This report—the first of two—presents the perspective of California’s public officials. It concludes with practical recommendations emerging from this study and its companion study on civic leaders’ perspectives for how to encourage productive relationships between local officials and the public and expand opportunities for broad sections of the public to meaningfully participate in local decision making.
from the guide’s Description…
What is the state of public participation in local government decision making in California? What opportunities do Californians have to engage with public issues?
Where, other than at the ballot box, do elected officials hear from the residents they represent? What stands in the way of more productive dialogues between local officials—both elected and non-elected—and the residents they serve.
What is the state of public participation in local government decision making in California? What opportunities do Californians have to engage with public issues? Where, other than at the ballot box, do elected officials hear from the residents they represent? What stands in the way of more productive dialogues between local officials—both elected and non-elected—and the residents they serve?
To provide some answers to these questions, the Institute for Local Government and the Davenport Institute partnered with the research team at Public Agenda on a research study that sought the opinions of more than 900 local officials and 500 leaders of civic and community-based organizations in California. We asked these local officials and civic leaders about their efforts to engage the public in decision making, their experiences with traditional public hearings at council and commission meetings and their interests and attitudes toward newer forms of public engagement—especially methods that seek to give broad cross sections of the public the opportunity to deliberate over local issues and weigh the trade-offs of policy decisions that affect their lives.
Results from our parallel study with leaders of California’s civic and community-based organizations are detailed in a separate report, “Beyond Business as Usual: Leaders of California’s Civic Organizations Seek New Ways to Engage the Public in Local Governance.”
About the Institute for Local Government
The Institute for Local Government is the nonprofit research and education affiliate of the California State Association of Counties and the League of California Cities. The Institute’s Public Engagement Program promotes and supports effective and inclusive public engagement in California’s cities and counties and helps local officials make good decisions about involving the public in local decision making. The program offerings include: how-to guides and tip sheets (available for downloading), local stories from throughout the state, best practices, video presentations and more.
Resource Link: www.ca-ilg.org/document/testing-waters-californias-local-officials-experiment-new-ways-engage-public
This resource was submitted by Anna Hamilton, a Fellow at the Institute For Local Government, via the Add-a-Resource form.
Edited by IF Fellow Jeff Prudhomme and the Interactivity Foundation’s president Jack Byrd, Jr., this guidebook asks readers to consider how public policy might respond to these concerns. It invites readers to explore and discuss what values or moral considerations shape these policies? What are the rights and responsibilities in regard to the family that public policy should take into account? How should we approach the relationship between political power and the family? What are other moral, legal, or political concerns that our family policies might need to address?
