We continue to make slow and steady progress toward a world-class bike park here in Fort Collins. On Tuesday, the Fort Collins City Council passed two ordinances that help the cause. We still have a long way to go, but this is progress. Read on. Ordinance No. 102, 2024, Appropriating Prior Year Reserves in the […]
Council Approves Bike Park Study & Civic Assembly Process Read More »
An Oregon county is looking for solutions to youth homelessness—so it convened a random selection of residents to come up with ideas. December 31, 2024 by Nick Romeo | ast July, an unusual letter arrived at Kathryn Kundmueller’s mobile home, in central Oregon. It invited her to enter a lottery that would select thirty residents of
What Could Citizens’ Assemblies Do for American Politics? Read More »
22 Aug 2024 At the City Council Regular Meeting on August 20, 2024, Fort Collins City Council approved, with a 3-2 vote, the use of a Civic Assembly process to help determine future plans for the former Hughes Stadium site. Click here to view the August 20 City Council meeting agenda, minutes and video.(External link) While
Council Approves New Engagement Tactic for Hughes Read More »
Rebecca Powell, Fort Collins Coloradoan | Published 5:01 a.m. MT July 23rd, 2024 | Updated 7:54 p.m. MT Aug. 20, 2024 UPDATE: Fort Collins City Council voted 3-2 on Tuesday, Aug. 20 to use a “civic assembly” process to help determine what the former Hughes Stadium land should be used for. Council member Kelly Ohlson and
By GEORGE ANDERS of The Chronicle of Philanthropy | Updated 2:00 PM PST, December 11, 2024 BEND, OREGON (AP) — Eliza Wilson is a little nervous as she draws the microphone close, but she is determined to share her life story. “My father was a disabled veteran,” she says. “I first experienced homelessness when I was
Can ordinary citizens solve our toughest problems? Read More »
An effort in Bend, Ore., backed by big funders looks for answers to youth homelessness. George Anders, October 3, 2024 — BEND, ORE.Eliza Wilson is a little nervous as she draws the microphone close to her, but she is determined to share her life story — and its larger lessons — with a vital new
Can Ordinary Citizens Solve Our Toughest Problems? Read More »
📺 Watch Deschutes County assembly members describe their experience in their own words As a contentious U.S. presidential election comes down to the wire, a group of citizens from across the political spectrum in Bend, Oregon demonstrated another way to do politics: through group deliberation, analysis, and moving moments of personal connection and excitement. “It’s
In Oregon assembly, Americans show another kind of politics is possible Read More »
Kelsey McGee, October 6, 2024 — BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — An innovative new way for Central Oregonians to weigh in on one of the region’s most pressing issues wrapped up its fifth and final day Sunday, preparing proposals for area officials to consider. The Civic Assembly on Youth Homelessness gave a representative sample of 30 Deschutes County
October 17, 2024 — From 14 September to 6 October 2024, a Civic Assembly on the topic of youth homelessness took place in Deschutes County in the US state of Oregon. On 6 October, Members of the Central Oregon Youth Action Board received the assembly’s recommendations. Later on, delegates from the assembly will deliver their
“Thanks for giving me hope” Read More »
July 30, 2024 — The Central Oregon Civic Action Project (COCAP), Healthy Democracy, and the Central Oregon Youth Action Board are excited to announce a Lottery-Selection event for Central Oregon’s first-ever Civic Assembly. The event will take place on August 1, 2024, at 6pm at the Deschutes Public Library. During this event, 30 delegates will
Selection Event for First Civic Assembly in Central Oregon Read More »
City Club Forum Floats Idea of Citizens Assembly to Tackle Topics in “Bend” Way Simon Mather, May 9, 2024 — A recent City Club of Central Oregon forum asked whether Citizens Assemblies — an idea which has been gaining significant traction worldwide — could be a fresh way for local residents to own complex issues
Move to Give Community “Seat at Table” Read More »
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Central Oregon Civic Action Project and Central Oregon Youth Action Board have mailed 12,500 letters to randomly selected households in Deschutes County to participate in a Civic Assembly focused on solutions for youth homelessness. Here’s their announcement, in full: The Civic Assembly is a democratic innovation in which communities involve
La primera asamblea se enfocará en encontrar soluciones para los jóvenes sin hogar Julianna Lafollette | Translated Jéssica Sánchez-Millar, June 26, 2024 — El Ayuntamiento de Bend y la mesa de comisionados del condado de Deschutes aprobaron un Memorando de Entendimiento con el Proyecto de Acción civil del Centro de Oregón (COCAP por sus siglas
Asambleas ciudadanas locales comenzarán en el otoño Read More »
