 Do You Want Your Voice To Be Heard in Washington? As part of a national conversation about health care costs, the Oceanside Public Library and the San Diego Deliberation Network will sponsor a forum designed to capture the public’s views on how we can reduce costs and still get the care we need. We invite you to be part of this discussion in Oceanside on Feb. 17th. Forums like this are being held across the country right now to capture the opinions and ideas which will be compiled in a national report that will be shared with policy makers at a national gathering called A Public Voice which will be held in Washington DC on May 5, 2016. The San Diego Deliberation Network in conjunction with the National Issues Forum uses building blocks of issue framing, discussion guides, and trained moderators leading to reflection and possibly common ground for community action. What makes the deliberation process critical is that unless people’s lived experiences are part of the discussion, communities may struggle with the tradeoffs necessary in finding common ground. Forums allow people to practice their voice in being heard on how the community moves forward. Please join us: February 17, 2016 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Oceanside Public Library Civic Center Library Community Rooms 330 Coast Hwy., Oceanside |  Free, Public Forum on Health Care Date: Wed. , Feb. 17th Time: 6:00 - 8:00 pm Place: Oceanside Public Library 330 N. Coast Hwy, Oceanside Click here to register.  |
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 Matt Leighninger Matt Leighninger is Vice President of Public Engagement & Director of the Yankelovich Center for Public Judgment at Public Agenda. He has spent the last 20 years thinking about what makes democracy work and will be visiting the San Diego area next week to speak with members of the San Diego Deliberation Network and at two local universities. A community conversation with Matt Leighninger is free and open to the public on Thursday, Feb. 18th at California State University San Marcos in the Kellogg Reading Room from 5:30 - 7:30 pm. Click here for a flyer to this event. In an op-ed We Need a Yelp for Civic Engagement to Get the 21st Century Democracy We Want Leighninger makes a case that meaningful, productive forms of civic engagement over long periods of time show improvements in quality of life. In Brazilian cities which adopted democratic innovations more than 20 years ago, those communities have higher tax compliance, lower infant mortality, higher economic growth, higher redistribution of wealth, and lower corruption. He argues that despite the energy and ingenuity evident in newer forms of engagement, democratic innovations are not transforming American politics. This apparent lack of change is partly because most citizens do not think that American politics can be transformed; they are resigned to the idea that our democracy cannot be improved. This century’s media provides an opportunity, according to Leighninger. As we are constantly being engaged by citizen-centered ways of measuring—and improving—many aspects of our lives, the same thinking and technology could be applied to civic engagement, especially if governments said they wanted feedback. Why shouldn’t Yelp ask us, “How would you rate this school board meeting?” Leighninger sees potential for a 21st century vision of a comprehensive, holistic, citizen-centered local democracy, which might spur efforts to improve all kinds of engagement. A key value would be the capacity to understand how economic, racial, and other inequalities play out politically. According to Matt Leighninger, the fundamental benefit of helping people measure democracy is that it reinforces the idea that democracy can, in fact, be improved. To register to attend the Feb. 18th conversation with Matt Leighninger, send an email to kquinney@csusm.edu . |
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