SOUTHERN CITY Quarter 1 2023 24 Advancing Advocacy: How We Adapted to Change SCOTT MOONEYHAM NCLM Director of Political Communication & Coordination If the COVID-19 pandemic reinforced one idea throughout society, it is that necessity is indeed the mother of invention. That adage was seen in how people adjusted to the loss of the ability to meet and converse in-person, especially in large gatherings, with examples springing up everywhere—whether in remote work environments, new types of shopping experiences, or even outdoor worship services. For an organization like NCLM, where meeting with local elected and appointed officials to understand and then attempt to address the challenges of cities and towns, the change of circumstances was especially tough. But we adapted. And one of the early ways that we did so was through the creation of our virtual advocacy meeting series, Advancing Advocacy. It has now been nearly three years since NCLM’s Government Affairs staff held the first of these virtual meetings in the early April of 2020. At the time, then-NCLM Grassroots Associate Christine Heubusch told those attending: “As you may know, we plan on continuing this virtual briefing, which we call Advancing Advocacy, each week at the same time for the foreseeable future. With less faceto-face contact, we hope to utilize this time to provide you with the information needed to continue to be key advocates on behalf of cities. These are unpredictable times, but we know that a lot of decisions that are going to be coming from Raleigh and Washington over the next several weeks are going to be important to our recovery and to the future of your town, and we are committed to being there to get the best results possible.” It was a crucial time for municipalities, facing the uncertainty of what might happen to revenue streams from sales taxes, utility NCLM’S REGULAR LEGISLATIVE UPDATE WEBINARS KEEP MEMBERS INFORMED ON THE MOST PRESSING HAPPENINGS AT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
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