I Won! I WON! I FUCKING WON!
For the last six months, I have been in a push/pull fight with Baltimore City and the State of Maryland over a property tax issue. If you happen to follow me on any of my social media accounts you have seen my sometimes funny yet irate rants about this issue.
During this long process I have some key take away points that could help in any stressful situation:
When people wouldn't listen to me, I called the Baltimore Sun.
- Do your research! Know the appropriate persons and offices you may need to speak to. Write down and document everyone that you speak with. People cant deny facts!
- It pays to know people in important places. When I could see the finish line and everyone kept telling me I was going to have to get an attorney. I stepped back and examined my network and reached out to my "fixer." The person was key in getting the last approval I needed in this process. Sometimes its all in who you know!
- Don't be afraid to go public! Sometimes it helps to elevate your issue to get the attention you need and expose the issue to a larger audience. The media and social media can get you way more responses and action than a phone call.
- Have the commitment to stick with following up! It's so easy to make a call and hope that people get things done, but that is not the case. You have to be committed to following up or down right stalking and harassing people if need be. I literally called one person every hour on the hour until she completed something she put off for weeks. You have to do what you have to do!
- Most importantly, don't quit! Whether it takes you six days, six weeks, or in my case six months, don't stop until you get what it owed to you!
It feels good! It really does! Thanks to all of you for listening and/or reading my rants in any form or fashion! Hopefully you too feel inspired to keep pushing until you right a wrong! MAMA, WE DID IT, LOL!
Now on to the next issue...
AB
