Policy Consensus E-News — July 2007

If you are unable to properly view this email, please click here.

 

PCI Adds Third Video to Series on Legislators as Conveners

The third video in PCI’s series on legislators serving in the role of conveners features Utah House Minority Leader and PCI Board member Ralph Becker.  Becker, who spoke to representatives from university centers and programs at PCI’s workshop in Seattle in April, describes a situation where the Utah state legislature used a collaborative process to address a conflict among local governmental entities over a regional water treatment facility.

Becker begins the video by explaining that an elected official is best suited to play the critical role of convener.  “If I’m calling someone in the community and asking them, “Will you come help us deal with this, very seldom do people say no,” Becker says.  “And I’ve found that even if they say no initially, if you keep reaching out to them, they’ll come in.  That’s true for people in the community who normally don’t get involved.”

For many elected officials, a collaborative process, while intimidating, carries with it great benefits.  Becker says that many leaders might be afraid of not being able to control the outcome of a collaborative process.  He points out that, “This collaborative and consensus-building process is so key, because the end result is that people are included and they feel good about participating.”

Becker does note that it’s important for an elected official to experience the collaborative process for themselves to really understand what it means to play the convening role. “I was involved in collaboration for most of my career, and I didn’t know it, which I think is true for a lot of people,” Becker says. “It’s not a well understood role.”

Read an excerpt here from Becker’s article about how the Utah State Legislature employed the consensus process in solving the issue of siting the water treatment facility.

View the video “Legislators as Conveners: A Utah Perspective.”

---

Oregon State Legislature Makes Major Investment in Oregon Solutions

The 2007 Oregon Legislature has just approved $1.2 million in funding that will triple the number of Oregon Solutions projects across the state, enabling the integration of public and private resources in up to 40 sustainable projects during the next two years. The legislature also approved an additional allocation for specific project implementation.

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 investment in Oregon Solutions will allow NPCC to further demonstrate the value of using community leaders as project conveners.  The projects funded by the legislation will also provide NPCC with opportunities to conduct applied research and development in finding ways to help states across the country apply collaborative processes to address and resolve key issues.  NPCC is currently assisting several states in implementing a Community Solutions system based on the Oregon Solutions model.

State and local leaders in Oregon helped to champion the Oregon Solutions budget, in particular elected officials who have participated in Oregon Solutions Projects.  NPCC brought this budget request to Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski in 2006, and Senator Betsy Johnson championed the request with the Oregon Legislature.  Johnson was a co-convener in the Fort to the Sea Trail project and is currently convening the Tilamook Basin Flooding Reduction project, a collaborative effort to focus energy and to leverage resources against flooding issues in Tillamook County.

Among the many people who helped champion the Oregon Solutions budget were several local leaders who convened projects in their communities, such as county commissioners Annabelle Jaramillo (Benton County Commissioner, convener for the Upper Marys River Regional Conservation Planning Strategy), Keith Tymchuk (Port of Umpqua Commissioner, convener for Reedsport Wave Energy Project), and Nikki Whitty (Coos Count Commissioner, convener for the North Bend Airport Terminal Project).

"The passage of the Oregon Solutions budget is yet another powerful example of what can happen when the public, private and civic sectors work together," says Governor Kulongoski, chair of the Oregon Solutions Steering Committee.

---

Ruckelshaus Center Receives Operational Support from Washington State Legislature

The support from the Oregon Legislature follows Washington’s passage of a bill funding ongoing operations for the William D. Ruckelshaus Center, a joint program of Washington State University and the University of Washington.  Presidents of both host Universities worked on the Center’s behalf to gain support as did other leaders across the state, such as former Governor and U.S. Senator Dan Evans, who helped in the formation of the Center. 

"We live in an increasingly shrill and competitive world,” Evans said when the bill was signed.  “Progress is thwarted by conflict. The Ruckelshaus Center gives Washington an alternative, a chance to reach consensus through calm, rational decision making."

According to the Ruckelshaus Center, “Combined with project contracts and donations, State funding helps ensure neutrality by creating a diversified funding portfolio and the ability to be impartial – through a mixture of funding sources.”

In the 2007 legislative session, funds were also provided for the Center to work with stakeholders on issues surrounding agricultural lands and critical areas ordinance. The Center is directed by this bill to perform certain fact finding and to convene affected and knowledgeable parties to find a solution to the conflicts over these issues. "I know that this is a contentious issue and that we need to recognize the concerns of landowners, local governments, tribes, environmental groups and the state as a whole," Gregoire said of the law. "The Ruckelshaus Center will lead a process to examine potential conflicts between critical-area protection and agricultural activities, and will recommend solutions."

---

University Center Profile: University of Hawaii at Manoa's Public Policy Center

The University of Hawai'i at Manoa, College of Social Sciences Public Policy Center aims to involve the larger community in addressing important policy issues.  Several programs within the Center seek to create connections with the community and address difficult, contentious public problems, including the Legislator in Residence (LIR) program and the Matsunaga Institute for Peace, which also houses the Program on Conflict Resolution.

The LIR Program was initiated by the Public Policy Center to further the collaboration between policy makers and the academic community—faculty, staff, and students. The program provides a learning environment for policy makers to work with faculty and students to explore significant issues that face the community. “Faculty at the UH gain insight into what state legislators care about and how the legislative process works,” explains the Center’s interim director, Susan Chandler.  “The program helps those of us at the university to engage with policy decisions at the legislative level.”

Read more of this story. . .

---

Wanted: News about University Centers and Programs

PCI has begun profiling a different university center or program that serves as a neutral forum in solving difficult public issues in each edition of E-News, beginning with the above story about the University of Hawaii’s Public Policy Center.  If your university center or program has a new project or development, we would be happy to learn more about it and profile it in a future edition of E-News. PCI is also continuing to update and keep current its directory of university centers and programs throughout the country.   Please contact PCI with a brief description and the phone number of a contact person. 

Share PolicyConsenus E-News with your leaders and colleagues by forwarding this edition to them. Or, direct them to www.policyconsensus.org, where they can sign up to receive it in their own e-mail inbox!