DOUBLE DAIS – WHY US?

Why take a 6-hour online course? In these videos, I’ll give you all the valuable, firsthand, nuts-and-bolts information you need to be a citizen activist or elected official who gets RESULTS.

1. You’ll find out how to speak clearly and confidently in council meetings—how to address elected officials, and how to get your message across in a variety of ways so the people who NEED to hear it WILL.

2. You’ll get a practical orientation to serving on a government board. It’s a LOT different from a local Rotary Club, and understanding WHY is essential for helping it work as it should.

3. You’ll understand the foundational principles of open and transparent government, as codified in “Sunshine Laws.” The fact that politicians can’t hide from the cameras should be as welcome to them as it is to the people who elected them!

4. You’ll see how to make unassailable public records request, so you get access to the information you’re ENTITLED to as a citizen.

5. You’ll understand why government #corruption happens and become skilled at spotting its red flags—PLUS, you’ll know what steps to take when you see them.

6. You’ll know how the First Amendment protects and empowers you in your dealings with your elected officials—or with your constituents. It’s there to help us talk with each other and find solutions to our problems TOGETHER.

You’ll get all this information and more. When you enroll, you’ll get lifetime access to a series of videos you can watch any time, on any device.

And using the downloadable and printable checklists and templates you get with the videos, you can put this information to use right away, whether behind the podium as an elected official or in front of it as a concerned citizen.

In my work, I was inspired by my ancestral motto “Stabo” – translated “I shall stand” and by one of my 14th-century ancestors, credited with writing the Declaration of Arbroath—a letter often called “the Scottish Declaration of Independence,” and recognized by the U.S. Senate as an inspiration and model for the U.S. Declaration of Independence. That declaration says, in part:

“It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”

American democracy isn’t perfect and has seen some trying times. But I’ll never count it out as a force for that same precious freedom—not as long as committed citizens like us are fighting for it.

We don’t have to fight with swords. Our arsenal is our ideas, words, and resolve to make government more honest, open, accountable, and effective.

7. Your community is WORTH fighting for.

There’s ALWAYS action you can take to make it better for yourself and for your neighbors—IF you know how. Here’s how: DOUBLE DIAS – Adventures in Local Government