Research P. Letter 7.1

1234 Oak Street Comment by Author: Good letter format that follows the sample.

Tyler, Texas 75703

October 6, 2015

Mayor Martin Heines

City of Tyler

P.O. Box 2039

Tyler, TX, 75710

Dear Mayor Haynes:

The continuance of America’s heritage hinges on the involvement of each generation in the political and civic spheres of society. Today, this hinge is rusty and in need of repair. Richard Fry, a senior researcher for Pew Research Center, writes that “this year, the ‘Millennial’ generation is projected to surpass the outsized Baby Boom generation as the nation’s largest living generation.” Yet the Millennial generation, aged eighteen to thirty-four years old this year, is cynical towards government and apathetic towards voting and civic involvement.

In a study released April 29th by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics entitled “Survey of Young Americans’ Attitudes Toward Politics and Public Service,” only 21% of young Americans view themselves as “politically engaged” and 34% “volunteer in community service.” These facts are troubling. As of this year, an overwhelming majority of this new largest generation of Americans is not politically involved and does not volunteer in the local community. It is time for local government to step in and do what it can to engage its new constituent majority. I suggest that a new city-wide initiative be adopted, targeted toward the Millennial generation’s age group as potential members, for which the City of Tyler may provide an executive committee, office and staff structure, and financial grants, with the mission of providing a way to bring together, activate, and empower Tyler’s young adults to become increasingly involved in their community and participate in the political sphere.

In order to achieve this proposal, the Tyler City Council must adopt an initiative to attract young leaders in the community and engage their involvement. This would include setting up an organizational structure consisting of an executive committee with a Tyler City Council member as chair. It might also be helpful to install you as an honorary co-chair in this committee. There would be standing committees governing specific departments necessary to the project such as a marketing committee, membership committee, and events committee. Temporary committees may be formed as needed. Full-time staff would be necessary to put the committee’s decisions into action, establishing partnerships within the community such as nonprofits and elected officials, and sponsoring education initiatives for political involvement. The staff would take full advantage of social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram—favorite outlets and sources of information for Millennials. These networks can be used to further spread the word about events and opportunities made available. Memberships would be granted free of charge to Tyler residents, and others who have a vested interest in Tyler. They must be willing to sign a pledge to be an enthusiastic citizen, participate in local elections, and fulfill certain other civic duties that fit with their interests, such as attending city council meetings, joining one of the program’s committees, or attending one of the program’s forums within their first year. Once plenty of passionate young leaders are inducted into the program, they will be able to run many things on their own under the oversight of the executive committee. Comment by Author: Remember, your proposal should detail the steps and considerations necessary for implementing your solution, but most of your essay SHOULD NOT justify the need for your solution. Important: focus on ONE solution and not more so that you can explain the related steps and considerations in full. 1. Introduce the problem: Explain the problem in the introduction and end with the thesis. 2. Propose the steps: What are the steps for implementing your solution as you would explain them to the organization who needs to make the change? For example, how do you propose your letter recipient acquires the abandoned building necessary for the before and after school programs? Once your letter recipient obtains the building, what should he or she do to initiate the new programs? Hire teachers? Approach those who already work at the local school? 3. Explain the costs: What is the cost to begin implementing the solution and the related steps (there are always costs)? How is it incurred? What are your funding ideas? 4. Justify the solution: Will the proposal solve another related problem, too? Why is this proposal feasible? The conclusion is a good place to add the justification section. (Use one paragraph for the justification if you do not add it to the conclusion.) This section/discussion should not be the obvious solution. 5. Refute the counterargument: Will the letter recipient have certain preconceived ideas about the subject? Why? (A counter-argument section for this paper should explain what the opposition believes. Be sure to name your opposition person, group, organization, etc., and explain how you know this entity has this opinion. Did you conduct an interview or research? Did a similar project fail?) Then, in the refute, try to prove that claim false, insignificant, or unimportant with information that is new to the essay. Note that a refute should not be a solution. Include researched data for at least one side. See http://www.shoreline.edu/doldham/101/html/what%20is%20a%20c-a.htm 6. Conclude your proposal: Summarize your proposal in the conclusion and make your final pleas. Consider adding the justification here.

