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Newsletter - May 2025


    As I mentioned in last month's newsletter, commitment to problem solving implies an expectation that our elected representatives are truly committed to solving the key problems facing our country. Unfortunately, the current reality suggests that party loyalty, donor interests, and the next election frequently get in the way of a good faith effort to prioritize and tackle the issues that matter to constituents.


    Real, honest problem solving requires partnership with the public while accounting for regional differences. It starts at the local level, where empowered and engaged citizens come up with solutions to local problems. Elected representatives can then use these solutions to inform resulting legislation, provided they are scalable to state and national levels.

    I am very heartened by continued reports of constructive engagement by citizens throughout the country. These efforts potentially provide a template for participatory democracy throughout our country.


    Examples of such efforts include:

    • The Grand Bargain Project, which is designed to unite Americans around a practical plan to advance six objectives that 90+ percent of citizens see as critical to their future.

    • Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer's vision for civic problem solving following their successful town hall earlier this month.

    • Unify America's work to bring thousands of Americans together with interactive experiences that help people build and flex their civic muscles so we can work together to tackle our country's biggest challenges. Check out this recap of their deliberation on childcare in Montrose, Colorado.

    • The collaboration between Voice of the People and Braver Angels that I am helping to facilitate*. This Civic Renewal initiative is designed to leverage input from citizens in Ohio's 7th and 13th Congressional districts to inform the actions taken by our Congressional representatives. The policymaking simulation on the topic selected by Braver Angels members in these districts will take place in June, with results compiled in July and shared with Braver Angels members, our Congressional representatives, and the media at a forum in August.


    Please be sure to let me know about other efforts similar to these.


    Going forward, I will be looking to work with other organizations to develop a template and best practice repository for participatory democracy.


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    This month's social media posts:


    Follow Speak Up for Good Government on Facebook and follow me on LinkedIn and X.


    Wishing everyone a great Memorial Day and unofficial start of the summer. Providing thanks and tribute to the patriots and their families that made the ultimate sacrifice!


    *I will likely take a pause on my regular monthly newsletter in June, but will share information about the topic that was selected by Braver Angels members for this policymaking simulation; and all recipients of this newsletter will have an opportunity to take the policymaking simulation.


    It is important to note that the results of the policymaking simulation that will be shared at our August forum will be limited to a statistically based sample of District 7 and District 13 constituents leveraging the University of Maryland's Program for Public Consultation methodology 

    A Vision for Civic Problem Solving

      From Cleveland Plain Dealer May 9, 2025


      A vision for civic problem solving after town hall success


      Editor Chris Quinn proposes leveraging public frustration into structured community planning sessions.

       

        

      Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer hosted a town hall Wednesday night at the Cuyahoga Public Library, Parma Snow branch, where readers could ask questions about President Trump's first months in office.

      Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com

       

      Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from Today in Ohio, a news podcast discussion by cleveland.com editors.

      Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more stories based on podcast discussions


      The frustration was evident as Northeast Ohioans packed cleveland.com’s town hall, venting anxieties about federal cuts and democratic erosion.


      But what if that energy could be channeled into something more constructive? What if a media organization could transform community concern into community action?


      That’s the provocative question posed by Chris Quinn, cleveland.com’s editor, on the Today in Ohio podcast in the aftermath of the event.


      “As I sit and think about it, that we should be hosting more than venting,” Quinn reflected. “I mean, it was great. I’m really glad people came, and I’m glad they shared what they think. But if we don’t have representative government, is there a way to take it back?”


      Quinn’s vision goes beyond traditional town halls. He envisions structured gatherings where engaged citizens, subject matter experts, and journalists collaborate to tackle complex regional challenges— starting with one of Northeast Ohio’s most intractable problems: government fragmentation.


      “What if you took the people who came last night and you put them into a big room in tables of six and you said, let’s attack regionalism,” Quinn proposed. “We’re never going to get anywhere in Cuyahoga County as a balkanized county. Let’s come up with a plan to create one government, a city of Cleveland that is countywide.”


      The approach might differ significantly from previous civic planning initiatives like Cleveland Rising, which Quinn and others consider failures due to a lack of subject expertise and realistic framing. Quinn suggests a more structured process.


      As one small example, he said, converting the county into one city would have to consolidate firefighting. Could that be one of the many tasks assigned to groups to solve?


      “If you have people that can bring reality to it, and they have all the numbers and the map of the stations, and you orchestrate it correctly,” specific solutions could emerge for regional issues like firefighting coordination. Or income tax standardization and other aspects of metropolitan governance.


      Leila Atassi identified key lessons from previous planning efforts.


      “You need some subject matter experts in the room. Because I sat in on a number of those Cleveland Rising discussions and noticed that they were coming up with solutions that already exist that aren’t being properly deployed.”


      The proposal represents a step beyond the town hall hosted Wednesday evening, to focusing the energy of the people who attended into finding solutions outside of government channels that have broken down.


      “Could we be the convener?” Quinn asked. “Could we take a team of three or four reporters and, say, every issue that comes out of these discussions, you’re going to be the research team. You’re going to explore them and do a series of stories that really pushes it.”


      The approach acknowledges the reality that many current elected officials may be resistant to regional solutions. As Quinn bluntly put it, “Our leaders will never do regionalism because they’re all pigs at the trough. They all want to keep their jobs.”


      Instead, a model such as the one proposed in the podcast episode bypasses traditional power structures by building organic movements that could eventually lead to charter amendments or other citizen-driven initiatives. Quinn said his is just one early idea emanating from the town hall.


      Laura Johnston, who moderated the event, pointed out that the town hall revealed a clear hunger for leadership and action.


      “People want us to take a larger role in the community. I almost felt like they were saying, fix this, fix it for us.”


      The challenge, of course, is the resources needed to convene such conversations in a newsroom fully committed to covering local and state issues. But , as the latest generation of politicians corrupt the democratic structures for selfish motives, someone else has to step up to help lead the way. Can a newsroom help facilitate that?


      As Quinn concluded: “I would like to use this as a step to something bigger.”

      Whatever that might be, the energy and desire for meaningful change was unmistakable at the town hall.


      Find the podcast discussion at tinyurl.com/CLETodayInOhio. Listen to full “Today in Ohio” episodes where Editor/President Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi and Content Director Laura John



      Newsletter - April 2025


        On social media, at town halls, and in day-to-day discourse, the focus seems to be the same: articulating the problems our country faces. But what about solutions to those problems?


        In theory, our political leaders are elected to help us with this. (It's one of my principles of good government.) But there remains broad dissatisfaction among constituents in both our elected leaders' ability and commitment to solving problems. So, what can we do as voters if our congresspeople can't do the job?


        Participatory democracy can help "fill the gap" of inaction by our representatives, and it can help counter action taken by our representatives that we do not feel is in our best interests. Civil discourse, as promoted and modeled by Braver Angels and a number of other groups, helps generate constructive engagement. But in order to translate that engagement into constructive solutions, we need to go beyond talking about problems to generating solutions.


        The local pilot with Braver Angels and Voice of the People that I spoke about in last month's newsletter provides one potential approach towards elevating civil discourse from talking about problems to generating solutions. Another example of work being done to empower communities to solve problems are the Citizens' Assemblies being organized by Unify America.


        I encourage everyone to elevate their actions from complaining about government and the problems around us to engaging in constructive dialog to help drive solutions to problems.


        This month's social media posts:


        Follow Speak Up for Good Government on Facebook and follow me on LinkedIn and X.


        Have a great month!


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