So. I’m the co-chair of the Patrick/Murray Transition working group on “civic engagement.” This means a couple of things. One, I will probably have next to no time for blogging over the next couple of weeks, except for posts relating directly to the transition, since we have a lot to do and very little time in which to do it.
Two, I intend to post fairly frequently about the transition generally, and about civic engagement in particular. And I really want the BMG community to get as involved as possible in the transition effort. Like I said — before I had any idea I would be involved in the transition — “civic engagement” is exactly what this blog has always been about. Your thoughts and ideas are essential if this process is going to work.
Our group been asked to consider three general “principles” in going about our task:
- Converting the grassroots campaign into a way of governing;
- Increasing civic engagement; and
- Rebuilding communities throughout the state.
Fairly general principles. A big part of our charge is to flesh them out.
Let’s start with the first. I’d guess that a lot of people are thinking the same way as Jon Keller did when he interviewed campaign manager John Walsh and chief strategist Doug Rubin (click the video entitled “Keller At Large – Part 2: Patrick Advisors Break Down The Campaign):
When I hear Deval — the Governor-elect — say he wants to continue to govern from the grassroots, and you guys have talked about that already, and he talks about town meetings and so forth, my cynicism just is aroused. Because I’ve seen so many bright, sincere politicians get mired in the cocoon of the daily grind, and become isolated from people. Tell me why I’m wrong here. Why this is not going to happen to this guy?
What do you think? Is Keller right to be cynical? If he’s not, why is Deval Patrick different? And perhaps more importantly, what are the structures that can be put in place to help Gov. Patrick stay in touch with, and leverage the strength of, the grassroots? What needs to change about the way government works in order to accomplish this very important goal?
To have gotten to this point — where a Democratic Governor is set to reclaim the corner office, and wants to take the grassroots right in there with him — is remarkable. Now’s your chance to make it happen by telling us your ideas on how it can work. Start on this thread. Come to the public meetings — we plan to hold several, and I’ll publicize them on BMG. You can also write in your comments here — though I’d ask that you also post them on BMG so that they can be the subject of discussion. Don’t stay on the sidelines for this one.
1) Mandatory public service requirement for graduation from public high schools. If we can force the MCAS on seniors, why not 5-10 hours of community service in some capacity (volunteering, tutoring, whatever).
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2) Mandate that all public high school offer a Civics class as an elective under the social studies department (if not a required semester). Too many adults don’t know the three branches of government, or what role municipal government plays in our lives, or the legislative and budget process – if we can’t save them, let’s start by educating the kids so they grow up to be better informed adults.
The example of the “School-Without-Walls” (www.schoolwithoutwalls.org) in D.C. may be a useful model to emulate. The overarching philosophy of this approach is best detailed in Neil Postman’s “The End of Education.”
I know plenty of adults who could benefit from this instruction as well. I think part of the reason that many people are so suspicious or cynical about local and state government is that they don’t understand how it works.
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I always thought this was a good subject for DFA to tackle, but we were all so busy working for candidates that it never got off the ground. Civics is something that can be tackled in the off years, and then put to work in election years which would create more volunteers. E-x-c-e-l-l-e-n-t…
had Richard Dreyfuss on one of his last segments. He mentioned a school system in MA that was putting civics back into the classroom. I propose asking Richard Dreyfuss to attend the innaugural ceremonies to speak about this topic. John Walsh or Deval — please contact his people and plead with him to come talk about civics and civic engagement. David — work on them! If you don’t, I will.
A number of items that have been brought up in this thread are addressed eloquently by Richard Dreyfuss here. Worth watching if you missed Bill Maher last week.
Two of the best ideas….
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I’ve been advocating here in Worcester….for community service as grad requirement for 5 years…..
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I started (back in Springfield) in the ’60’s at age 14 and I truly believe, my life would have been very different without it.
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Civics 101- I had to have it to graduate in 1970…..and sitting in City Council every Tuesday night, so many adults as well as children are clueless about the most basic of governmental functions. If we are to be engaged in the government, we need to understand and perhaps much of what gets slid past us, would no longer do so.
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There are lots of retirees, such as myself, or retired city officials that could be persuaded to do basics at the local library, community centers in large apt. complexes, or even Council Chambers at times it is not in use…..visuals always make it easier…engage our local community access TV stations….or use them to run Civics 101 type programs…ours would LOVE a project like that…
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Barb
Why is this a jackpot? I can only offer my own experience….Since i can remember I wanted to be a pilot – it’s what I talked incessantly about all the time from when I was a kid through elementary, junior high and my high school years. I applied to college to study Aeronautical Engineering and got into a fine school down south. My high school at the time and I think still today (it’s been over 15 years so I’m not certain if Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School still offers this class) but at the time it was mandatory for Seniors to take Problems of Democracy (POD). That class along with The teacher, Mrs. Paterna changed my life. We studied the three branches of government and the Constitution – it was an amazing year for me and it set me down a completely different course than what I had planned for my entire life. I changed my major to Political Science and I haven’t looked back since….it’s amazing what a class and an amazing teacher can do to your life. So YES Mandatory classes similiar to the one I took can and will make a difference. -Layla D’Emilia-Shepherd
also has a course called “Problems of Democracy.” I was on a visiting NEASC accreditation team last year at E. Bridgewater, and I vaguely recall this was one of their offerings. As I recall, too, it was fairly popular with kids.
How about the Challenges of Democracy. Problems of a Democracy already makes a negative assumption which is dead wrong to do.
A point we can agree on?
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Yes, “Challenges of Democracy” would be a much more appropriate name for such a course.
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Bravo!
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I’m teaching “Peace Studies” as an English elective the second half of the year, but I’m not sure that even that is the right name for the course. I didn’t “birth” it, though; I inherited it. I agree with you, however, that precision in language is important. đŸ™‚
…was the original name of a class I took in high school, when it was created in 1968. It was changed to Current American Affairs sometime in between though, but the time I took it in 2000.
it was required as part of your freshman curriculum. They just called it GOVERNMENT.
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Taught by our history teacher. Guess there weren’t any government teachers back then. So 1968 quite a profound year for me and many of my generation.
We already have “commnity Service” requirements for graduation.
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My 8th graders (I have triplets) are deciding now what their CSL (Community Service Learning) projets will be – they do it as class projects (10-20 kids) in 8th grade. As they move up they do it as individuals or smaller groups.
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I’ve only seen a few of the projects but now that my kids are in the HS, I’ll see more of them.
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I remember one when I was a Youth soccer coach – some highschool kids came to the BOD meeting and asked to collect used cleats and soccer pads from players and coaches they then shipped them to unfortunate kids in other countries.
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My wife is a cat rescurer and one Highshool student is assisting my wife’s org. for her CSL graduation requirements.
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If anybody has any specific questions, I can connect you with our CSL coordinator in Hudson.
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Mark
First Amendment district, with Hudson High being a First Amendment Project School. The community service components K-12 are organized around the First Amendment principles. A friend of mine is a kindergarten teacher in Hudson, and even at that age, those kids are involved in projects. In fact, last year, they published a book (for children) about food pantries.
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Becoming a First Amendment school requires a significant philosophical investment as well as a large investment of resources. From what I’ve heard, however, the program is valuable.
On First Amendment Day (back on October 17) I was asked to go into the Highschool and give a talk about first amendment and blogging.
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It was fun and I probably had an impact on one or two teens :-).
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You can read my account of the event here (Daily Kos)
Don’t just “mandate” the class, put it into the MCAS. If there is no civics in the MCAS, schools will sough off the civics at the least desirable time, teachers, and year.
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Collapse the 5 years of world and American history (3 world, 2 US) into 4 years combining the two, and add civics as well.
9th Grade — Global History Part I
10th Grade — Global History Part II
11th Grade — American History
12th Grade — Government/Civics
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That was my high school curriculm and it worked out pretty well for me. Though we were a little crunched when it came to covering the bulk of American History.
There are AP Modern Euro and AP US history exams. Perhaps more have been added recently.
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In light of that, something more like:
9th Grade — Global History/History Hodgepodge
10th Grade — European History
11th Grade — American History
12th Grade — Econ/Government/Civics
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Might be nice. I’d also recommended trying to squish a smidge of economics in on 12th grade. Not much mind you — just some basic S-D curves and vocabulary of common terms, such as inflation, unemployment, etc.
That’s exactly what we did in NY. Not sure if that’s how they do it now.
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Of course, there was no government Regents exam, so it was kind of a joke. Required for graduation, but no one really cared about it.
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That let to some terrifying moments, like a teacher trying to explain Plato’s allegory of the cave with an overhead projector and hand puppets.
but most of my friends in HS took the Euro AP instead. I took AP Government in place of Civics my Senior year, and I also took a mandatory Econ class . .and took a College Credit equivilency course through a local university.
both AP Gov and AP Global His are new*. What’s interesting is that you’ve now got
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AP US His
AP Mod Euro His
AP Global His
AP (US?!) Government
AP Economics
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Which all tie in with an involvement in civics. It’d be awfully tough for a HS kid to pull off all five, although certainly possible. This leads to the following four year progression:
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1. History overview, from classics to general world history to Mod Euro, and a dash of US for context and interconnectedness
2. Mod Euro / World History / AP Mod Euro / AP World History
3. US History / AP US
4. Civics&Gov&Econ / AP Government
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This, of course, assumes that four years of history is appropriate for all general track / college bound high school students. I took 2.5 years of history (.5 classics, 1 AP Euro, 1 AP US) plus 1 year AP Econ, and that was more than sufficient for my engineering/mathematics track. No civics/gov’t course, which is a bit of a bummer.
