It’s hard to not have rose-colored glasses when you work at the National Civic League. The stories we see every day of communities solving problems and nonprofits working to protect and improve democracy can’t help but make me an optimist, even at a time when so much of the news is negative. And in my view, this work adds up to a more positive outlook for the nation as a whole than is reflected in the news media.
Every year at the All-America Cities event, I tell the audience that the stories presented by competing communities remind me of the quote from Bill Clinton that “there’s nothing wrong with America that can’t be fixed by what’s right with America.”1
So, I use my rose-colored glasses when I read the news about phenomena like the continued decline in trust. When a poll released in early September indicated only 4 in 10 Americans said they trust government information, I’m comforted by the fact that trust in local government continues to average 70%, because it’s at the community level where people tend to get involved, and that trust encourages them to be involved.
And to the extent that trust in government has fallen, I’m heartened by the many communities that are working every day to reinforce trust and a sense of belonging. Dubuque, Iowa, has an Inclusive Dubuque program to help newcomers feel welcome.2 Boulder, Colorado, has community connectors that do outreach to underrepresented populations.3 And thousands of communities have added online newsletters and surveys to keep people informed and hear their opinions.
Similarly, when the polls say that fewer people trust other people, with the proportion of adults who say that “most people can be trusted” declining from 46% in 1972 to 34% in 2024,4 I’m heartened by analysts that dispute the comparison, like Russell Hardin, who wrote that data from surveys on trust in each other neglect the changing social context over the years for trusting neighbors or others. “Our lives today are typically more complicated,” he writes, “with larger numbers of people with whom we interact. It is virtually a logical implication of such a change that we cannot trust more people now as much as we trusted fewer people then.”
Local governments are quite attentive to the need to maintain and increase trust, as shown by the growth in online communications with constituents, efforts to increase transparency, access to datasets, publications like the National League of Cities report, Civil Discourse, Engagement and Trust-Building5 and proliferation of nonprofits like Civic Trust6 and The Trust Project.7
Trust in local government is particularly important during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, where trusting local authorities can be a matter of life and death. In Alameda County and Oakland, CA, local governments collaborated with local nonprofits to build trust. “We used a coalition model, using community-based organizations so that people felt more comfortable, felt good coming, and felt like ‘I’m welcome here,’” said Kimi Watkins-Tartt, Alameda County’s public health director. Contracting with dozens of community-based organizations, the county was able to use “trusted messengers” to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, preventing thousands of deaths.8
Another area in which trust is critical is public safety, and Wichita, Kansas, is one community that has worked to build trust in policing. Following the police killing of Michael Brown in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, Wichita held a series of discussions that led to the adoption of police reforms and a civilian review board. Following several open and sometimes contentious public meetings, the Wichita Police Department implemented several reforms, including the use of body-worn cameras, officer training in crisis intervention and mental health first-aid, and the creation of a civilian review board with the authority to review racial bias complaints and officer-involved shootings. Additionally, Chief Ramsay began the development of the “God Squad,” which is a group of African-American religious leaders who meet regularly with members of the WPD to share information and build partnerships.9
Most researchers agree that increased trust and a sense of belonging contribute to civic engagement, which, in turn, leads to better civic health and positive outcomes for communities. And this is where my lens turns particularly rosy, since so many of the communities with which we work and that are recognized by programs like All-America Cities, are reinforcing trust and successfully addressing tough issues. Much of this work is captured on our website, in the recordings of All-America Cities presentations, our Promising Practices database, and our journal, the National Civic Review.
Keep your eyes on our work—and on the work of these communities—and your lenses will soon be rose-colored as well!
