Over the past few months, congressional town halls have run the gamut. Some have drawn thousands of supportive constituents while others have erupted into chaos. In many places, members of Congress have chosen not to hold public events at all.
That’s why we’re excited to announce that Civic Genius is partnering with Rep. Adam Smith (WA-9) on a reimagined town hall that will bring a wide range of voices to the table for a thoughtful and productive conversation on the critical issues of public safety, mental health, and behavioral health.
This first-of-its-kind deliberative town hall is designed to facilitate deep discussion with a cross-section of Washington’s Ninth District residents. It will have two main elements:
- Residents will discuss the issue in small groups and give feedback on different policy ideas – both with each other and with Rep. Smith. This format allows for deeper dialogue than in a traditional town hall.
- To ensure that constituents from all corners of the district have a voice in the discussion, participants will be selected by lottery.
The model leverages strategies and lessons learned from the National Civic League’s Better Public Meetings initiative, which aims to improve the quality of town halls, city council meetings, and other public meetings.
All residents of Washington’s Ninth Congressional District are eligible to enter the lottery. We are reaching out to a wide variety of community organizations and leaders – everything from small businesses to religious congregations to online PTAs – to ensure broad public participation.
Importantly, we expect to learn and iterate going forward, incorporating feedback from the full community to improve this process.
Check out our website to learn more or reach out to [email protected] with any questions.