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There’s only so many slots in a high school day. They fill up quickly.
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* by new, I mean “since I graduated HS.”
I’m not certain if your description of “AP (US?!) Government” was a question or not. But in the event it was, AP offers both AP US Government and Politics and AP Comparative Government. If you go here and use the drop-down menu on the left, you can see all the subjects.
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I don’t know what courses public high schools in MA tend to offer. I took the AP US Government and Politics test at my Catholic high school in Pittsfield, although I had to use a standard civics class as preparation.
The civics education idea is excellent. During the campaign, Patrick often said “It’s your money, but they’re also your pot holes.” An awful lot of people just don’t make the connection, and it’s likely they never learned how to.
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A civics class should be required for high school graduation in Massachusetts. It would also be very valuable for adults.
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The class should cover town/city government, Massachusetts state government, and U.S. government from historical perspectives (how did it become the way it is today) and contemporary perspectives. Most important, it should address the topics from the point of view of citizens; students should leave the classs with the sense that the subject affects them.
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A portion of the course cover the financial operation of government: How do we settle on the programs we must finance, and how do we get the revenue (income taxes, property taxes, fees, etc.) to pay for those programs? What happens when the revenues are out of balance with the programs?
IT’s called Mass Balance, and it’s on the State House web site –
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http://www.playmassb…
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It asks you to make budget cuts, and explains the consequences of them!
Kerry Healey should’ve tried it. đŸ˜‰
David –
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p> Thank you for doing this. While every single Working Group is doing important work, my personal bias is the Civic Engagement group is where the magic will happen. We are depending on you. Don’t screw it up. đŸ™‚
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John Walsh
Transition Director
that’s direct from the source. But if there’s magic to be made, you all are going to make it, not me. I’m just one guy.
made some apt comments and a rather persuasive argument in ‘Bowling Alone.’ Instances he highlights as successful attempts to generate social capital may be useful.
http://www.bettertog…
For civic engagement, he should organize around specific groups. For example, he should have a public higher ed group – one that includes students. There could be a group on glbt issues, the big dig, etc. They should all include experts at all levels (for example – in the big dig, people from designers to construction workers who witnessed & questioned the shoddy workmanship, etc.).
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These groups would all be able to get word to Deval himself on what they think he needs to do, giving him specific and concrete ideas and it would get more people involved in the process. Furthermore, those people would almost certainly be getting word from others on what they think… and more and more people would get involved.
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The two that I’d most want to see is groups covering public higher ed, the environment and what Massachusetts can feasibly do to improve it. I’d also have some interest in a glbt group, but I’m confident our state is on the right track anyway.
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Another interesting group – and one that would be very welcomed – would be a clean government group. One that would look at ways of improving our government, making it more responsible to the people and improving transparency.
about ongoing groups, once his administration gets started, right? Created by executive order, maybe? Can you elaborate a bit?
I think that part of the transitional group should be creating those new issue-specific councils, which would just be a way to have the Governor get a grounded view by people who are still knowledgeable about the subject, but not lobbyists – which I think would be even more useful than town meeting style dates around the state. (though those are a good idea too). It would certainly offer a different perspective and be a good way for the Governor to bounce ideas off people too (he could ask the groups what they think about ideas, as well as the groups sending ideas up the chain for consideration).
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PS: sorry about the double post below. I lost my internet connection just as I clicked submit and didn’t think it got through. Feel free to delete that one.
except to echo that this is an excellent, excellent idea. I especially like the idea of having some sort of “informal” standing group available on a variety of topics.
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I wonder if any other governors elsewhere have done this (so the Patrick Administration could get some idea of what working groups could be the most helpful), but either way this is a really good idea, Ryepower.
Perhaps some of the groups could be geographically-oriented economic development groups, not just issue-oriented groups. There could be a lot of similar organizations around the state already, such as something like the South Coast Alliance that hosted the last gubernatorial debate. However, all the groups should be taking ideas from a host of people – not just other members of the group or the interests they represent.
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For example, a public higher-ed group could have a member of the UMASS Dartmouth board of trustees, a few professors from all walks of life (from part timers to heads of department) and multiple students. The group shouldn’t be too big though. There should be some way for the group to field suggestions from the community they’d seek to serve.
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An executive order could be used to create the group – and a lot of the transitional team members could help field people willing to volunteer. Heck, there could be an open call for people interested. There should be representatives on these groups from all walks of life, from people in the netroots to parents (who could, for example, be concerned about pre-k thru 12 education) to members of unions, think tanks and non profits. Well known experts as well as people who have long gone through the process, but may not have any special noteriety on Beacon Hill, should be invited to the table.
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I think such groups would be the ultimate representation of the grassroots in politics. It certainly would be a way to keep the citizen base active in politics and bring forward fresh, new ideas, as well as present problems at the state level that exist too far out of view to ever be changed under the current circumstances.
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(Sorry, some of this is probably rambling and incoherent. I’ll organize my thoughts later, but here’s just some basic suggestions for now.)
Yes, take it one more level down in each of the working groups….
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WARNING….this is a long one… but waited 16 years….so here goes……
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Such as the Human Services group……that is such a vast range of issues…and if they are not real thorough, ( mostly because of the time constraints here), there will be sub groups completely overlooked.
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The disabled (you saw that one coming), the homeless, the single moms, those forced by the poverty level into public housing, and public transportation, and all of the various problems that go along with all of that. THEY still need a voice……
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Don’t get me wrong, as an advocate for all disabilities, they all are woefully in need of a serious overhaul, but one group with great vocal advocates, grabbing most of the attention, sometimes will drown out the voices of the others. Charlie Carr, a great advocate for our community, is the only voice, in the working group, and representing 1.75 million people with one voice is a scary thought for any of us. (Not counting the voices for the mentally challenged that are represented well).
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My point, is that when the ADA was set us 16 years ago, it was set up (IMHO) to fail, to some degree……think about how many DIFFERENT disabilities there are…and now remember the government set it up for each disability to be pitted against one another, “UNSPOKEN rivalry” that sometimes to those of us on the ground, can get uglier than a political campaign.
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We as advocates, need to find a way to break that cycle and get people like Gov.- elect Patrick, to stop tippy toeing around and not be afraid say that the system is flawed and we need to go back to the drawing board, at all levels of government, and get it right.
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We as advocates, KNOW where all the waste is in our community, who is manipulating the system, who is price gouging, etc. “where all the skeletons have been buried for 16 years, while they argue about what is so “PC”!
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WE can’t get anyone at the STATE level to listen and take us seriously.. Because ……ooooh, we can’t rock that boat, we would be perceived as anti-ADA….so the crap continues to get buried over and over and over.
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Sorry, I’ve been waiting a long time to get this into the open….and many may not like the message, but that IS the REALITY here on the ground and we need to STOP train NOW!
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WELL, even if nothing gets done about it, they can’t say they NEVER KNEW, they were just asking the wrong people.
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Even in our community there are the haves and the have nots. I represent the latter. And Use my voice so that one day we will all be heard equally.
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David, engage me, please. Let me help you to hear the voices that have been silenced far too long.
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Barb in Worcester
I’m new to this blog and love the enthusiam and ideas. Thanks David for making this happen and to all who are contributing. The idea of civic engagement and creating a new model of governing is very exciting– love the idea of issue specific councils and giving people a voice. Deval listens very attentively–It’s what impressed me most about him.. he’s just the right guy to make this happen. Looking forward to the Civic Engagement sessions and to participating in the dialogue.
Count me in on the higher ed idea.
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I’d be happy to help something up out here at MCLA.
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WF
… and I might add that the students chosen should not all be the usual superstar types. Get some kids that are representative of the student body as a whole.
Providing feedback will be important. I have run many peer sessions in conferences (software not politics). People respond to the most is the follow up information on what the peer group thoughts were implemented. Or follow up the ideas and if there was as alternative solution we discussed how we came to the alternative.
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It’s kind of the same thing here. If I follow Ryan’s idea once a group is formed and you have on going sessions dedicate time to discuss what Deval’s administration took and what was implemented from the groups recommendation or problem discussed. It provides people with a real sense of accomplishment if they see an idea that they thought of implemented or discussed by the administration. I can also tell you that people will be more apt to respond and dedicate themselves to this process.
I want to reiterate that we should be creating some youth commissions or groups as you’ve laid out.
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Would there also be groups to encourage volunteerism? A pet peeve of mine has been this split I’ve seen between activists and volunteers. A lot of activists I know are heavily involved in politicial/civic life, but don’t do the micro-level – the volunteering. And a lot of volunteers I know are very active in their local community, and some vote, but they otherwise aren’t involved in the political discourse. It seems that there’s bridges to be built.
It was hard to decide which post to reply to , they are all such great ideas. But I believe you’re right that the volunteers often get left behind, or completely out because some are not “politically connected” all the time…from the most local of all, neighborhood groups.
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Here is Worcester we have crated a great network, we have representatives from every corner of the City. Stemming originally from neighborhood watches and then we expanded that to include ALL quality of life issues. From broken sidewalks to music to loud….
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So when you engage in the discussion, please be sure to have it filter ALL the way down. Don’t stop at the City Committee level or some of the best grassrooters will be left standing (or sitting) in my case, on the outside looking in, believing they still have not been heard.