I understand that implementing a new program under the City of Tyler will require funds and broaden the scope of an already large organization. However, I believe that if Tyler’s Millennial generation becomes increasingly active in politics and community, it will be well worth the money and effort. The City of Tyler has more than enough funds to assign to this vital initiative. Funds would be allotted annually, beginning with a reasonable allocation in consideration of the salaries of four to five full-time staff members and funds for office supplies and event production. These funds would be granted by the city to a separate budget for Tyler’s Young Adult Initiative, under the category of an Initiative Infrastructure Grant, as specified under “The City of Tyler Business Initiatives Summary” provided by the Tyler Economic Development Council. The staff for this initiative will present an annual financial report to the City of Tyler’s Budget Committee in order to account for the funds spent and adjust for any increase or decrease in financial need. Comment by Author: Be sure to clarify how you gathered your information.

Concerns as to the success of this initiative can be alleviated by looking at a similar initiative’s success in nearby Ft. Worth. In 2011, Ft. Worth Mayor Betsy Price founded SteerFW, a city-wide initiative whose mission is described on its website as “make[ing] Fort Worth a diverse and vibrant city by engaging emerging leaders to drive positive change.” Founded four years ago, to combat the low voter turnout among young adults, SteerFW has received support from community leaders and businesses. Its membership has grown, making it the new “voice of action-oriented young leaders.” These positive results are good indicators that a similar program could easily succeed in Tyler. Comment by Author: Include the specific concern from a specific opposition. A counter-argument section for this paper should explain what the opposition believes, which is the opposite of the opinion you are arguing in your paper. Be sure to name your opposition person, group, organization, etc., and explain how you know this person or group has this opinion. Did you conduct an interview or research to learn of this group or person’s opposition to your idea? Then, in the refute, try to prove that claim false, insignificant, or unimportant with information that is new to the essay. Note that a refute should not be a solution. Include researched data for at least the counter-argument side to create a strong counter-argument/refute section; however, a separate source for each section works well. If you explain a counter-argument and refute from one source, you are essentially summarizing the source, which is not the purpose of the section, so be sure to vary the source/opinion for each component: the counter-argument and the refute. Simplistically, the counter-argument/refute section is a fourth argument for your essay presented in a new way: you state the opposition’s opinion first as a way to lead into your paper’s fourth argument. Be sure all four arguments in the essay are distinctly different from one to the next, so do not recycled data and ideas across arguments. See http://www.shoreline.edu/doldham/101/html/what%20is%20a%20c-a.htm

Millennial young adults have been apathetic and slow to involve themselves in politics and community. Smith County resident Janet Baber, Texas State Coordinator for TeenPact Leadership Schools, a nonprofit organization that trains young people in the political process, has observed that the Millennials want “to participate in something greater than themselves.” A city-wide movement can fulfill that desire for group activity in a good cause. Local government does not have to stand idle, suffering the consequences of a diffident citizenship. As the City of Tyler adopts initiatives to engage this new largest generation, it will experience the benefits of active, informed, and unified people who care about each other and the community. I look forward to seeing what the City of Tyler and City Council will adopt as they strive to activate an important Tyler majority. Comment by Author: Effective conclusion that summarizes the proposal and makes the final pleas.

Sincerely,

First Name Last Name

Works Cited

Baber, Janet. Personal Interview. 2 Oct. 2015 Comment by Author: Interviewee is included here and in the essay, which is a required source.

“City of Tyler Business Initiatives Summary.” Tyler Economic Development Council. City of Tyler. Nov. 2008. PDF file.

Fry, Richard. “This year, Millennials will overtake Baby Boomers.” Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center. 16 Jan. 2015. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.

SteerFW. n.p. n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.

“Survey of Young Americans’ Attitudes Toward Politics and Public Service.” Harvard Public Opinion Project 27 (2015): 19. HarvardIOP. PDF file.