Common Sense CA: $125K Grant Program for Citizen Engagement

Over the last several years, there have been a growing number of civic engagement projects in California from the city through to the state level. Last August, Governor Schwarzenegger plus top legislative leaders participated with over 3,000 Californians in a day-long survey about health care, entitled, "CaliforniaSpeaks on Health Care Reform".  In San Mateo County currently there is a county-wide campaign to involve residents and commuters in a series of dialogues around the subject of affordable housing. The project, called, "Threshold 2008" was originated by a diverse group of county residents – from business people to open space advocates – who saw a possible crisis in the lack of affordable housing in the region.

And that’s not all, large cities from San Diego to San Francisco, and smaller ones like Chula Vista and Morgan Hill, have convened citizens in "community conversations" around policy decisions ranging from airport planning to budget prioritization.   In most of these instances, municipalities and school districts have been pushed to a crisis point, where a budget deficit or immensely expensive (and controversial) land use decision precipitates public involvement.