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Perhaps some of us that have been at this level, could volunteer to research if city’s and towns have groups like this or not. I’m sure there is probably someone here in the City that has even done the bulk of that work for some report or other for the City Manager.
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Barb in Worcester
There is a network of over 65 colleges and universities in MA committed to civic engagement in higher ed by students, faculty and administrators called the Massachusetts Campus Compact. Community Service projects, service-learning courses and community wide discussions and forums on social issues etc. are some of the activities taking place on campuses and their immediate communities. Many of the campuses have VISTA volunteers who coordinate the activities. Connecting with this group would be an excellent way to reach out to everyone in higher ed.
This is somewhat open-ended, but I do think it would be a good idea for Patrick to schedule regular “town meetings” or “listening tours” across the state to hear directly from the interested public.
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Obviously the Gov. and staff will have a lot of stuff going on, but even if it’s just something like Springfield sometime in a 3-month period, Fall River once in the next three-month period, etc. I think it would be a good touch and one of the ways to help avoid getting stuck in the Beacon Hill bubble.
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Each meeting could have a specific agenda (“what can the state do to help economic growth here in central MA”, etc.), and could include a panel with Patrick and the Senators/Reps. from the area, but however it is done the idea would be to hear directly from individuals about major concerns of theirs. Just an idea.
and I especially like the idea of having the Senators and Reps. participate as well. Get them out in the community more — and not just in election years.
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This is also something the local town committees can help with and also reach out to the other side to help co-sponsor as well. Something like this would help to build a sense of community that is based on citizenship, not just partisanship. That’s something my community could really use.
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I’d also like to say that we should include Tim Murray in these discussions too. He seemed to be out here in my neck of Central Mass. on a weekly basis leading up to the election meeting with all different groups and he did a great job.
Governor Patrick has established the foundation, but will need to build and sustain the grassroots, civic engagement by working with legislators and creating a statewide network that maintains a DIALOGUE with voters and other residents. Public meetings and input sessions are great, but he will be exhausted if he tries to meet everyone’s expectations for personal contact throughout the state.
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Legislators have district aides. These people create relationships with local officials, civic activists and – in an ideal world – regular folks. Some of these aides are self-absorbed future politicians who think they’re hot stuff. Others are good at solving problems, listening to people, offering a sympathetic word, funneling information to and from the elected official, and working the system in a way that doesn’t demonize or alienate agency staff.
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Governor Patrick should take extra care to create a network that strengthens his relationship with legislators in their districts and, at the same time, puts his own mature, competent surrogates (aides) in a position to help local people with the issues they care most about. The average person is not going to volunteer to teach ESL (see GGW, below) – it’s a good idea, but it won’t build trust with the average resident. What they do care about is their medicaid coverage, child support enforcement, driver’s license suspension or the neighbor who has diverted stormwater runoff onto their property. The Governor should have a system for solving problems for people and thereby restoring their trust in the system.
I agree the elected officials don’t get out to the constituents enough…..we should include the “local officials too.
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As Sen. Kerry said to me about 10 years ago, (and I repeat it often), “Elected officials soon forget WHO they work for, I work for you and you have the RIGHT to HIRE and FIRE me and you do it at the ballot box. I never forget that…..and more of my colleagues need to remember it… “
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The only thing I would say is that the ELECTED officials need to be in the room, but need to be silent observers and let the people speak, without the fear of intimidation. As was said before, politics is not everyone’s thing…and some pols are NEVER off. They need to open their ears in the legislature just as much as the administration……many of them don’t have local district offices and calling the Statehouse, seems daunting to many…….
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But quarterly is great, and supplement with a forum such as this, for constant feedback, get to a problem before it get to critical mass…….
Sen.-elect Sanders does town meetings like this pretty frequently in Vermont, and he’s really gotten the trust of a lot of disparate groups of people.
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I mean, he’s a socialist, and just got elected to the US Senate. Sure, Vermont’s more left than much of the country, but it’s not socialist. So Bernie must be doing something right. He apparently has genuine two-way communication with his constituents.
Only because I like to pimp Russ whenever I can….Feingold does this too. Every single year he has a “listening session” in every single one of Wisconsin’s 52 counties (doing the math that is almost one a week). It was Russ’s 1000th session that prompted his “withdrawal” from the ’08 race for prez. I would love to see Gov. Patrick do the same, especially because Massachusetts is much smaller geographically.
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On a separate note I would hope that the meetings David talked about for this committee take place at times and locations when “real” people can meet. Too often the business of government occurs between the hours of 9-5…when most of the people actually work.
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Lastly, I would hope that this committee on civic engagement actually engages more people who did the work of the campaign. Right now I feel like some of the members spent less time actually doing the civic engagement (which was making phone calls, knocking on doors, pimping Patrick in the frozen food aisle) than they did talking about how others needed to get out there and do civic engagement. That said, I have really high hopes for this group because I think everyone in the group is very passionate. Good luck David!
She scheduled listening tours. Not that she really listened to anything. She was just out shaking the bushes for supporters.
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Tours have no meaning. Conversations have meaning.
Depends on how he does it. If he doesn’t listen, rolls his eyes and looks at his watch, then goes back to Beacon Hill to light up cigars and drink scotch with the lobbyists, then yeah, he will be perceived badly.
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On the other hand, if he’s genuinely responsive, if he’s comfortable moving off of his talking points (and we all have them), and if things actually get done … he’ll be perceived well.
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It’s the “how”, not the “what”.
that’s heavily responsible for doing what Deval Patrick did during the campaign, which was go out and talk WITH, not just AT, loads of people around the state?
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The way Deval Patrick ran his campaign, it seemed to truly be a full-time job constantly being out there among the people of Massachusetts. I don’t see how it’s possible for him to keep that level of person-to-person engagement and also actually do the job of governor. But in addition to all these other good suggestions, maybe having someone at a high level, who has the trust and the ear of the governor, out doing so on such a frequent basis could help keep his administration in touch with the grassroots.
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Separately, I do hope there will be much more use of the Internet to help bring more transparency to government. Some thoughts:
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* Ability to sign up for e-mail updates and/or RSS feeds on issues that interest us
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* Administration participation in online communities such as this one if they don’t feel it’s worth trying to creat their own
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* Online presentation of the state budget in a way that people can understand it, and understand important votes about it
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Finally, in another separate thought, is it worthwhile trying to create a volunteer program for people who want to make a difference in the Patrick administration? I mean something much broader than the transition teams (and by the way, I think it’s great how many people are involved in those). When you stop and think about it, does it make sense that so many people volunteer to get their candidate elected, but then that engagement ends after Election Day for all but a few?
but it’s always been pretty much of a joke before — the home of the autopen, and little else. Part of Deval’s challenge is to change that.
I’m not sure anyone would want an appointee trying to be THE eyes and ears for the Governor, anyway. Maybe Lt. Gov. Murray could be a surrogate.
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I think of it as something more along the lines of a Peace Corps within the Commonwealth. A group of aides with primary goals of problem-solving and outreach in each region of the state. They would build up relationships and become a resource for local officials and residents, but would have the added purpose of working with legislators (shore up some relationships for the Gov. in that strategic corner).
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They need to break the mold of the blow-dried, know-it-all Beacon Hill insider crowd of Fountainhead wannabees, and really learn to listen and act on behalf of local needs.
What you describe has been in place for almost 20 years.
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You didn’t like the Gov’s External Affairs. Your choice. Do you think the LAST three Lt. Gov.’s HAVEN’T been surrogates, just like you deride for not ‘really’ listening?
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It seems that if Beacon Hill is staffed with people that YOU agree with, then all problems are solved, and if it is people you DON’T agree with, then nothing has ever been accomplished.
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Peoples ideas aren’t so homogeneous, as you will discover. Engagement isn’t – you agree with me. Engagement is – you’re talking to me.
Don’t get your quills in a bunch, porky.
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My criticism of Beacon Hill staffers was bipartisan. [I am also an equal-opportunity critic of “inside the beltway” mentality.] My point was to advocate for DISTRICT aides for the Governor. PIRG would not be the model I would choose – I’m hoping for more mature people who would be from each community and who town managers or civic leaders would want to call. This might not work, but I thought BMG was a good place to seek dialogue.
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In addition to aiding civic engagement, I thought this would be useful to the Governor in establishing relationships with legislators, who always need help with constituent issues. In some ways, it would also put the new administration in a position to directly tap the gratitude of constituents whose problems will be solved by the Governor’s aids instead of ceding that role to legislators.
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You are right that there is nothing new under the sun. (Old Testament.) During the Republican administrations, the closest thing to this model has been the army of staffers employed by the Mass. Office of Business Development (is it still called that?). I would redirect the scope of that staff army to include a broader grassroots mission.
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I don’t understand the last two lines of your post, so I’m not sure whether we agree or disagree on that.
I was getting discouraged about the composition of the work groups, but if work groups are going to reach out and ask us ordinary folks what we think and actually listen to our thoughts, then I am thrilled!
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One problem in civic engagement is the denigration of those of us in public service. The Governor really needs to create an environment where public service is lauded. State employees are too often the butt of jokes or disrespect, right here on BMG as well.
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I like the idea of The Governor holding community meetings in various parts of theb state at esablished intervals. I like the idea of educating students about civics and the importance of civic engagement. I think it should start long before high school. The legislature and the Governor’s office etc, could offer opportunties for interested students to have some kind of an internship. This could be done in local and city governemnt as well.
