So there must be, what, thousands of ideas and bits of testimony to the transition working groups about how to go forward? Tens of thousands? Anyway, many more ideas and viewpoints and claims of facts, not always in agreement, than anyone could take in.
It’s a monumental and important task. Is it a feasible one?
I imagine the whole record being divvied up and farmed out and boiled down and summarized and sliced and diced and bulleted and powerpointed beyond recognition. Or maybe not, but how is this process going to go forward? How will these grassroots ideas ultimately make a difference?
This is an awesome effort, but what are the practical limits?
Please share widely!
were supposed to deliver their report and recommendations to the Transition Team by last Friday (we at civic engagement got ours in on time, I’m pleased to say). A big part of that task was reading through and organizing the input we received at the public meetings, electronically, and otherwise. I can’t speak for the other working groups, of course, but for us, it was a great process — I learned a lot, and I think we were able to boil down the mountain of input into a manageable report pretty effectively. As for how the ideas will make a difference, that’s up to Deval and his team.
..and perhaps the full report?
and on #2, that’s up to the Transition Team.
Then let me say, thanks! Despite my wondering about the process, this has been a wonderful energising experience to watch and, tangentially be a part of (I wrote two comments to Energy and Environment).
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What is the transition team supposed to do with the working groups’ reports, do you know? Just think about them, or is there another step in the process?
Go home. Thanks for playing. Don’t call us, we’ll call you. < /EBiii >
I imagine that each working group submitted to the Patrick-Murray Transition two basic documents. ‘A phone book’ might recount all the comments they received from everyone. A summary memo may crystalize the comments and submitting a few key recommendations as suggested action items.
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If that is roughly the case, then it might make sense, in the name of openness, for the Patrick team to release the phone books. But I think it might be counterproductive, at this point, for them to release their summary memos.
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There are several reasons for this. First of all, Patrick must reserve to himself the authority to make decisions, and so far, he has hardly had a moment to even read the memos, I am sure. Secondly, if the memos were released now, they would have the effect of announcing (or at least strongly hinting at) Patrick’s policy agenda. This would do a great disservice to the new Administration. It would steal the thunder of the inaugural address and seriously hamper their ability to develop an agenda a few pieces at time, create momentum, move strategically, etc.
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Lastly, we must consider the possibility that several of the Working Group reports may conflict with each other. For example, I would be surprised if Transportation, Education, and Healthcare (at least) didn’t think up several worthy ways to spend large sums of money. The new Governor will have to reconcile them.
I’d be very interested to see either the “phone books” or the reports–but that is not the same as asserting that I have a right to do so.