Outreach, Communications and Public Service Plan

Outreach, Communications and Public Service Overview :

  • Public service connects us to our politics

  • Immigrant communities must be engaged, they are critical to our party and the future of our county, commonwealth, and nation.

  • More members of FCDC should be appointed to Fairfax County boards and committees

Public service should be a part of one’s involvement with FCDC. We should strive to connect ourselves to the daily lives of the citizens of Fairfax County. The Lee District Social Action Committee provides an excellent example of the importance of public service and how it can be encouraged county-wide.

In taking, however small, actions we demonstrate our commitment to our communities and build our own visibility. In short, we should be connected to the circumstances and routines of our communities. Resisting Trump for sake of resisting Trump is not sustainable. What is sustainable is participating and supporting activities that demonstrate what we are for rather than what we are against. That entails engaging immigrant communities, supporting public service days of action, and encouraging our members to obtain appointments and volunteer on Fairfax County Government committees and organizations.

Finally, we want to grow our online presence by improving our search engine results and have the views of our members reach a wider audience. We can accomplish both, for example, by also moving the Democrat to a blog format, in addition it’s current newsletter format. FCDC’s membership is thoughtful and engaged, we should showcase that to the rest of the county. 

Engaging Immigrant Communities:

We should be visible in immigrant communities, particularly through our members that are themselves of those same communities. Some examples of what we can do include, voter registration classes and citizenship exam study help with the Latino community. This is a task that both the Vice Chair for Outreach and the Diversity Committee can tackle (Learn more about our plan to improve standing committees here).

Each community can and should have a liaison from FCDC that works to build our brand and improve connectivity. TIn the age of Trump and a White House with a blatantly racist agenda that FCDC must remain active and increase its engagement and outreach to immigrant communities. That outreach should be substantive and productive.

Public Service Days of Action:

Both Lee District and Springfield take on active roles in their communities. This is an area that can and should be broadened out to the rest of FCDC. Small activities can pay big dividends: Our members feel more engaged, we are more visible as a committee (That could also be a driver of membership), and we are participating in activities that tie us to our communities.

The Vice Chair for Outreach will organize and plan a public service program, working both with district chairs and county wide. Examples include, food bank drives, volunteering at medical clinics, stream clean-ups, and road clean-ups. I am a strong believer that we should walk the walk when it comes to our politics, and that our activities should connect us to our politics. It’s easy and we should do it.

Fairfax County Government Appointments:

Appointments to the various boards and committees of the Fairfax County Government are excellent opportunities to place future candidates for public office, increase our committee’s reach, connect our membership to policy making, and help shape and influence that policy. As the adage goes, personnel is policy, and that is true in our appointments.

We should send out to our members openings on various committees, encourage the appointment of Democrats to committees from Magisterial Districts held by Republicans (Braddock and Springfield , and Providence while we’re at it). District chairs should advocate for increased participation in their district committee meetings, as Springfield regularly does.

Strategic Communications:

Improving our search engine results.  We should have a more visible online presence, particularly as it relates to our search results on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. That is achieved through creating more content our website, such as posting a digital version of the Democrat newsletter in a blog format. When we write about important issues and topics, we also help frame the conversation in those areas because our thoughts and opinions will become publicly accessible.

Another area of focus for our strategic communications should be in opposition research. Performing opposition research on GOP elected officials gives our candidates more resources and allows them to spend more time on campaigning. Additionally, when can create websites and social media accounts dedicated to “checking” GOP elected officials, so that they do not define their own public perception.