How to contact people in office about the Columbia library situation
Hi, if you're on this subreddit, you are probably aware of attacks by Missouri Republicans on the Daniel Boone Regional Library over its "Rainbow Story Time" event. If not, I'll let you read the story.
All good?
Now, if you have opinions about the attacks on DBRL in general and the Columbia library in particular, here are some places where you can voice your concerns.
I worked in journalism for most of my career (nearly 30 years) and also in legislative offices (RIP Ike Skelton) so I have sen both sides of this. Please take this advice in the friendly spirit it's intended.
The most effective way of getting a message to a legislator is a written letter. These take time and effort to compose, but the ACLU has a handy guide for how to write a letter to a legislator here. I won't steal their thunder, but the most effective way is to immediately identify yourself as a constituent, raise the problem in a firm but courteous manner, and state your personal connection to the issue.
The next best way to contact a legislative office is to call your legislator. Please keep in mind that the people answering the calls are office staff or interns, who are there to do that job (answer the phone) and not to set policy or advise the government official. Don't be rude to them, but again, identify yourself as a constituent, state the issue clearly, and your position on it.
Emails to state officials are almost useless. They can be programmatically generated, often using fake addresses, are impossible to verify, and just get sent to the (metaphorical) circular file. Importantly, emails at the county or city level may actually be useful, because people in those offices generally serve part-time and get very few actual contacts with the public.
The legislator you need to contact is the one who represents you. It might feel good to call and give Rick Brattin a piece of your mind, but unless you live in Harrisonville, he's not obligated to listen to you and, in some theories of government, is empowered to actively ignore you, because he's not your representative. The good news is that Denny Hoskins is your Missouri Secretary of State, so his office is a good one to contact to voice your opinion.
Here is how to find your legislator at the various levels of state and local government involved. The people involved in this are working at the state and local level, so contacting state and local officials is the right way to go.
State Senate: The state senator who represents Columbia is Stephen Webber, a Democrat. He can be contacted at:
201 W Capitol Ave., Rm. 329
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Phone: (573) 751-3931
State House of Representatives: Boone County is divided into five state legislative districts. To find your House representative, use the tool here, about halfway down the left side of the page: https://house.mo.gov/
Secretary of State Denny Hoskins: The guy who's stirring all this up. Get in touch with him here:
600 West Main Street
Jefferson City, MO, 65101
Main Office: (573) 751-4936
The attorney general, Catherine Hanaway, was also involved in this earlier. Her contact information is:
Supreme Court Building
207 W. High Street/P.O. Box 899
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: (573) 751-3321
You can support the library or send other feedback by contacting the Daniel Boone Regional Library: The library system that the Columbia Public Library is a part of. Trustees are listed here: https://www.dbrl.org/about/governance/board-of-trustees You can email the trustees at trustees@dbrl.org or send mail directly to the Columbia library (which is also the DBRL headquarters):
Columbia Public Library 100 W Broadway Columbia, MO 65201
Let the mayor and city council know your opinion. The library system operates separately from the city, but it's useful to have local legislators hear our opinions also. The city government is divided into six wards, each represented by their own councilperson, plus the mayor who is a councilperson at large. You can find your ward information here:
https://www.como.gov/boards/city-council/wards-map/
and contact Mayor Barbara Buffaloe directly here:
Phone: 573.874.7222
Email: Mayor@CoMo.gov
City of Columbia, Missouri
701 E Broadway/P.O. Box 6015
Columbia, Missouri, 65205
And, finally, consider contacting the Boone County Commissioners: These people run the county, which the library system is in. It's always useful to contact them because very few people attend their meetings/know they exist. You can find their information here: https://www.boonemo.gov/commission/