Policy Consensus E-News — April 2007

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Oregon Solutions Chosen in Top 50 Innovative Government Programs in America

Oregon Solutions was named one of the Top 50 Programs in 2007 Innovations in American Government Awards competition by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.  Oregon Solutions is now competing for a $100,000 prize to replicate the model in other states.

Oregon Solutions, a project of the National Policy Consensus Center, brings public and private institutions and the civic sector together to develop agreements that solve problems with innovation and accountability.    Each Oregon Solutions project benefits a broad range of citizens throughout the state by helping communities connect with government to leverage resources. 

The Innovations in American Government Awards Program identifies and promotes best practices and exemplary initiatives that can be replicated in other settings, providing public officials and senior executives with models for innovation at all levels and policy areas of American government. Nearly $20 million in awards have been presented to over 400 programs.

Governor Kulongoski has been a strong supporter of Oregon Solutions and plays a significant role in the designation of Oregon Solutions projects and appointment of local conveners.

“I believe that to meet the challenges we face today it is essential to engage businesses, government, non-profit organizations and citizens in collective action. Oregon Solutions creates the place to come together and provides the means to reach community agreements that connect Oregonians in solving these challenges, in communities across the state,” says Kulongoski, chair of the Oregon Solutions Network

In the last two years, Oregon Solutions has conducted 33 urban and rural projects throughout the state and has gained significant attention from leaders.  The White House awarded Oregon Solutions the Cooperative Conservation Award for its Coordinated Resource Offering Protocol (CROP) project, which resulted in a regional wood supply by developing stewardship contracts with the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and by fostering markets to utilize biomass material from forest treatments.  In the Fort Clatsop Trail to the Sea project, the Secretary of the Interior praised Oregon Solutions’ work in 2005 and recommended that the project be used as a model by the National Parks Service. (See more information on this project below)

“We are excited that the Oregon Solutions Community Governance System is being recognized as one of the Top 50 programs in this year’s Innovations in American Government Awards competition.  This validates the success we’ve seen in our 33 projects in Oregon,” says Greg Wolf, Director of Oregon Solutions.

Leaders throughout the country view Oregon Solutions as a model for community governance. Virginia and California have successfully initiated "Solutions" programs to replicate Oregon Solutions.   New Mexico, Maine, Massachusetts, and Colorado are developing or exploring programs based on the Oregon Solutions model.

For more information on Oregon Solutions contact Greg Wolf or Kim Travis at 503-725-9092.

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Last Call to Register for PCI's Workshops for University Centers in June

PCI will hold a workshop for university centers and other state programs, June 6th and June 7th at the Florida Atlantic University’s Jupiter campus in West Palm Beach, Florida.  PCI’s workshop will begin at 8:30am Wednesday morning June 6th and continue Thursday, June 7th from 8:30am to 12:00noon.

The workshop precedes the Association for Conflict Resolution’s Environment and Public Policy Sector Conference, which begins Thursday afternoon, June 7th, and ends Saturday, June 9th. 

The Florida workshop is being co-sponsored by the Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium, based at Florida State University, and Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions at Florida Atlantic University.

There will be an opening panel with leaders from a number of Florida universities discussing how universities can use their “good offices” as neutral forums. Two new models for training state and local leaders will be featured – an institute for elected leaders serving on MPO’s (Metropolitan Planning Organizations) and a Design Institute for local leaders on smart growth issues.

There will be a mix of plenary and concurrent sessions and roundtable discussions on other topics, including:

• Walking the talk – intra and inter university collaboration
• Lessons on working with public leaders
• Connecting research and practice
• A comparison of different models, including business models, for university centers

And there will be time to pursue topics of mutual interest with colleagues from university centers around the west.

For details about the workshop agenda, log on to the University Bulletin Board on the PCI Forum or download the agenda. 

To register, download the registration form.

