CA Civic Lab

[Joel Putnam]

Hi there! I had an idea for a very simple project for a state-level CA Code for America brigade. I found you guys, took a look at your slack channel and realized you're pretty squarely focused on the Open Disclosure project (which looks awesome, by the way). So I thought I should send something via email instead of cluttering up the Slack discussion.

I've been looking at direct democracy and online democratic participation projects around the world for the last couple years, in and out of grad school. I noticed something interesting recently:

As I'm sure you know, the state of California has ballot initiatives, so people can write proposed laws and if they get enough signatures, they go to the state ballot. Awesome concept, kind of clunky implementation since the wording is mostly decided by a very small number of people and most Californians just get to say whether they like it or not and vote accordingly. Very difficult/annoying if, for example, you *mostly* like an initiative except that one part of it doesn't make a lot of sense or would cause problems. Would be great if there were more open collaboration on the text of initiatives possible *before* it goes out for signatures (not to mention that the process becomes more democratic).

Well, it turns out CA has something to do that, but it's technologically a little backward. As part of the initiative process, before they can go out for signatures, the text of any initiative is posted on the state Attorney General's website for 30 days so that people and read it and send feedback to the people backing the ballot. Those people can then modify it, sign it and snail-mail the updated version to the AG, lather, rinse repeat.

I was unable to find the page on the AG's website where this happens. The process trikes me as a little clunky and awkward (snail mail? No way for commenters to see each other's feedback and discuss?). It could be a lot simpler if there were some web app, a bit like google docs or a wiki, that allows for more direct open comments, discussions and revisions, designed to work with laws.

Again, turns out it exists, and it actually exists because of a US senator from CA, Darrel Issa. Madison(http://mymadison.io/) is an online platform for crowdsourcing and getting public feedback on legislation. It's free and open-source, and could make the work of the AG simple and improve the kinds of initiatives we get on the ballot. If it works, it could serve as a great model for the other 20 states that allow ballot initiatives.

So, the software exists (and is free) and using it wouldn't interfere with any existing state laws. The OpenGov Foundation (the group behind Madison) says if a government agency approaches them, they can handle initial setup, support, and customizations. We'd just need to get the attention and interest of someone in the state AG's office, preferably from an interested group of Californians who have credibility and an mission to use tech to make government work better.

You know, a group like yours.

So, is this something your group or someone in it would be comfortable talking to people in Sacramento about? If not, do you have any suggestions as to other CfA Brigades or organizations that might be? Thank you, and all the best!

Joel R. Putnam

(206)697-4026

www.joelrputnam.com

LinkedIn | Twitter

[Joel Putnam]

Hi Aaron (and everyone else in this group),

Thanks for writing back! I'm (yet) not local to California - I'm looking at how this could work across all 20-something states with ballot initiatives. California (not surprisingly) seems to be a step or two ahead in this direction, so right now I'm just reaching out to people who actually live in the state and like the idea, figuring out who needs to talk to who to make it happen.

Just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from with this: I originally studied crowdsourced legislation in grad school as a class project which eventually turned into a TEDx talk. I recently decided to try taking this to the next level and trying to see where this kind of process can be implemented. One thing led to another, which led to my email to your group.

I'm talking with the OpenGov Foundation about their outreach efforts. I could be mistaken but I think their current focus is on developing their product and making sure than any government agency that approaches them about Madison has a positive experience. I'm not sure what they're currently doing to reach out to government themselves (though I'm hoping to find out).

Anyway, happy to answer any questions and to move this to Slack if that's the better place. Will be curious to hear what the SF team thinks. So, thanks again, and all the best,

Joel R. Putnam

(206)697-4026

www.joelrputnam.com

LinkedIn | Twitter

On Wed, Oct 26, 2016 at 11:29 AM, Aaron D Borden <adbo...@a14n.net> wrote:

Hey Joel,

Thanks for the message. Madison sounds like a great project. I'm a
big fan of taking existing work and applying it to additional
cities, states, and communities.

I will pitch this at the local San Francisco brigade to see if there's
more interest in getting an instance up for California. There's still a
handful of questions I have about how it works and how California could
hook into it.

You're right that we are pretty focused on the Open Disclosure project,
but after the November election is an opportunity for us to re-evaluate
our priorities and possibly pick up a new project. Don't be shy, we try
and keep #general open to non-project specific discussion, so I think
it's fair game to pitch this there.

Are you local to California? Do you have a connection to the
Madison project? I'm curious what OpenGov is doing to promote
adoption.

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Aaron D Borden
Human and Hacker

[Aaron D Borden]

Hey Joel,

Thanks for the message. Madison sounds like a great project. I'm a
big fan of taking existing work and applying it to additional
cities, states, and communities.

I will pitch this at the local San Francisco brigade to see if there's
more interest in getting an instance up for California. There's still a
handful of questions I have about how it works and how California could
hook into it.

You're right that we are pretty focused on the Open Disclosure project,
but after the November election is an opportunity for us to re-evaluate
our priorities and possibly pick up a new project. Don't be shy, we try
and keep #general open to non-project specific discussion, so I think
it's fair game to pitch this there.

Are you local to California? Do you have a connection to the
Madison project? I'm curious what OpenGov is doing to promote
adoption.


On Sat, 2016-10-22 at 10:53 -0700, Joel Putnam <joelr...@gmail.com> wrote:

> LinkedIn <http://linkedin.com/in/joelrputnam> | Twitter
> <https://twitter.com/joelrputnam>
>
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> OpenCal Discourse http://104.131.98.144/
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