Crossposted at ONE Massachusetts
At ONE Massachusetts we are trying to determine:
* What kind of government do we want?
* How are we going to pay for it?
As residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, we all want – and deserve – healthy lives, healthy families, quality education, safe, vibrant communities, and prosperity in a thriving state.
The survey is focused on determining what people across Massachusetts rely on and value.
Please add your voice in this effort, and feel free to pass this invitation on to your friends and neighbors, so that we can better work with you to build a stronger Commonwealth!
ONE Massachusetts members will have access to results once they are compiled, so be sure to sign up if you haven’t done so already! There is an optional sign-up at the end of the survey.
Sincerely,
The ONE Massachusetts Team
Hi Judy,
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p>You often post on BMG, so I followed the link to One MA.
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p>Question: Are you going to keep Chuck Turner on your board?
Chuck. Earlier this summer, he told us we should think about taking his name off because he had been unable to attend Leadership Team Meetings on a regular basis. We’re trying to figure out the most appropriate, and respectful way to respond to his situation at the moment.
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p>Fill out the survey anyway.
Can’t bring up the survey.
I just don’t know how to link to constant contact survey.
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p>Please go to the ONE Mass site and begin the survey.
Well, I don’t really know how to answer the questions. What does it mean to “personally rely upon/value xyz structure”? Clearly that would include using it personally; is one meant to also include a broader sense of being connected to structure xyz? Because in that case, I’ll tick off “agree” for everything, but my answers won’t be all that useful to you.
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p>The heart of the matter really. Or maybe the riddle. What do you think.
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p>You’d be surprised.
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I don’t understand what one learns from an online survey. It certainly cannot be a reading of public opinion. Is there something else you’re setting out to learn?
rebuild the public’s confidence in their own government, and we’ve learned from ONE Mass budget and tax policy literacy programs, especially popular during the Q 1 debate, that ordinary people unengaged in political or civic activities have little idea where their state or local tax dollars go and how they are spent.
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p>During Q1 we found that these “ordinary unengaged folk” did pay attention to the organizers from local neighborhood association like ACORN or the Coalition for Social Justice, or the statewide advocacy organization they knew and trusted like the Massachusetts Non-profit Network, or Mass Affordable Housing Association.
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p>Now I’m pretty sure the BMG Community is very engaged in various civic activities and many of you have more expertise around budget and tax policy than I ever want to know. Thank G-d for the all of you experts.
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p>And I’m also pretty sure that each one of you has your own circle of folks who trust your knowledge, and trust your opinion about how to move Massachusetts forward. I certainly trust your opinion about Democratic party governance.
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p>Is the first step just making people like the BMG community participate in rebuilding the public’s confidence in government by working to support some real reforms before we can find “an appetite for taxes”? Will it take more transparency around budget and tax policy? More public hearings at convenient times? Pension reform?
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p>Or do we just let the cuts keep coming?
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p>I dunno.
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p>What do you think?
If I understand correctly, then, you want to know what opinion leaders of various sorts think because opinion leaders proved crucial in the Q1 fight. BMG certainly has opinions and, in many cases, leaders, so our opinion is useful.
I don’t understand this survey. Of course most people value the public goods that government provides. So what? I take it from the overall tone of the One Massachusetts website that the general idea is to start a conversation about how to fund the things we want government to provide. So if the survey is to have any usefulness, shouldn’t it ask whether people are willing to pay more in taxes to fund increases in these services, or to prioritize particular services against each other and against tax considerations?
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p>TedF
Anecdotal to be sure, but we’ve found from participants in ONE Mass tax and budget policy literacy programs that most people need prompting to list the various public structures that provide the various functions, and we’ve found that many people only value the public structures that directly benefit them.
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p>Anecdotal to be sure but, we’ve found from participants in ONE Mass tax and budget literacy programs that most people will only be willing to pay more taxes when and if they have confidence that government will use the funds effectively and collect the revenues fairly. The second part of the survey is trying to prompt people to indicate what kind of actions government might take to begin to rebuild their confidence.
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p>Okay. I think I’ve got it–the purpose of the first section of the survey is not really to get information from respondents, but to inform them about all the public goods that government provides. I guess this makes me a bit uncomfortable–why call it a survey?
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p>If you could establish that people only do value the public goods that directly benefit them, I think that would be an interesting finding. But your surevy doesn’t allow you to do that, I think, since it doesn’t allow respondents to distinguish between goods that they rely on and goods that they value but don’t rely on.
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p>The second part of the survey seems more straightforward and acceptable to me.
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p>TedF