King County's nationally acclaimed Countywide Community Forums program has announced its upcoming topic and schedule for May 1 - June 13, 2010. The topic for this first round in 2010 is "Public Trust: Customer Service and Community Engagement." More information about this innovative program and how people who live and/or work in King County can participate in a comfortably small gathering at a place and time convenient to each individual's schedule can be found at:
I participate in these forums, and highly recommend participation to fellow King County residents and workers. I haven't found them to be uncomfortable in any way, and I look forward to each new forum. Most importantly, other than the election ballot box, this process is one of the best ways to have your voice heard at both the grass roots and county government levels.
These aren't designed to be partisan political events, and the discussions at the forum meetings I have attended have always been cordial, even when there is disagreement. The structure of the meetings is well thought out and effective at encouraging people to be heard on the designated topic, without awkward non-constructive debate, and each participant privately completes an appropriately detailed survey. The surveys are tabulated and the results presented to the King County Council and the media.
For readers who do not live or work in King County, WA I recommend that you visit the web site and send a link to it to your elected officials. It is a good model that could be implemented elsewhere to improve the engagement between governments and the people.
Comments(1)