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Oregon State SenatorJohnson Describes Convening in New Video

PCI has recently posted the second video interview with a legislator describing the role of convener on our website.  In “Legislators as Conveners: Lewis and Clark’s Fort to the Sea Trail,” Johnson describes how she helped gather over 30 stakeholders to construct a trail commemorating the historic route Lewis and Clark took to reach the Pacific Ocean from their shelter at Fort Clatsop during the winter of 1805 to 1806.

For Johnson, participating in this project as convener was “one of the most enjoyable things that I have ever done. It gave me a chance to build relationships that will have enduring value and transcend that period of time when you’re sitting at the table wrestling with a problem.”

Johnson sums up the role of the convener as “bringing people together into a neutral forum with a sense of possibility.”  The convener is a "cheerleader" who “sees opportunity and linkages.”  One of the keys to success for a convener is neutrality, and Oregon Solutions at Portland State University provided Johnson and the stakeholders with that neutral forum and staffing who helped keep the process moving.

For legislators convening a collaborative process, Johnson has these words of advice: “Don’t be afraid, be patient, and understand that this approach is evolutionary, liking peeling back the layers of an onion.”

Johnson said that being part of a collaborative process has influenced how she works with other legislators, and it has even affected how she approaches problems outside of her political life.  “I now am talking to colleagues who are recognizing this methodology as a way of addressing problems, even the most prickly problems.  One of the delights is that this process can evolve to tease out nuanced issues.  The ability to get beyond the superficial leads to not just a result but a lasting result.” 

A former state representative and owner of an aviation company, Johnson is serving her second term in the Oregon Senate.  In the 2007 Legislative Session, she was appointed to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.  She is also chair of the Transportation and Economic Development Subcommittee. 

View more video interviews with legislators, including a video of Maine State Represenstative Chris Rector.

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Do it Yourself Citizen Participation?: A Review of Matt Leighninger's book, The Next Form of Democracy, by John Stephens

Matt Leighninger makes a provocative argument in his 2006 book The Next Form of Democracy: How Expert Rule Is Giving Way to Shared Governance–and Why Politics Will Never Be the Same.

 “We are leaving the era of expert rule,” Leighninger contends, where direct citizen involvement, and real influence, on policies and programs constitute the next evolutionary stage of U.S. democracy.  While public administrators will not be put out of business, the question raised is: How much DIY is possible–and advisable–through civic organizations, “government by nonprofit” or other bases for community governance separate from government?

The book provides many strong examples of citizen engagement in new forms and with less government direction.  Leighninger has worked with groups such as the National League of Cities, National School Boards Association, NeighborWorks America, International City/County Management Association, and National School Public Relations Association. He is heartened to see these intermediary associations helping local officials with their experiments. The same groups can assist academics and consultants with their work. Several public administration schools are making democratic governance part of their core curriculum, according to Leighninger. He observes the irony, and potential danger, of the professionalization of the admittedly loose-knit democratic governance field. After all, wasn’t the professionalization of planning, public finance, law enforcement, public management and other fields the cause for alienation between citizens and government?

As public administrators in various roles learn from, adapt to and seek to be “partners” rather than “experts,” I offer a few cautions.

Read more of this story...

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NPCC Fellow Lang Marsh Appointed to USEPA’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC)

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson has appointed Marsh to serve on NEJAC for a two year term during which the Council will develop recommendations on how to reduce the impact of anticipated large increases in goods movement on people living in communities suffering from disproportionate health and environmental impacts from trucks, trains and ports.

EPA has recently pioneered Collaborative Problem-Solving Grants to local non-profit organizations to build their capacity to address problems faced by EJ communities. One of those grants was to the Environmental Justice Action Group in Portland, OR, which used it to participate in a collaborative problem solving process using Oregon Solutions program to reduce emissions from diesel engines in a community that has double the national asthma rate.

Marsh will work with the NEJAC to advance similar collaborative solutions for EJ issues arising from increasing goods movement, as recommendations are developed over the next two years.

Marsh served as Director of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Commissioner of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. He appointed a special counsel for environmental justice in New York, supported Oregon’s Environmental Justice Advisory Group, and served on EPA’s advisory group on implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act as EPA faced a potential avalanche of claims under that title

 

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