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Town meetings, school committee meetings etc. should be hld at high schools at times students can be encouraged to attend and participate. We should revere the civically involved student on par with the athlete.
not just at election time.
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I want Deval and his team to teach me Gov’t 101: What this government is doing and how it is doing it. And do it in several parts of the state. Once a talk is prepared, giving it 1 time or 5 times isn’t much more work.
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Have talks from the leaders of different departments out there–education, revenue, environment, elections, safety, public health, etc. Tell me what you are doing. And then ask what they can add to do for me–and they listen.
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This would bring a new public accountability for folks who we don’t hear about very much.
Town halls, listening meetings, Civics 101 talks with real civic leaders as instructors — all great ideas. What about the role that technology might play in upping engagement in these and other areas? I know that’s been a theme of the campaign, using the website to keep the grassroots connected. How do we extend that?
Do those of us over 21 lose our value? I have the time to volunteer, but I’m not a senior yet, so my help is no longer needed?
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“I’m not old, I’ve just lived a long time.” says one ad. I may not have all the energy of a student, but I more than make up for it in life experiences…So please ask everyone!
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And at all different times…I can’t do nights, because of lack of public transportation…..not all work and drive cars…..We sometimes forget those invisible citizens too poor to engage or participate.
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Reaching out to all age groups is critical. Retirees bring a lifetime of experience and time to get involved in local issues. Finding ways for adults still working would be great as well!
only that I’d like to see any efforts with student populations reach down into area high schools. There are a lot of kids with natural political interests, but they have no real way to participate. Most of them can’t vote, they lack access to basic civics courses, and are dependent upon interested faculty to advise clubs, which makes for spotty opportunities and participation.
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As an advisor to a political club in a high school, I’d like to be able to have the kids participate and connect with the state government in more meaningful ways–the annual tour of the State House just doesn’t cut it. I was fortunate this year to involve the kids in Deval Patrick’s and Tim Murray’s campaigns, but there’s not going to be much going on for the next couple years. I suspect this was a local confluence of events that’s not likely to recur with any regularity.
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Reaching kids in high school is key to giving them the confidence to participate in Young Dems/Young Repubs/Any Political Group in college and beyond. The foundations of responsible citizenship begins in high school, but we sure aren’t doing much to make that foundation meaningful in any practical sense.
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Creating a program/network of interested students/clubs in high schools around the state would be a good start. From there, real participation can be fostered in real elections and issue advocacy. My kids had a taste of it for the first time this year and were thrilled; just think what we could do if we could hook these kids up with like-minded kids around the state.
Positive role models and opportunities are key factors in bringing people into civic engagement and sustaining those of us who sometimes need support to keep giving. I believe that Governor and Lt. Governor elect Patrick and Murray are key positive role models. They have the privilege of discovering and lifting up individuals (especially those on the fringe) to become role models on the local level. Elevate the grassroots through regular communication, listening and visiting the vast regions of the Commonwealth….a campaign never ends – the best know and live that credo.
The Civic Engagement committee’s charge (as I see it) is to spawn and encourage the development of more positive role models and opportunities to engage in civic life (from birth to end of life). Several great suggestions have already been cited to engage youth through school-based requirements and I would like to suggest that those ideas be extended to include community libraries and councils on aging. Every summer, community libraries promote a summer reading theme for young people (with events and gadgets for completing their reading logs). Community Book reads and Book of the Month Clubs could be encouraged to pick a theme of civic engagement for 2007.
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Public-Private partnerships with YMCA/YWCA/Girls and Boys Clubs, etc…service organizations are everywhere looking to engage. Community and Government partnerships occur everyday, we get to shift the paradigm to create Pride in civic engagement.
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A Public Service Annoucement campaign could be developed to produce materials, local cable access and even (find a grant!) television advertising. Encouraging residents to design the art/graphics is a sweet way to reach out and check-in.
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The MMA began a sixth grade essay contest “What you Would do if You were an Elected Leader” (or something close to that) and that could be expanded to learners of all ages.
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Remake the Better Government contest idea from the Pioneer Institute and expand it to include normal people, (not just rightly-winged intellectuals), maybe something refreshing like a “Common sense Government” contest. Think creatively about how to include people of different abilities….audio, interpreted, music-based (rap.gov).
Don’t forget Tip O’Neil – All politics is local, bring it to the communities…more later. Thanks for the forum.
What I left on the Transition Team website:
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I want to recommend that the Patrick/Murray administration talk to Grace Ross who at times seemed to have some good ideas.
she wasn’t on any of the lists. I was saying that too after seeing the debates….that could be her own choice though.
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I know I always saw Deval writing notes, when Grace as discussing statistics, etc.
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There is still time…..and we can hope that every great voice gets a chance to be heard…..
Even if Grace doesn’t want to join the Patrick/Murray team – I think they would be wise to invite her in for tea and a brainstorm. I thought she was a little whacky out of the gate, but she did drop a few good ideas during the debates. I hope she would be willing to offer up a few suggestions for moving our commonwealth forward – and I hope our Governor Elect (and team) will be willing to listen.
1) Converting the grassroots campaign into a way of governing;
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One problem that I see offhand is that the campaign seemed to be very top-down in structure. Even though we took a personal stake in finding voters, the message was still filtered down from the John Walshes and Nancy Stolbergs of the campaign. That’s not a criticism, but it’s NOT how grassroots governing can work. Grassroots governing will, by definition, be a somewhat messy process where the biggest challenge is in filtering information. And some grassroots activists have a level of distrust towards official power in general because it has been an ineffective way to actually get the job done. Whatever channels end up being used to bring grassroots concerns to the top will have to take these problems into account.
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We’ve done the first step in getting a bunch of people involved and invested in a great governor. But that is just step 1 and there are a whole lot of other steps needed to get us to a point where this community will help to govern.
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2) Increasing civic engagement
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The governor of this state is responsible for policies that affect all of us within this state. Not just those who voted for him and not even just the households that vote. In light of this, we need to continue the types of reaching out that we did during the campaign, but not just target “likely voters” or “possible voters” as the campaign did. Unfortunately, I can’t figure out offhand how to do that without maintaining the same kind of intensity and budget that the campaign had, but that initial outreach is vital to keep citizens and residents from tuning out. Sometimes the best ideas stay hidden because there isn’t an obvious channel for them to be funneled to the top.
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3) Rebuilding communities throughout the state.
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We have communities. And we have community groups. And we have the grassroots campaign. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel here, but we do need to keep “us” involved in the same communities where we’ve already done so much work for Deval. Maybe we need to be handed over to the neighborhood communities that already exist. Or maybe we can use precinct captains and offices to centralize information for neighborhood groups in some way that makes it easier for the average citizen to know what’s happening. For this to work, Deval needs to publically come out and ask us to join our communities and focus on some sort of goal. Just as Deval brought in a lot of newbies to volunteer for his campaign, a call like this is going to bring a lot of newbies to neighborhood organizations. Without a strategy for community involvement and getting organizations to buy into this rebuilding and expansion without the fear of “losing their own turf”, you’re just going to have a bunch of heads clashing and a short-term involvement flaming out in a few months. At least in Boston, neighborhood organizations and politics can be a BIG deal for those involved.
I would like tp see something along the lines of Drinking Liberally – an ex oficio group of anyone who shows up, in a non-intimidating setting, perhaps one per District, which meets weekly, where ideas can be thrashed out EVEN BEFORE the Town Meetings with Deval. It takes time to hear everyone and then to brainstorm and mull over issues and ideas.
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Instead of a partisan name, the weekly meet-ups could be named something like ‘Tell Deval.’
We need more avenues for listening to citizens. I wonder how many people who worked on the campaign would be interested canvassing next September on a “How is Governor Patrick Doing?” theme. That could be used to plug even more folks into civic engagement.
Count me in…and I’ll bring 5 with me……
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2. Usually what emerges is a laundry list of ideas, maybe 5 to 10 per committee. Some committees go crazy and send in 27 ideas.
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Since members are mostly leaders from their field, they don’t introduce “new” ideas, they simply amplify the ideas they already “have out there” which seem to fit the Gov’s previously stated agenda.
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*Chairs don’t want to be perceived as constraining discussion, so many ideas are included in the final recs.
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3. So the Governor gets perhaps 100 ideas in the end from his transition committees. He also gets a few hundred ideas from other groups. I.e., big business groups – like Chamber of Commerce, AIM, etc – will put forward their own brief (#1 is “Leave the Health Care Bill alone for 6 months to see how it works”, fyi). The teachers unions will put forward their wish list. Etc, etc.
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4. Suggestion: therefore, pick ONE idea for Civic Engagement. Okay two ideas. But that’s it. Avoid the laundry list.
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Have all the others in an Appendix so as to avoid 2* issues.
Include a lot, emphasize a few. It’s useful to note where the consensus positions are, but let folks feel like they had the governor-elect’s ear even if it was a minority opinion or priority.
Boy does this remind me of the many times I’ve been part of similar efforts where the eagerness to include every idea resulted in nothing getting done slowly. The five hour calculation sounds like an excellent reality check: you guys won’t be able to hash out twenty ideas in five hours.
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Governor-Elect Patrick is not Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Good Witch from Oz all rolled into one. We cannot expect government to handle 100 ideas productively in 4 years. However, a bunch of people who know some stuff about civic engagement might be able to find one idea that promises a really large return, that could be implemented, and that could do a lot of good. That idea doesn’t even have to be the bestest idea ever thought of about civic engagement; it just has to be attainable and productive.
