Reimagining Local Government Was a Huge Success
February 26, 2016
Chapman University’s
Political Science Department
presented their second all day
annual conference on the topic of local government
on Thursday, February 25, 2016.
The conference brought out highly involved and powerful political figures from Southern California, engaging speakers, a lively audience, and curious members of the press. The diverse array of people in the first panel discussion allowed for a fluid multifaceted conversation on the topics of democracy, engagement, civil responsibility and the future of our local governments.
How can we get more engagement in our local governments; how can we generate a more connected community; and how can we spark passion in our local government system? These questions were expressed and extrapolated on in great detail by the panelists.
We heard from moderator
Fred Smoller
– professor of
Political Science at Chapman University,
panelist Tom Tait –mayor of Anaheim, panelist Rick Cole –City Manager of the City of Santa Monica, panelist Antonio Gonzalez –president of William C. Velasquez, and panelist Peter Wong–Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Strategic Initiatives at California State University, Los Angeles.
The panelists expressed their individual and internal struggle as leaders with the idea of democracy and civil engagement today – Gonzalez even denounced our political system as a whole presenting the idea that we live in a type of dictatorship partially because of our lack of involvement. The panelists also engaged us by explaining how they serve in a climate that is so frustrated with the entire realm of politics today.
Tom Tait –mayor of Anaheim.
From the group panelists, two speakers in particular stood out to me. Their narrative went beyond the classic and tired notion of changing local government through policies and regulations. These two speakers were Tom Tait and Rick Cole. The two active political figures spoke about their goal to create unison and understanding amongst the people in the municipal of their local governments. They both had an underlying theme of creating a climate of understanding and unison – this stood out as a way we can reimagine the governmental climate without denouncing the entire system.
Tom Tait, named one of the top 25 most influential people according to the Orange County Register, spoke
Rick Cole –City Manager of the City of Santa Monica
about his “City of Kindness” initiative. One of his most notably efforts was his “Million Acts of Kindness” program launched in 2013 which got the attention of the Dali Lama. The Dali Lama was drawn to Tait’s efforts to change the culture of Anaheim by building a culture of kindness. Tait’s program is said to have lead to the continual decline in suspension and bullying in some of Anaheim’s roughest school districts. Suspensions were cut in half in the following year after the program began.
Tait’s goal is to redefine Anaheim as the City of Kindness – Tait believes that when you increase kindness “your crime will drop, your bullying at school will drop, your littering will drop. You stimulate the city to get better and all these good things begin to happen,” he said.
Rick Cole took a similar approach of kindness and mutual understanding between politicians and civilians in his presentation. One of his goals as a leader is to create more fluidity and understanding between government and citizens. He expressed this by using an analogy of a vending machine. He said when you put money into a vending machine you expect to get something specific out. If you don’t get exactly what you want, you kick the machine, hit it, become aggressive and frustrated. Cole said that people today treat the government and its political figures in the same way; if they don’t get exactly what they want, they are aggressive and oppositional.
Cole suggested that instead of seeing the government as a vending machine, we should see it in terms of barn raising. In the early times of American history, the government and municipals operated in a more holistic fashion than they do today. For example, when it was time to build barns and farms, other people in the community would contribute and help. Thus each family’s barn was collectively built. Cole argued that we should return to this mindset and approach in viewing and engaging with our government. Instead of kicking the system – help it prosper.
The conversation generated last Thursday at “Reimagining Local Government” was both positive and informative. We greatly appreciate the speakers who came out and spoke with us, and all the hard working minds behind the conference. It was both educational and thought provoking.