The first assembly will focus on finding potential solutions for youth homelessness JULIANNA LAFOLLETTE, JUNE 25, 2024 — The City of Bend and the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Central Oregon Civic Action Project, agreeing to receive and potentially implement recommendations that come out of citizen assemblies. In
Local Citizen Assemblies to Start in the Fall Read More »
12,750 invitation letters have been mailed to residents in our first project to institutionalise a Citizens’ Assembly in the US July 10, 2024 — Last week, with official support from city and county governments in Central Oregon, more than 12,750 letters were sent to residents inviting them to be in the lottery for a Civic Assembly on
Launching a first-of-its-kind Civic Assembly in Deschutes County, Oregon, USA 🇺🇸 Read More »
May 19, 2024 — When the Bend City Council agreed Wednesday to join an effort by the Central Oregon Civic Action Project to examine solutions to youth homelessness we had questions: Who is this group? Where is the money coming from? The effort will be like jury duty for setting government policy. It’s similar to something from
Editorial: Does Deschutes County need a do over on setting policy? Read More »
HEATHER ROBERTS BEND, OR — A concept to engage the public in government policy decisions rarely seen in the U.S. could be coming to our area. City Club of Central Oregon Executive Director Kim Gammond says Citizen Assemblies are more common in Europe, “It’s a way for people to actually impact policy decisions beyond the one or two
Citizen Assemblies Concept Proposed for Central OR Read More »
“Lottery-selected democracy is no panacea, but it is an example of a complex design that directly counters many of the threats facing our democracy today. It guarantees representation of many identities rather than relying on those who have the time, confidence, and resources to show up. It fosters collaboration more concretely than one-directional community engagement.
Hot off the Press! Read More »
JORGE CASUSO “September 25, 2023 — The future of Santa Monica Airport should be hammered out — not by the usual community activists and civic volunteers — but by randomly selected “everyday people,” City officials told the City Council Monday. The information item from top Public Works officials proposes using a democratic lottery to “engage
Randomly Chosen Panel Should Guide Airport’s Future, Officials Say Read More »
AMELIA PARREIRA ARGUS-COURIER STAFF March 2, 2022, 12:15PM To form the panel of 30 to 40 residents, potential candidates would be invited to participate through a mailed letter sent to 10,000 randomly selected residences. The letter would ask those residents to respond by filling out a questionnaire which would ask for demographic information such as
Here’s how the controversial new Petaluma fairgrounds planning process will work Read More »
A Citizens Assembly Could Unify People Around a Thorny Problem and Succeed Where Politicians Have Failed by JOE MATHEWS | FEBRUARY 22, 2022 The tool is called the citizens assembly.While getting elected to the legislature without a permanent address is nearly impossible, one democratic virtue of the citizens assembly is that it could specifically include a significant plurality of people who
Let the People of California Solve the State’s Homelessness Crisis Read More »
TYLER SILVY ARGUS-COURIER EDITOR February 9, 2022 Eager to find a solution to the quandary, Petaluma City Manager Peggy Flynn recently unveiled an entirely new approach that would utilize a novel “democratic lottery process,” the exact opposite of “politics as usual.” Healthy Democracy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit consulting firm with a solid track record of helping
By Susan Clark, originally published by Resilience.org Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) gives an old system a much-needed update. The initiative and referendum system, used in two dozen American states and many cities, allows voters to create public policy through ballot measures. In Oregon, leaders were concerned that this direct democracy process, while allowing voters substantial power, was missing
Democracy Rising 8: Deliberative Democracy — Power Read More »
Guest opinion article written by Sue Malek for the Missoulian: Should we enact Citizen Initiative Review Commissions (CIRCs)* in Montana? A bipartisan bill in the Oregon Legislature established CIRCs in 2008. Twenty-four citizens, randomly selected to serve, are paid salaries and expenses for participation in groups that study initiative issues and publish a statement describing
Opinion: Citizen Initiative Review Commissions Provide Deeper Involvement in Democracy Read More »
From Portland Tribune: Forty Oregonians, just under half the size of the Legislature, will meet online during the next six weeks to help chart a course for the state’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Chosen at random and reflective of the population, they will take part in a statewide assembly that mirrors Oregon’s decade-long citizen review
First Statewide Online Assembly Will Look at Coronavirus Recovery Read More »