My idea is to leverage the DP campaign’s social capital – the actual volunteers who feel loyalty to DP – to tackle an ISSUE, rather than “overall governance.”
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Out of the campaign volunteer whole posse, let’s say there are 1,000 volunteers with the willingness to continue to volunteer 3 hours per weekend for the next year doing SOMETHING (plus 20 volunteers willing to stay on a full-time basis to coordinate that 1,000).
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That’s 3,000 hours per week of social capital, equivalent to 75 full-timers. What is a single statewide need that they could make a dent in? Which need?
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I’d propose this test:
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1. Need should appeal to a wide political spectrum, yet not something that dilutes the desire of DP’s left-leaning campaign volunteers to go after.
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2. Need should exist not just in urban areas, but in towns, too.
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3. Need can be dented by volunteers who have full-time jobs.
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4. Need should have a connection to “Together We Can.”
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5. It should leverage an existing service platform.
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6. Impact should be measurable, with a “culminating moment.”
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a. The Jon Keller issue. If you want to PROVE to a skeptic that “the grassroots can make a difference,” you can’t just “give back the volunteers to the local community” to work on whatever, as suggested above.
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b. DP campaign set clear targets for fundraising, phone calls, door knocking etc. To get volunteers to continue their efforts, it can’t be for some open-ended task that will never finish.
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What meets that test?
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I’d put that 3,000 hours per week of DP volunteer social capital into ESL tutoring for one year.
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Politically, you’re appealing to a wide spectrum — left like all sorts of tutoring, right and center like assimilation, English language, and non-gov’t provision of services. It’s something that can be done nights and weekends. It works well in 2 to 4 hour doses. There is statewide need, not just urban need. There are already lots of places that offer ESL, so people can plug into an existing service platform. It is inherently “Civic engagement” and “Together We Can” — as it allows new people to participate once they know English. Like with 1,000 cops, DP could say “We will teach 1,000 people English in the next year without spending a dime.”
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Throughout the year, DP joins the ESL tutors to thank stalwart volunteers…with the ESL students teaching him new recipes. Good TV. Keeps attention on the initiative. In March he’s making Pho and in April he’s making empanadas, etc.
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The culminating moment is when DP does a Town Hall meeting with 1,000 new English speakers in one year before his State of the State.
but, to my thinking, you have posed the problem correctly.
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What I do like about it is the idea of the Commonwealth, taking the lead from the governor, undertaking together a big volunteer effort. That certainly does build community and engagement.
maybe MCAS tutoring?
Already Wild Goldstein’s suggestion has the remarkable advantage of changing the terms of the immigration issue: it turns immigrants from Others into Neighbors. Very neat. I liked that.
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One trouble I see is that teaching English as Second Language is not a skill many are born with. I once looked over a text from India about English. I learned things about English that I only knew subconsciously. I bet you don’t know off-hand the rules for when you use “do”.
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Your suggestion, though, rasises a different question: why didn’t previous efforts for rounding up MCAS tutoring volunteers not work?
This is a possible answer to your last question, KBusch. Tutoring for MCAS and tutoring for ESL are very different enterprises. Speaking and writing English is a lifetime skill that a person will use everyday in business or pleasure in this country. But the MCAS is a specific hurdle, which is often viewed as a laundry list to cover by tutors–and after you pass it, no college or high school really cares what you scored on it. (Somewhat like the written portion of your driver license test–no one cares if you just barely passed or aced it.)
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So MCAS tutoring is not so rich an experience as learning English would be.
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The more I think about GGW’s ESL idea, the more I like it, BTW.
Having tutored when I was in school, I found the least enjoyable kids to tutor were those narrowly focused on passing the test, who wanted to learn the minimum and not a jot more. Since such minimal ambitions are bound to fail, the experience left me feeling ineffective as well as used.
Thanks Joel.
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A few thoughts:
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1. For the record, I love MCAS tutoring, I do it, and part of my job involves getting lots of kids access to that tutoring. I don’t think of it as narrow, I think of it as teaching math and English in a way that doesn’t strike me a very different from “normal” tutoring.
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We practice actual math problems, algebra and geometry; we practice writing essays; we read books and articles together.
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There’s not much about it that is “Okay, here’s a trick to narrow your multiple choice from 4 choices to 3.” It’s “organic” if you will.
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2. However, I also realize there is lots of bad MCAS tutoring out there. So it’s possible for us to talk about “MCAS tutoring,” and one of us means some pointless time where kid needs to learn algebra but can’t even do 9 times 7, and that is very frustrating, while the other of us means “high quality tutoring with MCAS as the hook of why a kid needs to put in all those hours.”
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3. Why did Jane Swift’s volunteer MCAS tutor efforts fail?
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In part, they didn’t have the grassroots machinery that DP has right now.
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Also, It certainly wasn’t like Swift seemed personally connected to the effort. You’d go to a website, type in your address, and they’d send an email to a nearby school, which may or may not ever get back to you.
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Most people are usually free to volunteer nights and weekends. That works for ESL. For MCAS, most schools want school hours, and don’t fit their hours to dovetail with “tutor supply” (a few do).
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4. ESL seems like a good fit for “DP’s Grassroots Army.” I think the main reason it’s easier than MCAS tutoring is that the students are a) adults who b) want to be there.
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MCAS should be more of a DP K-12 priority than a “Civic Engagement” priority.
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For MCAS, in Boston, I think the best path would be college and grad students: 200,000 of them, versus just 5,000 Boston sophomores taking MCAS in any given year.
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The university presidents and Mayor have endless meetings talking about how they “help” BPS. Round and round they go. Usually it involves professors offering pointless and often counterproductive “technical assistance” that makes teachers roll their eyes.
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They should just divvy up the students and create an MCAS Beanpot on which universities are the best at delivering quality tutor programs. (Put the results in colleges’ damn US News and World Report rankings and you’d see the best tutoring programs ever created).
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Boston’s unique in that ratio. In other struggling towns and cities, from Holyoke to Lawrence to Lowell, the solution would best be customized to that area.
forgive me if this already exists somewhere in the state, but the state could fund the production of esl classes to be broadcast on local television affiliates. and the cost would be practically nothing.
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local access cable could carry the programs/lessons at various times of the week, allowing for peoples schedules. and for those without cable, all broadcasters are required to carry a certain amount of ‘public service’ programming to their weekly schedules. (which they usually bury on sunday mornings) or the state could possibly compensate broadcasters to carry this instead of those paid programming info-mercials.
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and has gabrieli has said. an english literate population is good for everyone, and the economy!
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this would be very good bang for the buck.
Numerous immigrants with professional skills from their home countries can’t tap those skills here because of the English Language barrier. As Gabrieli put it, when you break down that language barrier, suddenly the economy has a new pool of talented people with more earning power and creative power.
to think through.
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Civic engagement is what the net roots have been about over the last couple of years. For the most part we have been doing so on line on our own and occasionally we have met one another and engaged in conversations both with ourselves and with elected officials and candidates.
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I’ve been an advocate for Choice and GBLT issues for a number of years but have not been fully engaged with “the system” because for many of the years I have lived in this state, Cardinal Law was the one setting the policies and Tom Finneran did his bidding. Obviously that has changed, but I still recognize that it is not only the Gov. that we need to be engaged with but DiMassi and Travaglini and those who run the committees. Granted that Deval will have lots of MO behind his initiatives, but if we really are wanting to engage we need to figure out how this process can be injected throughout the system. In essence, Town Meeting taken to a more macro level. SO, are Trav and DiMassi on board with Deval in wanting the people to be engaged? If not, is there a way to make that happen?
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What I am seeing is that there are a number of politicians who see the netroots as a force for communication-in both directions-and see a universe of engaged citizens that they are eager to work with and tap for ideas and energy. Others are clueless. Some of our elected officials have staffers who get it and more do not. There is an entire political structure that has been built over the years for the protection of those already within it and all they do is look inward. I am hoping that this is an opportunity to break through the bubble and make some greatly needed changes but I am aware that it will take a lot more than on newly elected governor to help this along.
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That said, the ideas above are great! And there will be lots more forthcoming. For starters, we need to learn how it is that we can help move the system off its calcified moorings. We need a better grasp of how it all works (or doesn’t) so we can figure out where to insert our crowbars and move it. Do we begin with our own ideas or with our own education?
Note: my examples will be relevant to my personal experiences… I’m sure groups like this exist across the spectrum.
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Want to improve transportation? Get the T Rider’s Union directly involved, as well as Mass Bike and Walk Boston. I’m not talking about having a board member on your transition team — I’m talking about getting those organizations to do some serious lifting, and having those organizations encourage feedback from the folks on their lists. These are real grassroots kinds of organizations, and they certainly have perspectives that civil engineers have been under-representing since WWII.
I’d definitely give my time on this issue. Transportation planning in this state has been infuriatingly car-centric for years. The defense and upkeep of public transportation has long been shouldered by grassroots organizations like those listed above. It’s about time they were asked to the table. I’d add the Washington St. Corridor Coalition to the list – I’m sure others will come to mind upon reflection.
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By the way, while I’ve generally been pleased with what I’ve read about the composition of the transition team, I was a bit perturbed to see Tom Menino on the list. I understand that it’s important to have open lines of communication to the big city mayors. But the guy’s record on transportation planning, development and growth management has been abysmal. Moreover, his arrogant, top-down management style hardly seems likely to function harmoniously with the Patrick campaign’s stated goal of a more transparent and inclusive government.
we just needed a day or two to shake all of this loose. We’ve NEVER been asked for our opinions before…I think we’re all happy they have, but also were in a bit of shock….and it’s now the shock is wearing off and the great (and greater ideas ) are really flowing.
