Why Does California Hate Public Participation?
Real Civic Engagement Requires Both Money and Robust Infrastructure
Los Angeles is a city of more than four million people. And in its next budget, it might—I repeat, might—launch an Office of Civic Engagement to help all residents better participate in their city government.
Establishing even this tiny office (it could have as many as eight people and a budget of $700,000) would be a major achievement for a California city. This state is governed by processes as complicated as a Google algorithm and as slow-moving as 405 traffic—and offers little assistance to Californians who want to understand and engage …
