Brianna Lee is LAist’s Civics and Democracy engagement producer, focusing on making local government accessible. Published Jun 27, 2025 5:00 AM Here’s the scenario: L.A. has to handle a really tricky issue. Maybe it’s homelessness, rebuilding after wildfires, or community relations with police — but you are responsible for helping come up with policy solutions to address it. You’re not a
Brianna Lee is LAist’s Civics and Democracy engagement producer, focusing on making local government accessible. Published Nov 12, 2025 5:00 AM Los Angeles is working on its first major overhaul of the city’s charter — the document that acts as the city’s constitution for how government is run — in more than 25 years. Now there’s a
Want to reshape LA city government? Here’s how you can help Read More »
Faced with yearslong polarization, the city turned to a Civic Assembly where residents forged common ground in two weekends June 12th, 2025, by Rahmin Sarabi | The Colorado Sun Across the country, Americans increasingly agree on at least one thing: our democracy isn’t delivering for ordinary people. Trust is collapsing, polarization is deepening, and too many public decisions seem driven
Opinion: Fort Collins tried a new kind of democracy — and it worked Read More »
Jan. 16, 2025 – Dana Taylor | USA Today Citizen assemblies involve ordinary people participating in crafting policy solutions to community problems and have been around for over fifty years. Is this potentially a solution to restoring faith in our democratic institutions and reinvigorating healthy debate? Linn Davis, a program director at Healthy Democracy, a
Our faith in democracy is at an all-time low. Can citizen assemblies help? Read More »
Photo Credit: City of Fort Collins The First Weekend of Fort Collins’ First-Ever Civic Assembly In an effort to strengthen and reimagine local democracy, the City of Fort Collins launched its first-ever Civic Assembly last weekend. This bold initiative brings together 20 residents—selected through a Civic Lottery to reflect the diversity of the city—to tackle
A Model for Democracy in Polarized Times Comes to Life in Fort Collins Read More »
Rebecca Powell, Fort Collins Coloradoan | Published 5:02 a.m. MT Jan. 31st, 2025 If you live in Fort Collins, you might receive a postcard inviting you to help figure out the future of the former Hughes Stadium site. Colorado State University’s football team played its last game at the nearly 50-year-old Hughes Stadium eight years
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 »
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 »
By Nick Coccoma – A few weeks ago, as Americans hurtled toward yet another turbulent election, I made the journey from lush Portland to dry Bend to witness Healthy Democracy’s Deschutes Civic Assembly. I’d never observed an assembly before, despite advocating on behalf of deliberative democracy for many years. Now was my chance to see
A Visitor’s Perspective: Deschutes Civic Assembly on Youth Homelessness 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 »
Since you haven’t heard from us much lately, we thought we’d share a glimpse of what’s inspiring and delighting us behind the scenes at HD. (Against the backdrop of a long winter in Oregon, we could all use some inspiration!). Between major projects, our amazing little team is still working towards our mission every single
Behind the Scenes at HD Read More »
Mayors, city councilors, select board members, city and town managers, county executives, and other local government officials from across the country convened in this online conference in December 2022 to discuss how America’s hometowns can help reinvent democracy. Watch Alex, from Healthy Democracy, at the virtual Symposium hosted by the American Academy of Arts &
Reinventing Democracy: How Hometowns Are Strengthening America Read More »
