Pam Juliano was once known to a lot of people in Carbon County as the person you could turn to for help when she represented Congressman Jim Matheson in the area for years.
Now, with him out of office, she is providing help in different ways to the eastern Utah community. She can help to shed light on a path to getting things done in Washington or even at the state and local level.
“After I worked with Jim as his eyes and ears on important issues in the area it became clear to me that working with government relations was different than anything I had done before,” she told the group gathered for the Carbon County Chamber of Commerce November luncheon on Thursday. “You learn to stand up for what you are there to do and then you sit down. You have to go in with a purpose or you just become annoying.”
She says her company, Juliano Consulting, now works as advocates for the proper kind of communication between groups of people, industry and others and the government.
“You can talk to elected officials with a passionate position and that will get you attention, but the facts are what will get you resolution when you are trying to get something done,” she stated.
Don’t threaten
She gave some suggestions on the dos and the don’ts of dealing with public officials. One of the most important she says is never to threaten an elected official with removal from office.
“Never say ‘If you don’t support me (or my cause) I am going to get you out,” she stated. “You need to make an explanation of your position instead. And offering solutions helps to add to the resolution of the problem.”
She said being very clear and specific why things that you want done matter, is a key to getting officials to listen to you. She said that she learned that in a meeting one day when she was working on a project and they had just finished their presentation about what they needed to support the project. One of the officials asked her “Why does it matter?” She realized then that was one of the keys to getting things done.
She also pointed out that often groups that support issues will pass out, either physically or through electronic means, form letters to be sent to a representative on the situation. But she explained that those are not always very powerful, even in large numbers.
Write personal letters
“Comments on an issue get more weight when they are individualized,” she said. “You need to offer solutions.”
She said that those kinds of letter along with others are logged into a representatives office but if a person will at least write something personal on them, they are much more effective.
She also spoke about special interest groups.
“They prey on peoples emotions and generate money from those feelings,” she said. “Often that money is put into Political Action Committees to elect someone. Often those who contribute to the PAC voices are not heard.”
She also went into some of her experiences while working for Matheson. One of those had to do with people asking for money.
“I have had people ask me ‘Where is the free money for a business startup that the government has?’ and I say to them there is no free money,” she said. “The guy you see on television that wears the question mark suit and that says his book can show you where free money is making money off the book. But you can’t.”
She explained that there are a lot of government programs for low interest loans and even grants, but none of them are free, and many of the loans are only partially guaranteed by the government, not given by them.
She concluded her presentation by pointing out that communicating with government officials at all levels is up to the individual.
“Think about improving communication with the government,” she said. “Think about how you can improve relations.”