Olympia Time

History, politics, people of Oly WA

Category: engagement

New kind of dialogue with state government

February 8, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I’m shaking off the tragic metonymy in his title, but Rich Nafziger makes an interesting point here. Despite the Washington State legislature (not “Olympia” sucka) having one of the most open systems in terms of who gets to talk during a committee meeting (first come, first serve) the system still isn’t perfect:

The fact of the matter that the public hearing process in Olympia could be improved. Citizens are unable to take time off of work to come down make their opinions. Meanwhile, lobbyist earning 7 figure incomes clutter the hearing dockets and roam the halls. This is broken.

Several committees piloted web dialogues in the past couple of sessions. In the online dialogues, committee chairs ask questions relevant to key bills and citizens can register online and comment on the bills and the ideas. The dialogues provide a string of a conversation where both legislators and the public can raise new ideas, ask each other questions and comment on each others’ posts. Unlike newspaper online comments, the tone was always civil and constructive.

In my short experience with the few online forums the legislature sponsored (can’t find the link now), I was impressed. The online committee hearings took place outside of session and covered more general topics instead of actual bills. I guess that’s one reason the conversation, as Rich says, more constructive than a newspaper comment thread.

I’ve been toying around with an idea in my mind, a sort of super public comment tool for state government on down. Each level of government in Washington at some point has a need for public comment. It would be interesting to create a system online where a citizen could create a user profile using their voter registration (or some stand in for folks who aren’t registered) and then see open public comment processes in the jurisdictions they reside in.

So, in my case, I’d see public comment for the city of Olympia, Thurston County, the local PUD and port and the state of Washington.

I’d be able to post comment to any of the open processes and either have it archived for whatever public official will review the comment or immediately accessible to other users so they could comment back on my comment.

Of course, normal rules like not being able to overuse the system (three comments a week, for example), not being rude and not using particular language, would apply.

For this system, the important thing would be to segregate people into public comment processes that they actually are involved in. So, keeping Kitsap residents from commeting on an interesting issue in Renton would be a priority.

community organizer v. mayor

September 4, 2008 / / 0 Comments

It might be a pretty good comment on the type of political blogs I am subscribed to, but the most numerous negative reactions to Palin’s speech so far on my feed reader was to this quote:

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities.


Teacherrefpoet said it the best:

Obama’s decision to go to the trenches and work with the poor is my favorite thing about him. Palin’s decision to say this solidifies the idea the Republicans could care less about the poor. (Were the poor or struggling families mentioned at all tonight?)

5.7% of families in Wasilla live below the poverty line, according to Wikipedia.

Yeah, that sounds about like Chicago’s South Side. (I wonder what that number is in the neighborhoods Barack Obama worked in. 90%? More?)

Palin, McCain, and their party don’t get it. This speech solidified it. Obama’s choice to be a community organizer shows his values are immensely Christian. Have you noticed, Gov. Palin, how often Jesus discusses the poor? Those who value those teachings go to where the poor are and work with them. You know, in the community. Organizing it.

I think it also shows a certain amount of tone-deafness towards the sort of politics of the outside that the Obama campaign is trying to push forward. The meta-message of civic engagement is the most important thing for me right now, in terms of the Presidential race. Obama is showing that “serving your county” can go beyond military service.

So, Palin’s contrast of a position of political power with a position of service is striking. Granted, people who take up the rigors of running for office and being in office are “serving,” but there is a fundamental difference between what Palin did as mayor and what Obama did as an organizer.

If Palin wasn’t elected, would her service to Wassila been less valuable? She seems to imply that. The Obama example shows that anyone can and should serve, not just those that win an election. Standing up and putting your shoulder to the community grindstone isn’t just for those who win elections, but for everyone.

“if you build it, they will come” caucuses

May 18, 2007 / / 0 Comments

This is why the reason to go with caucuses next year was wrong, if it didn’t include a broader civic engagement component:

The provision of ‘de facto’ opportunities for empowerment embodies what can be termed a ‘field of dreams’ approach. Here the processes take precedence over people, as those responsible for engagement within government often believe that “if we build it, they will come”. Across the country there are countless consultation events and meetings that are focused around engagement for its own sake rather than aiming to meet the needs of local people. This approach to public participation in turn favours those who feel comfortable in these environments – and who have the time, skills and persistence to sit through a multitude of meetings.

While there has been a lack of uptake in these types of opportunities to engage with political and democratic processes volunteering and social activism remain a consistent part of British public life.

The same can be said for volunteering in the U.S. More people volunteer year to year, but very few actually turn out for the deep political engagement type activities, like caucuses. Just expecting people to show up and engage in party politics once every two years is absurd. We need to make the local parties more transparent, more relevant and more open.

© 2026 Olympia Time

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