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As someone said earlier, we don’t need to REINVENT the wheel, just make it more efficient!
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I’d volunteer to be one that helps to identify those existing groups in all the categories.
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You don’t go to an ELECTRICIAN to get a tooth pulled…..so you need to go to the source that uses the specific service the most.
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Want to know if the public transit buses are efficiently run other than MBTA? (no offense Charley), ride the bus, not take your Escalade to the nearest parking lot and park it all day!
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I like to say, don’t judge me ’til you ride a mile on my wheels!
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If you want to reach those that experience (or not) the service, go to where they are….I never get anything accomplished going from Worcester to the Statehouse (except a wheelchair drained of power). Now ,we need to figure out how to get them out of the golden dome and out here with those that elected them? The 64 million dollar question!
One of the biggest forces for civic engagement is Town Meeting. Our towns are a greenhouse for cultivating civic engagement on the local level. People are actively engaged in the civic life of our towns, and much of the Deval effort in my town was from people who were brought into the system through Town Meeting or local boards and commissions.
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This is why it is so disturbing to see that the only people in the municipal group are city mayors. There’s not a single town official in the bunch. That’s why it’s distrubing to see the usual suspects in the education list, without balance from someone like Ruth Provost. Ruth is one of the PTA’s nominees for the State Board of Education that Romney refused to appoint because she wasn’t from some right-wing think tank.
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Civic involvement isn’t going to happen when you can buy a seat at the table, or you get seated because you have had a voice in the Republican years. Let’s find a way to get the people with a passion for local government involved in the new government, because there are lots of really good people out there who have felt frustrated by the last 16 years of Republican rule. Make your friends feel heard and appreciated, and they will continue with the passion that brought them to the table. Shut them out if favor of the old guard, and they will turn their backs on this new state government in much the same way that they felt frustrated by Weld-Cellucci-Swift-Romney et al.
One reason we are unwilling to invest in ourselves and our government is that we don’t trust it. We don’t trust it because everyone knows numerous ways it is badly managed or does stupid stuff. This is the vile fruit of lack of civic engagement.
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I’m reminded of Deval Patrick’s comments about how the roads are so bad in Massachusetts that they increase the cost of owning an automobile. Yet, a temporary income tax increase to fix the roads would go over like a lead balloon. The reason is that few trust government to handle the extra revenue appropriately.
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Setting up vehicles (as it were) for citizen oversight of government functions could improve government and it could strengthen our trust in our government — so that we eventually felt we owned it.
Highlights of this thread so far:
…and now my own suggestion…
Online forums
should be created for officials in all branches of government. Perhaps each official or a representative of each office or organization would be responsible for frequently listening and responding to these online forums. This would reassure the public that our voices are heard and provide a way for our leaders to communicate directly with their constituents. The internet can be an effective tool of communication, let’s bring our democracy into the 21st century.
With comments! Amazing idea. An almost terrifying level of citizen engagement and responsiveness. And if you don’t fix that pothole … somebody will be back for more …
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But how do you deal with the nutjobs and trolls? You think we have problems??
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Let’s think hard about this one.
would be subject to freedom of speech protections, which would make such comment areas much more difficult to keep civil and on topic than a privately run blog.
Dear Charley on the MTA and sharonmg,
Thanks for considering my proposal and raising the serious question about how such public online forums would be moderated. I don’t know THE answer to this, but here are some suggestions:
I’d be interested to hear other suggestions on how online forums could be used to foster more direct communication with our civic leaders.
but most times the legislator will just get an intern or staffer to do it. You really think some of our legislators would sit and actually do it?
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I’d like to have faith that they would, but it’s going to take a LOT of arm twisting to actually get them to personally get plugged into their constituents. Some will be great at it, and some will definitely do it.
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Maybe we could do something like I’ve been advocating in Worcester for our City Council…a yearly REPORT card on each legislator..that could be done in a blog/survey type of forum…and we could set certain criteria….i.e. how many votes have they take/or not. How many bills have they sponsored….
etc…AND how many visits from lobbyists ……I’m sure we could come up with some great ones….
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Then they can have a snapshot of where they stand even in mid term…and where they need to get moving….on our issues and not just earmark projects……..
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I say, “let us grade”!
and for the idea!
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And speaking of potholes…To add onto the pothole comment by Charley(?) – I think some areas are using GoogleMaps to locate potholes. Citizens fill out a form online to the city/town government complaining about a pothole and then use GoogleMaps to identify where the pothole is. Makes finding them, fixing them faster and more efficient, and gives a visual of where the worst areas are – are they clustered in some neighborhoods or are they generally spread out? If clustered, why? And so on.
I think converting the grassroots into a governing principle can be used well in three ways:
1) Use it as a feedback mechanism to find informed and reliable information from multiple sources on what problems there are, and how successful a strategy/policy/law really is. A lot of times everybody tells each other what they want to hear, and not how things really are. For example, I still can’t believe that the MBTA gets away with the type of poor service it does, but up top I’m sure nobody is talking about that because everybody is trying to keep their job and say everything is peachy.
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2) A way to allow ideas from everywhere to float up to the top. It’s not that every Joe has an idea that would work on the government level, but it is a perpetual problem of bureaucracies and governments that solving a problem needs to come from and at the local level for there to be a solution which really works, rather than by some faceless person who may or may not be familiar with the situation. If there was a mechanism where people could actually talk to someone or submit ideas to a place where they knew people were listening (this part is important), it would reduce tension and make people feel like they actually had a voice. Not just at the state level, but as far down as possible in the government sphere. I realize that this is what state reps are for, but somehow they don’t seem to be working in this regard.
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3) A more personalized government so to speak through more direct communication. I think a lot of people see government as this huge and intangible force in their lives which they have no control or influence over. If you can use the grassroots as a better communications mechanism at the very least so that people feel closer to the source, you will automatically foster more engagement.
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On another note, it would be great to see Deval Patrick continue to do community meetings like he did on the campaign trail. Obviously not at the level he was doing it before, but if he were able to come by a community once a year, it would provide a great mechanism for people to get involved and give him feedback. People shouldn’t feel like the governor, senator, local politician etc. isn’t just a name and face in the newspaper or some celebrity, they should feel like it is a person who they have met and feel friendly towards. More direct contact with the voters, and not just through rallies and speeches, will make people more interested in engaging themselves because they know somebody really is listening.
there have been so many wonderful suggestions made so far. and there is certainly a sense of a new day having dawned. i can’t help but wonder where some of these ideas have been going in the past.
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has advancing new ideas and initiatives through our legislators really been a stone wall? is it a broken model?
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so i would like to sincerely suggest that any differences between the new call for civil engagement and the traditional route of petitioning through our elected representatives be more clearly defined and explained.
exactly , this is one place where antiquity needs an overhaul….this is 2006, the “this is how it’s always been done,” needs a good knock in the head. I have a feeling we’d shake out a lot more than a few ancient cobwebs….where ,oh where has – of the people, by the people for the people .ALL of the people gone?
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This is not 1806! The one ball musket has given way to the AK47…..and so on….the discussion of HOW do we return the Commonwealth, and dare I say the county, to the that PEOPLE DRIVEN model?
Use technology to make government more transparent, such as having the state budget available (and understandable) via the internet.
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Encourage grassroots campaign volunteers to engage their legislators to implement Deval’s agenda (hey the first task you were charged with is “Converting the grassroots campaign into a way of governing”).
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Use town meeting resolutions and non-binding ballot questions in legislative districts to endorse (or not) key reforms Deval may want to implement. This is key if/when Deval wants to tackle the tougher issues inwhich he’ll get a ton of push back from insiders and special interests. This way a Rep or Senator is given “cover” to vote for a measure Deval supports (to reform the freakin system) by telling the special interest, “I had to vote for it, the town meeting(s) in my district endorsed it, I couldn’t go against them.
Too many budget and financial documents are about as straightforward as Rorshock inkblots. In other words, their clarity could be vastly improved.
Will you go back to the campaign and ask them to revise the local government group to include Selectmen, and/or Finance Committee members, please?
Wow! So many great ideas discussed here. Quite inspiring.
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Another issue that always comes up as a top 3 for voters and the public is health care, so even though there’s a Health Care group in the transition team I’m wondering if it makes sense to toss in a few health care ideas here too.
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What about some form of a parallel series of town meetings on health care, especially sisnce we’ve got the new health reform law (Chapter 58) rolling out with major pieces of it still undefined (the regulatory language defining “affordable” is still in the works, as one example). Last month I happened to sit next to Sen. Susan Fargo at the Mass Med Society’s annual health care forum and chatted with her about the idea and about the public’s perception of health. I know that Sen Pat Jehlen has done a forum on the new health law in her district, but these forums I have in mind would go beyond just giving info on the new law, ‘tho that would be useful for sure.
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Our state’s greatest asset is its people, and the health, well being and happiness of our people underlie everything else in some sense, right? So I think it should be a priority to build on the dual momentum created by 1)the Patrick/Murray mandate for achievment by gov’t with its people (Together we can) and 2)the health care law, with the goal being to reach out to people across the state to have a civic dialogue about health and health care in a more holistic and ambitious way. Many of us front-line health care providers believe that our current “system” over-emphasizes treating disease instead of promoting health in the first place!
