Briefs
A brief is a short paper about one local decision, written for the office that can make it.
We write them because the choices that change a neighborhood are usually made locally, in meetings almost nobody our age attends. A brief puts the problem, what we found and what we are asking for in front of the people in those meetings, in a form a staff member can read between meetings.
Our briefs
Our first two briefs are in preparation and will be posted here as they are finished. Each one comes out of a local issue a chapter chose in its own community.
What goes into a brief
Every brief answers the same questions, in this order.
- The problem. What is happening, where, and who it affects.
- Who decides it. The council, board or office with the power to change it, named.
- What we found. The agenda packets, budget lines and public records we read, and interviews with people living with the problem, quoted with their permission.
- What we recommend. The one change we are asking that office to make.
- What happened after we sent it. The reply we got, or the fact that we did not get one.
Getting there takes a chapter about six weeks. The weeks are set out one at a time on our chapters page.
Write one with your chapter
Chapters write the briefs. Bring us a decision being made in your own town and the office making it, and we will read your draft before it goes anywhere and send it back with notes.