Nevada.
- Appendix E: Follow the Money: Researching Campaign Contributions (611kb PDF file)
This Appendix Includes: How to Follow the Money; Resources for additional reading on campaign contributions.
- Appendix F: Campaign Planning (611kb PDF file)
This Appendix Contains: a Sample Campaign Plan; and Resources for Additional Reading on Campaign Planning.
- Appendix G: Sample Outreach Materials (611kb PDF file)
Included in this Appendix: Sample postcard; sample one-page fact sheet; sample phone script, sample email action alert.
- Appendix H: Media (611kb PDF file)
This Appendix contains: Information on media trainings for activists; resources for additional reading on media; and a sample news release.
- Appendix I: Fundraising (611kb PDF file)
Included in this Appendix: Sample Fundraising Plan; Resources for Additional Reading on Fundraising.
- Appendix J: Getting Help: Land Use Organizations, Attorneys, Planners (611kb PDF file)
- Appendix K: Glossary of Terms (611kb PDF file)
- Saving Sierra Places: An Activist's Toolkit for Winning Land Use Campaigns (1214kb PDF file)
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