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 »
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 »
EUGENE — A first-of-its-kind Review Panel has completed the first phase of a public engagement process designed to advise the City of Eugene on the implementation of HB 2001, as part of the City’s Middle Housing Code Change project. The 29-member Panel of everyday Eugene residents was selected through a lottery process that uses random,
After too many years working in the advertising industry as a Creative Director, one day I came to the liberating conclusion that I no longer wanted to sell people things they didn’t need. This reluctant admission was instantly followed by a life-changing question: what if I take the skills I have for selling people stuff
Assuming Democracy: Adam Says Hello Read More »
It has been my great privilege to have served the Healthy Democracy organization over the past 4 ½ years alongside some of the most dedicated staff and volunteer board members one could imagine. First and foremost, my thanks goes to each of them for making this work possible and impactful, and equally importantly, for making
“The Hope and Promise of Our Democracy”: Robin Says Goodbye Read More »
Over the summer, Healthy Democracy was grateful to welcome Annabelle LaRosa as our 2020 Nevins Fellow. The Nevins Fellowship, through the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State, provides students with the opportunity to complete internships at organizations that bring people together to solve common problems. From June through August, Annabelle lent her perspective and
Annabelle’s Reflection on her Nevins Fellowship with Healthy Democracy Read More »
For Immediate Release August 12, 2020 Media Contact: Robin Teater, Executive Director Ph: 503-841-6865; Email: robin@healthydemocracy.org WHAT: Oregon Citizen Assembly on COVID-19 Recovery Thirty-six diverse citizens from across Oregon will share results of seven weeks of discussion and deliberations on key questions relevant to the State’s COVID-19 economic recovery. WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 27, 6-6:30
First Virtual Oregon Citizen Assembly Shares COVID-19 Recovery Recommendations August 27 Read More »
For Immediate Release June 30, 2020 Media Contact: Robin Teater, Executive Director Ph: 503-381-1196; Email: robin@healthydemocracy.org PORTLAND, Ore. – June 30, 2020 – Oregonians from all walks of life will participate in the state’s first virtual Citizen Assembly to weigh in on what could be some of the state’s most important policy considerations in
Everyone is talking about online engagement these days. Yes, those are eight different links to eight different articles, all from one quick dive into social media this morning. There is so much being written, in fact – so many weeds to get into – that I hope we don’t lose sight of a bigger picture, of what is important in planning for online deliberation. With
Practical Values for Virtual Participation Read More »
Healthy Democracy’s good friend and former Board member, John Frohnmayer, shares his thoughts on what we are learning from the Corona Virus, and the opportunities that live on the other side of the crisis. Faced with the Civil War and the potential dissolution of the Union, Abraham Lincoln said: “The dogmas of the quiet past
I wanted to take a moment this month, in this extraordinary time in our country, to do a simple check in with our fellow democracy advocates. One of the things that the current health crisis in the United States has done is to remind us that we are all in this together, just as we
Democracy as Community: Pandemic Edition Read More »
In early-March 2020, HD’s Linn Davis observed France’s national Citizens’ Convention on Climate. He reports on the potential influence of the Convention, and suggests questions for deliberative practitioners to consider.
It’s a pretty cold time of year to surf real waves in the North Atlantic, so it’s a good thing this one is metaphorical. Healthy Democracy’s colleagues in Europe are calling it a “Deliberative Wave,” and that’s no exaggeration. Across the continent, from Poland to Spain, randomly selected citizens’ assemblies are breaking new ground in
Catching the UK’s “Deliberative Wave” Read More »
The Oregon legislature just started their short session on February 1. Senator Arnie Roblan, who sponsored the bill that put the Citizens’ Initiative Review in statute, is proposing that the legislature commit funds to ensure this uniquely Oregon innovation in democracy can be sustained. His OpEd appears below: Oregon was one of the first states
Citizens’ Initiative Review Needs Legislative Funding Read More »
Media Contact: Robin Teater, Executive Director Ph: 503-381-1196, email: robin@healthydemocracy.org (Milwaukie, OR) — A diverse cross section of 18 Milwaukie residents has concluded a four-day review of Milwaukie City Council compensation and presented their findings to the Milwaukie City Council at their November 12 held at the Public Safety Building. The citizen panel was part of a
Citizens Jury Panel Presents Recommendation on Milwaukie City Council Compensation Read More »
For a few weeks in September, we had the pleasure of hosting a visiting undergraduate student, Jillian Gilburne, who is a senior at Northwestern University studying political science, communication studies, and human-centered design. In an effort to better understand what motivates local officials to take on the challenge of achieving equitable, representative public engagement, Jillian
Politicians & Public Participation — Tackling a Quintessential Design Problem Read More »
Farres Alkhaiyer joined Healthy Democracy in August as a fellow with the 2019-2020 Community Solutions Program, a prestigious fellowship program run by the DC-based nonprofit IREX. This program brings together 80 of the brightest community leaders from around the world for four months of intensive leadership development in the United States. As he enters his second month
A Reflection on Month Two in the U.S. Read More »
On September 21 at Concordia University, Healthy Democracy hosted the 3rd, and final, component of the 2019 Community Oregon program, the Community Oregon Expo. Community Oregon is a program of our organization designed in response to the need to increase understanding and communication among diverse segments of Oregon’s electorate. The final phase of the program
Learning. Livability. Leaning in. Read More »
On Saturday, September 14, at the C Bar C Ranch in Powell Butte, Oregon, Citizen University, Healthy Democracy, Oregon Humanities, and the Deliberative Democracy Consortium partnered to host Civic Saturday, a morning filled with civic reflection, connections, and inspiration. Wendy Willis, a Civic Seminarian through the Citizen University and the Executive Director of the Deliberative Democracy
Civic Saturday reflections . . . It’s magic y’all Read More »
