Building Relationships With Elected Officials to Support Trail Advocacy
“In the long run, it’s going to have to be a united community that helps push trails forward. We can’t do it alone.”
Erica Briggs, Ann Arbor City Councilmember
Elected officials play a critical role in supporting trails—serving on the front lines to help shape local policies around trails and active transportation to help spur economic, health and social benefits in their communities and regions. Importantly, they can also use their prominent voices to advocate for this vital infrastructure to their state and federal counterparts.
Recently, Rails to Trails Conservancy’s Elle Segal spoke with two elected officials active in Michigan’s trail development landscape—City of Wayland Mayor Jennifer Antel, who also serves as a program manager for West Michigan Trails, and Erica Briggs, who acts in dual capacities as an Ann Arbor city councilmember and RTC’s Midwest policy manager, about their experiences supporting trails. Below, Antel and Briggs share show how advocates can engage with elected officials to generate support and make the case for public investments in trails and trail networks.
Segal: Hello to you both. Thank you for making the time to chat. As you know, we’re here to talk about your role as public officials in shaping policies around trails, walking and biking, as well as your experiences serving as both local elected officials and advocates. So, let’s start there—how does your support of active transportation influence both your role in public office and your work in trail advocacy?
Antel: It really is at the intersection of everything I do. I’m all about having a connected, healthy community, and that plays a role in the decisions I make. I believe that trails are infrastructure just like our roads, just like our utilities. With my role at West Michigan Trails, I get to look at trails from a regional perspective. My role as mayor helps me understand the municipalities I’m working with and their perspective, and vice versa.
Briggs: I have been involved in transportation advocacy for 20+ years now and was drawn to it because biking and walking play an integral part in so much of what we do, whether that’s quality of life and vibrant communities, environmental protection or equity. Creating safe places to walk and bike is why I ran for office.
Segal: How do local elected officials impact trails, walking and biking?
Antel: The local officials are where the rubber hits the road. If municipalities don’t have ordinances or a master plan, [trail development] isn’t going to get done. The policies and the goals of the local community enable trails to be built. If your local officials aren’t supportive, it’s going to be harder.
It is also completely different from municipality to municipality. A smaller village may not be capable of building a trail because of finances and capacity, and that’s where nonprofits like West Michigan Trails can step in and help.
Briggs: You always need those elected officials in office that are the champions, or [you need to] be cultivating officials to help make them champions. Then you need advocates that are going to keep pushing projects forward year after year.
Segal: Can you talk about how you, as local elected officials, engage with advocates?
Antel: I would say our role as elected officials is to listen first and then educate others. Whether you’re an advocate or a policymaker, you must be willing to listen and then have patience. Advocates need to get involved and speak up because often we only hear from the naysayers.
Briggs: Advocates may have a lot more information than officials or staff. They’re able to do that deep dive into the project and connect the dots for the elected official.
Antel: Also, if you’re passionate about trails, there are other roles you can play in your community beyond advocating. You can serve on a local committee or run for office. There are many ways to get involved.
Segal: How do you recommend advocates work with you?
Briggs: For me, it’s about relationships, specifically building long-term positive relationships. Advocates sometimes lead with a lot of urgency, and that doesn’t lead to the most pleasant or productive conversations.
It’s a conversation like any other. It’s getting together for coffee or tea or going for a walk on a trail. Oftentimes I’ll say, “Let’s go for a walk.” It’s great to be able to see things on the walk and then talk about them. It also makes for a more relaxed conversation.
Antel: I would say it’s super important to build that relationship ahead of time. Make sure you’re going to meetings and reaching out before legislation is released. It’s also important to build relationships with staff. When you send an e-mail to your officials, that message is usualy going to the staff.
Segal: Can you say a bit about the importance of bipartisan support for trails, walking and biking?
Antel: To me, trails are important to everyone. It’s important to the health of individuals, to communities and to regions. They connect us to each other. You have to find out what motivates the person and then figure out a way that aligns with trail development.
Briggs: There are different reasons why folks might support trails, regardless of party. Some people may be really interested in accessibility or equity, and others may be interested more in economic development or quality of life. Think about the passions of the person you’re engaging and lead with those.
[In every community, whether liberal or conservative], you have to make a compelling case. You need data supporting why trails are necessary and why investments are going to benefit the community. It’s not a democratic or republican issue; it’s a people issue.
Segal: What recommendations do you have for engaging your state and federal counterparts?
Antel: Go to their events—their coffee hours, their town halls. It’s also equally important to invite them to your events; if you have a ribbon cutting on a trail, a groundbreaking or a fundraising event, invite them. They might send a staff person, but it’s every point of contact that matters. At an event, it’s not just your voice, it’s a group of voices and that can have a huge impact.
Briggs: I would also stress that the messenger matters. What does your political network look like? Who also cares about this issue that might be able to approach that policymaker? You also don’t necessarily have to build all those relationships yourself. If one of your local elected officials is really passionate about trails, they probably have relationships with their state elected officials, the DOT and potentially their federal delegation as well.
Antel: Some officials also respond to data and numbers, so use data-oriented resources to convey the data on the positive impact trails have.
Briggs: Alternatively, sometimes we know that stories are very impactful as well—an individual story can be really impactful. But in the long run, it’s going to have to [be a united community] that helps push [trails] forward. We can’t do it alone.
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