In October, residents of two Washington cities, Maple Valley and Covington, came together to tackle two of their communities’ most pressing challenges. In partnership with both cities, Civic Genius held a pair of It’s Your America deliberative workshops, first on housing and growth, then on policing and public safety.
Here’s how it went:
Participants spent two hours working in small groups to share perspectives, uncover common ground, and craft workable solutions. Through a series of (very fun, if we do say so ourselves)
interactive activities, residents:
- Got to know each other by discussing nuances in their own ideological views and experiences.
- Discovered shared values.
- Learned about the issues and the key tensions that made them tough to solve.
- Brainstormed solutions and discussed the tradeoffs.
- Pressure-tested common ground solutions.
- Found consensus*
We take that asterisk seriously. Total consensus isn’t the expectation at It’s Your America, or even the goal. Instead, we want to strip away the layers of noise and misperception that make it hard for a roomful of reasonable people to work together productively.
- Across ideological lines, some themes emerged:
- Balancing city services and a desire to keep taxes steady
- Measured accountability in policing
- Targeted safety improvements
- Improving community cohesion
- Building new housing without sacrificing quality
Big thanks to star city managers Regan Bolli and Laura Philpot for creating this civic engagement opportunity in your communities!
