City Futures Panel on Democratic Governance

2009 Leadership

The purpose of NLC’s work on Democratic Governance is to help local officials respond to governance challenges. Drawing on case studies of successful projects, the Panel has explored ways to educate, involve, and mobilize citizens in a variety of events and initiatives. The Panel’s research and written materials describe how communities have used democratic governance approaches to address key issues such as:

• Planning and development;
• Race, diversity, and equity;
• Crime and public safety;
• Education and school improvement; and
• Public finance.

Recent activities and products:

• "Change.Gov That Matters" by Neil Peirce in Nation's Cities Weekly, 1/26/2009.
• Publication of The Rise of Democratic Governance: How Local Leaders are Reshaping Politics for the 21st Century, an introductory guide to Democratic Governance.
• Publication of Changing the Way We Govern: Building Democratic Governance in Your Community, a detailed guidebook on democratic governance practices, including examples from cities around the country.
• Production of a Powerpoint Presentation, Democratic Governance: The Art of Civic Engagement for local officials to use in spreading the word about democratic governance at state and local conferences and meetings.
• Conducting workshops and seminars that assist city and town officials at NLC conferences and as part of NLC’s Leadership Training Institute Program.

Activities and Agenda

• Hold workshops and seminars for local officials at the 2009 Congress of Cities Conference in San Antonio, TX. 
• Encourage and enable city officials to enhance democratic governance by articulating and delivering a strong, compelling message, using a variety of venues.
• Work with state municipal leagues and other networks to reach out to a broader array of local officials.
• Work with the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC) on the Democracy Helpline and other key services for local leaders.
• Learning Exchange -- At the NLC Congressional City Conference (CCC) in March 2008, members of the DDC joined members of NLC's Democratic Governance Panel for a discussion of their overlapping interests, including ways to strengthen citizen-government communication and rebuild public trust.  The local officials, deliberation practitioners, and academics found they had a lot to offer one another:  one of the key conclusions was that local officials could help practitioners ensure that public engagement projects are politically savvy, and that practitioners could help officials ensure that the projects apply sound group process techniques.  Read more . . .

Next Meeting of the Panel

November 10-14 -- 2009 Congress of Cities in San Antonio, TX.

2009 Panel Members

Robin Beltramini, Councilmember, Troy, MI
Scott Brook, Mayor, Coral Springs, FL
Nancy Carter, Councilmember, Charlotte, NC
Mary Alice P. Cisneros, Councilmember, San Antonio, TX
Henrietta Davis, Councilmember, Cambridge, MA
Doug Echols, Mayor, Rock Hill, SC
David Goulet, Councilmember, Glendale, AZ
Rap Hankins, Councilmember, Trotwood, OH
Sylvia Lovely, Executive Director, Kentucky League of Cities, Inc., Lexington, KY
Rodney Locks, Councilmember, Brevard, NC
Gina Ruffin Moore, Councilmember, Cincinnati, OH
Katie Ogden, Youth Delegate, Tualatin, OR (Youth Representative)
Lou Ogden, Mayor, Tualatin, OR
Bo Perkinson, Vice-Mayor, Athens, TN
Sara Presler, Mayor, Flagstaff, AZ
Donald Rosen, Asst. Deputy Mayor, Sunrise, FL
Karl Skala, Councilmember, Columbia, MO
Donald A. Saunders, Councilmember, Bedford, OH
Michele Straube, Salt Lake Solutions, Salt Lake City, UT
James Taylor, Councilmember, Littleton, CO