Pillow Talk: All Politics is Relational

Former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Thomas "Tip" O'Neill famously quipped, "All politics is local." Speaker O'Neill captured the impact, not the mechanics, of politics. Last month, we finished our series on Advocacy Attributes by emphasizing resilience. You win some, you lose some, but win or lose, you continue to advocate. This month, we start a series on advocacy myths.

Politics comes from two Greek words:  1) poli – meaning many, and 2) tics – blood-sucking creatures. Speaker O'Neill got it mostly right: politics is hyper-local, but, more importantly, all politics is relational. Politics assumes the interaction between human beings. Whether those interactions are good, bad, secretive, open, identity-based, one-way, give-and-take, screamed, whispered, in the media, electronic, face-to-face, unanimous, short-term, long-term, utilitarian, or quid pro quo, all are the exchange of ideas and information. 

Any professional, especially FWAA members, must understand how the public sector interacts with the private sector and how to interact with the public elected officials and staff.

First, learn which government organizations impact your business. For example, multifamily inspections are city functions. Evictions occur in Justice of the Peace courts. Texas law governs late fees. Next, reach out to the city code compliance officials, justices of the peace, state representative and arrange a get-to-know-you meeting.

For extroverts, you got this; it is in your DNA. You saw "relational" in the title and have been on LinkedIn and Google searching FWAA area politicians while reading this article. Introverts, it is okay! No one will force you into a meeting with a member of Congress! FWAA advocacy efforts focus on facilitating relationships. Yes, we do many in-person meetings with elected folks and provide opportunities for you to email elected officials or follow their social media posts. Every politician craves one million followers on X!

Relationships drive successful advocacy efforts. All FWAA is relational. 

FWAA MEETS WITH LOCAL OFFICIALS – In July, FWAA staff met with Arlington City Councilmember Mauricio Galante to discuss land use planning and multifamily housing. FWAA staff members Perry Pillow and Shane Maxwell met with Helen Kerwin, the newly elected Texas House District 58 Republican candidate. FWAA staff recently met with the City of Fort Worth code compliance and development staff to discuss FWAA's city resource center data.

FWAA CONGRESSIONAL MEETINGS—FWAA members, along with AAGD members, are meeting DFW area congressmen Jake Ellzey (R), Beth Van Duyne (R), and Marc Veasy (D) this month during the August congressional recess.

FEDERAL RENT CONTROL – ACTION NEEDED – President Biden recently proposed raising taxes on certain apartment owners and operators who raise rents by more than 5% in a year. 

Rent control has proven unsuccessful in every jurisdiction where it has been tried. By forcing owners and managers to make difficult choices with limited revenue, rent control ultimately hurts the residents it is supposed to help. Please act today by contacting your Representatives and Senators and asking them to oppose the Biden Administration's rent control plan and to make a public statement of opposition. Please keep a couple of things in mind:

• If you have not acted on an NAA campaign before, we will ask you to provide your home address and cell phone number; this is only to match you with your Representative and for our advocacy platform to place the call.
• Congress is in recess the week of July 15-19, so you will likely not reach a member directly.
• Therefore, be patient and polite when talking with the local office staff; their job is to help constituents and communicate their concerns to the Member. They are not legislative staff.
• The staff will take your message and pass it on to the Member; they will not be able to give a yes or a no, but they will make sure you can contact them again.

Use THIS LINK to contact your Member of Congress.

BUSINESS EXCHANGE THANKS - Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's Business Exchange presented by Perma Pier on August 6th at the Hurst Conference Center. Your participation helped FWAA raise more than $88,000 for NAA PAC! Big shout out to Business Exchange chair Cara Glover, Hillwood, and the Business Exchange Committee. Special thanks to FWAA staff member Mindy Barnes for making this year's event a huge success.

CONTRIBUTE TO THE FWAA PAC—FWAA's advocacy efforts depend on all our members supporting candidates who align with FWAA's financial interests. Please use the link https://form.jotform.com/220464310148143 to donate. 

SAVE THE DATES—This is just a reminder that the FWAA PAC Pickle Ball tournament is on September 10th at Chicken & Pickle, and the Fall PAC Golf tournament is on October 8th at Texas Star Golf Course.

Perry Pillow is FWAA's Director of Government Affairs. For more information, contact Perry at  
ppillow@aatcnet.org  or call 817-701-6353.