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Some of these “Healthy Town Meetings” could be hosted in the 56 community health centers (CHC) across the state; it would be great to get more folks to walk thru their doors and see what great sites most CHC’s are for receiving quality, cost effective, community-centered health care (and not just having CHC’s dissed as happened in a recent Globe article).
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There could be outreach starting a month or so in advance, laying the groundwork for people to come with specific questions and with ideas on how the town/city/region could be healthier, maybe posing 4 or 5 questions on event flyers that folks could use to think about the issues in advance. Local town gov’t as well as state-level gov’t people would be there, along with the CHC staff to help folks that need it to sign up for the new health care coverage, or at least provide info on what steps to take next to be prepared for the individual mandate that kicks in on July 1.
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Conducting some type of survey might be possible to better understand what people are thinking on this broad topic of health care, either at the events or elsewhere, to both stimiulate the public’s thinking and to gather details of people’s thinking/feelings across the state about their and their families’ health care needs and concerns.
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Something a bit like this was recently completed on the national level and there will be Congressional hearings on the findings; for those who are intersted in learing more about it go to Citizens Health Care Working Group. Massachusetts had the distinction of being the projects’ very first “community meeting” location and as such was treated more like a practice trial run so no outreach was done–but a few of us inadvertantly heard about it and went and gave testimony that is now part of the official transcript along with testimony from all over the country. It would be wonderful to have a statewide dialogue about ways for each and every person in the state to be as healthy as possible, and the added bonus is that we can save a heck of a lot of money if we put that talk into practice.
This is not a Civic Engagement item, but rather one for the Transportation committee. I am using BMG to be civicly engaged.
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The Transportation committee should interview Paul Levy in depth about how he ran a large civic construction project. In the 1990s, he ran the MWRA during the period they built the new Deer Island sewage treatment plant. That project started about the same time as the Big Dig. Both projects were to last a decade and cost about six billion dollars. Unlike the Big Dig, the MWRA project came in under budget and ahead of schedule. This was the result of conscious decisions Paul and his staff made. It is a little late for the Big Dig, but it may help Mass Highway, the Turnpike Authority, and Mass Port reorganize to be more efficient.
Thoughts on one of your workgroup’s stated principles:
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* Converting the grassroots campaign into a way of governing
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Does a grassroots campaign even convert to a beneficial way of governing? Certainly, we have seen this type of governance can be an effective means of advancing an agenda:
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Disclaimer: I am not trying to make a comparison of Patrick/Murray to Hitler. Rather, to provide one example of a government that had a high level of civic engagement.
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If the roots are used to push an agenda, will it create a system of “us” and “them”? What happens in the case of a failed policy? I don’t mean a policy that does garner widespread support, but one that is widely supported but proves detrimental?
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If the roots are used, not as in the national socialist example, but to provide feedback to elected officials, what is the gain? As it stands currently, I can and have contacted my elected representatives, including the governor, as well as several state employees. I have attended several forums, listening tours, and participated in public comment periods. Civic engagement should not supplant this sort of direct relationship of citizens and their representatives.
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So while it perhaps goes against the momentum here, I think that the assumption of increased civic engagement as benficial should be given a critical review. The Brookings Institution Press has a publication that, while a little out of date (1999) might be worth a look, Civic Engagement in American Democracy.
“Disclaimer: I am not trying to make a comparison of Patrick/Murray to Hitler. Rather, to provide one example of a government that had a high level of civic engagement.”
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As if that were the most useful example of civic engagement? The most relevant to 2006 Massachusetts?
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dweir, I’ve appreciated your challenging of the conventional wisdom around here in the past, but this is just absolutely embarassing for you, a real belly-flop. Too bad.
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As for your other points, which suffer badly being placed next to such inflammatory garbage, I think I’ve addressed them here.
I provided a disclaimer, but I guess that wasn’t enough. I did not know the mere mention of Hitler’s regime was enough to result in a charge of “inflammatory garbage”. Perhaps I should have referred to him as “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”?
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But back to the substance of the discussion…
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The principle listed was “converting a grassroots campaign into a way of governing”. I would guess that many people, on this site and elsewhere, think of grassroots initiatives as a bottom-up process. Yet, as hokun commented, the campaign was top down.
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The text I cited was not to say that pushing an agenda is something evil. I thought the excerpt fairly well described the type of social contract which would exist in a top down grassroots governance system. Engaging youth, promoting volunteerism, and diseminating government information were all ideas suggested in this thread, and they were all techniques used to promote a message of better future for a plighted post-WWI Germany. While I didn’t select it as a “most useful” example as you assert, when it comes to it, I cannot think of a free society that has done as well in promoting a political agenda. It would be folly, now that the people in charge clearly aren’t “Hitlers”, to not give some thought (ala Hobbes, Rosseau, Schmitt) as to why that is.
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As for post about electing ourselves, you can assert that you need to be inclusive and kick bad ideas to the curb, but in reality, how does that happen? In a roots structure, with everyone on a seemingly equal footing, who determines whether a policy is effective? The individual. So, then you find others who share your view, so you can advance your agenda to the next round. The advantage goes to those who are well-connected, have leisure time and resources, and a bit of skill. Anyway, lots to consider. In my own town, I’ve seen how a “power center” has successfully pushed policy and won elections, and how individuals within the group are literally fearful to speak out against the establishment. Tread carefully.
All these suggestions about education, internships, town meetings and the like irritate me, because they are the same-old, same-old. Yet again, we working people who have lives we’re trying to manage are minimalized.
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Look, you know what we need? We need a verion of Bugzilla for the government. I want a web site where I can see if someone else has reported a problem, submit the “bug report” if they haven’t, contribute to the discussion of the problem and how I think it should be fixed, and read (and subscribe by email to) other people’s contribution to the discussion (including the relevant responsible members of the government); and where expert insiders/volunteers/employees can figure out which branch of government and department is responsible for fixing the problem and assign it to them, so that we citizens don’t have to go on mad goose chases to figure out who has jurisdiction over what; and where we can review the bug lists for different departments and branches of government, and see the stats for how many they’ve closed, and how they’ve closed them.
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Now, THAT would be openness in government. THAT would be civic engagement.
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Oh, and while you’re at it, have Deval read “The Cluetrain Manifesto” — he’ll love it — because everything it says about how poorly corporations “speak” to markets is true of governments speaking to constituents, and there is NO place in a democracy for that nonsense. The BPD blog is the tip of an iceberg — or the first pebble in an avalanche.
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We, the people, need to be fully informed about what our government is up to — and it’s NOT acceptible any longer to rely on the press to do that for the government — and the government needs a way to listen to us — which means using technology to intermediate the conversation such that they are not overwhelmed with the roar of the crowd, but can keep up with the myriad voices of the people. Computer mediated communications have no peer for this. Acknowledging fully that the digital revolution is not equally distributed, there still no substitute for it.
… would be an ideal vehicle for tracking pending legislation, debating policy ideas, and keeping track of government “bugs” that need fixing. Blogs are a good place to start the conversation, but they’re bad at consolidating info in one place and keeping the focus on issues that need ongoing attention.
I understand that many suggestions here are time-consuming, but fostering civic engagement really requires that a big bunch of people re-prioritize civics so that it takes up more of their time.
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Even if I read that something is off the rails on a government website and I want to fix it or get it fixed, I go — where?
NO one said this would be a cake walk, but then look what this site and Deval’s grassroots has already accomplished.
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Anything worth doing is going to take time and commitment. We’ve already broken the mold and the stereotype, and to a beginning extent started to re-invent government.
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To the campaign I would say, stand fast to your principles, (I have no doubt they will).
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I certainly would not want to be a paid lobbyist in MA right now. Or anyone that is looking to cash in on political favors. I hope the unemployment office is big enough to hold everyone…..
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I hope the campaign engages Warren Tolman, in how to just say NO! to big money and influence. It can be done, with commitment.
Personally, I’m not really sure how to quantify that. If I knew better, I’d have a better idea how to help transform it from an opinion site (and my own personal puke funnel) to a real organizing tool.
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So, I find it very difficult to assess successes or failures of the site with any specificity. Care to share your thoughts? (Anyone?)
I already sent a message into the working group about this suggestion, but here it is again anyway. I am working on a project with Common Cause Massachusetts to persuade local governments to post more public records online. The project is called the Massachusetts Campaign for Open Government. (Currently, we are revising the project’s website and plan to issue a report soon.) The initial goal of the project is to make information about local government more accessible. This will make local governments more open and, more importantly, it will make it easier for people to become more engaged in their local government. The planned next phase of the project is to focus on the legislature.
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The Civic Engagenment group should examine how the state government can make better use of the internet to make it easier for people to be more engaged. One initial thing it could do is list the types of positions on the transition team website, volunteer or otherwise, that the Patrick Administration needs to fill. This is done at the federal level with the Plum Book.
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While I agree and support your internet based suggestions, let us please not loose sight of the fact that many people (elders in particular) do not have or use the internet. Many of those individuals in our community watch the local cable access station to see school committee and selectman meetings. Yes, the library is available for internet access for many who by choice or financial reasons do not have access at home, however, there is still a population that needs to be addressed outside of the community meetings (not mobile) and the internet.
That being said, I have wanted to watch the antics on Beacon Hill for years. C-SPAN for MA government.
I agree that local cable access stations are a good way to provide a means by which people who are house bound are able to view public meetings. Your comment that many people do not have or use the internet is just not true if you are talking about the majority of people, including the elderly. The PEW Internet and American Life Project project regularly surveys how many people are using the internet. In their latest report on the issue,they found that internet penetration has reached over 73% for all American adults. Yes, PEW has found that the elderly do not use the internet as much as younger people, but PEW found in a survey done in 2004 that 32% of people 65 and over said they used the internet.
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Currently, the Massachusetts state government under uses the internet as a way of communicating to the public and as a way of opening the doors of the government to the people. In a recent report the PEW project also has reported that more and more people are turning to the internet to gain news or information about politics. The Patrick Administration should make sure that when people do seek out information about state government, those people able to easily find what they are looking for.
Opps! Here is the correct link for the PEW report on internet penetration.
As I stated above, I agree with many of the great comments about utilizing the internet. I will clarify that I was writing about reaching those who do not ‘use’ for a myriad of reasons/obstacles. I feel that 25%, 20%, or even 5% are many citizens that need to be considered. Thanks!
The main use of the Internet amongst the elderly is email, to keep in touch with relatives far away. Scared off by pop-ups and schlock, few use the Internet per se.
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Community and Govenment access programs are HUGELY popular for selecmen’s meeeting, planning baord, etc., but when you get to Beacon ill, you will discover that even with the relentless promotion of Mass.gov for years, few people avail themselves of its capabilites. I speak as a person who once made a living printig forms off Mass. sites to put into the mail of people who refuse to use a computer.
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BTW – the poor who rely on library access for Internet are disenfranchised here as well.
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The computer literate sometimes believe that EVERYBODY uses computers, but it just isn’t so.
I said that a large percentage of people use the internet according to the PEW project. So the internet can be an effective means of communication and an important source of information.
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The key point is that if information about what our elected officials are doing is easily available on the internet, then anyone who wants to take up an issue can do so easily. They will not have to jump over a serious of hurdles just to find out information about the issue. Right now it is almost impossible to get information from the legislature’s website about a particular bill or to find out if there is already is a pending bill that covers a particular subject. It is a lot harder to hold public officials accountable if it is hard to get infomation about what they are doing. The Public Records law is helpful, but I know of many instances where people have requested copies of public records from their local officials (for example, the town budget) and their requests have been denied or they have been told they have to pay a large amount of money for the copy. It also does not apply to the legislature’s records.
Use the search engoine in the upper right hand corner, and pick a random subject. MUCH of what you are describing is in place – and languishing.
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This is so easily remedied.
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The next time someone requests a document from local government and the official proposes to charge a lot of money (a common and weaselly dodge BTW) do this by snail mail:
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Secretary of the Commonwealth
Public Records Division
McCormack Building, Room 1719
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108
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Re: records request
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Dear Sir/madam:
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I requested {public record] from [official] of the Town of [town]. Enclosed find the reply from the Custodian of Records.
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The proposed charge is excessive in light of the minimum time and photocopy charges that complying with my request should objectively require. Please consider this an appeal of the charges that the Custodian proposes to assess.
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Very truly yours,
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CC: Custodian of Records
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You’ll get the copies. Trust me.
Yes, a person can appeal to the Secretary of State if their public record request is denied or the custodian of the records tries to charge an excessive fee for copies of a public record. But a lot of people would probably give up or not even know they had a right to appeal if their request is denied. This potential problem is avoided if, at the very least, the key public records are posted online.
Mass is more than just Greater Boston. It was one reason Weld was preferrable to Silber, but Weld soon drifted into becoming another Boston-centered pol.
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This is something that can get forgotten by governors when they hit the big-time.
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I was glad Murray got Lt Gov nod so that someone in the corner office is outside 495.
Given the great success of the campaign with mobilizing an electronic grassroots organization, it would make sense to keep this group active by taking part in an E-government initiative.
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Fortunately, UMASS Amherst is the national leader in this field. The web site is: http://www.umass.edu/digitalcenter/
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I am proposing a partnership between The Patrick Administration and UMASS, connecting the people and their government. The specific proposals should come from this partnership.
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Following is an excerpt from a Progressive Policy Institute paper called Network Government for the Digital Age. I think it captures the underlying rationale for e-government and fits Massachusetts’ strengths as a technology leader.
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“The rise of factory-based, industrial economy in the 1890’s brought wide-scale municipal and state government reform, coupled with an increased federal role. The mass production, post-war corporate economy engendered the New Deal and Great Society frameworks that relied on the centralized state and Big Government .
But the very nature of today’s New Economy makes stove-piped, hierarchial bureaucracies ill-suited to addressing current problems and challenges. In the era when the economy is more entrepreneurial, competitive, fast moving, networked, and technology-based and less heirarchical, the prevailing model of governance should also reflect these realities. In particular, the IT revolution promises to provide new tools to transform government. Government, however lags behind these changes.
While public management is part of governance, not all governance involves public management. Governance is a broader concept and implies better aligning the actions of all actors – government, organizations, and individuals – to public ends. Therefore, a key task of government is to help ensure that complex networks produce socially desirable results. This means we need to replace the concept of hierarchical bureaucratic government with the concept of government as a manager of policy networks containing all relevant actors, including agencies, private companies, and even citizens.”
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Today’s technology makes this idea possible. Today’s home computers offer people more computing power than NASA had to put a man on the moon. People involved in community action now can produce very detailed and high quality analysis of local problems.
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Every State Agency should have an e-government component.
This goes along with making volunteer work mandatory (which I think is great). I would like to see a more central source for information on volunteer opportunities around the state.
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Living on the South Shore, it’s almost impossible to find local organizations that need assistance. Maybe I’m just not searching in the right places, but I’m also not the only one. I know people who would like to help out local organizations in many ways (time, donations etc) but they have no idea how/where to find them. What’s even more discouraging to find the name of an organization only to have them turn down offers.
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The mass.gov web site has a volunteering section, but it seems like unless you live in Boston it’s not worth the bother (Primary Location is blah, blah, blah, but other locations are available – and further research doesn’t include your area). I would love to see this expanded to include organizations looking for volunteers, donations (what the donations are) and listed for the entire state.
David, congrats on being tapped for this duty. One of the great challenges to people “on the inside” is they’re so busy just handling the stuff they need to handle that they rarely have time to think outside the box for innovative problem solving. Too often, new proposals and legislation are left to be drafted or proposed by lobbyists or others with a vested interest in the outcomes (not that there’s anything wrong with that, to quote Seinfeld). Similarly, the state procurement laws–while designed and perhaps generally necessary to stop the occasional corrupt public figure–completely crush any entrepreneurial or innovative approaches to government. For example, a great problem solving idea in the private sector can yield significant dividends for the proponent. By contrast, in the state government, an innovative idea is subject to procurement laws and essentially kills any impetus for new thinking from the private side. I suggest that the new Gov consider an executive order to formally harness new ideas, legislative proposals (yes, even from legislators who wish to work in partnership with the Executive), problem solving, etc. to pull in thinkers from each Secretariat and distill the best ideas into usable policy. For private sector innovations, perhaps some expedited form of procurement that gives the company that proposed the idea a head start or at least some advantage in the procurement process (much like the advantages conferred by patents). The result could be the “Governor’s Institute of Innovation, Excellence and Entrepreneurship in State Government” staffed by one or two staffers under the Gov’s budget and pulling in people from the various Secretariats as needed, with an executive committee of private persons tapped for their expertise, and then a wide open membership based on topic areas or problems to be solved. Some states have similar departments, but nothing yet in Massachusetts. Oh, and sign me up!!
Sort of a freewheeling Best Practices Committee?
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Of course, if you happen to have great people of creativity and good faith in the membership, you’ll get good results. But it could also become hacktastic without the right leadership.
True point about leadership, but the general membership should be fluid and web-based. The price of admission to general membership? A damn good idea. No other litmus test for Party affiliation, political donations, no nuthin’. Plus, it would be known as “I2E” and everyone knows you need a three character acronym to succeed in state government.
ASK the volunteers/activists who elected Deval. An on-line survey asking if they want to be involved, what they want to do and what issues are of most concern to them. Much like BMG has done for those here, ASK the thousands of people who helped Deval win. Perhaps most will want a town meeting; perhaps a new idea will emerge. Use the results to tailor the plan on civic engagement.
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I love the issue oriented, geographic groups idea and would like to add to that. Key principles for organizing (learned from an organizer for the United Farm Workers): proprietorship, accountable, and momentum. My attempt to apply those principles to this idea.
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1. Proprietorship – the groups need to be responsible for themselves – elect their own chair, set their own agenda, conduct their own meetings. They can choose to advise Deval or actually work for particular outcomes. I would prefer groups to lobby legislators, testify at hearings, become activists in government then to sit around and make suggestions about what Deval should do.
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2. Accountability – again, the groups should be responsible for themselves – the outcomes they achieve or do not achieve. I would suggest setting 1 to 3 priorities. Groups that reach out to other activists and elected officials at all levels, work with other groups in other parts of the state, etc – will be more successful.
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3. Momentum – Any success from any group should be communicated to all the other groups. Blogs, e-mail updates, websites connecting the groups will provide momentum to all the groups.
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All Deval needs to provide is an opportunity to be heard – access to the governor once or twice a year is phenomenal access. Deval needs to organize initial meetings and then attend periodically to listen to the group. It would be an extraordinary lobbying effort to have a group lobby individual legislators while the governor works with the leadership.