It never fails. I’ve walked away from every single public meeting with a new, good idea for solving California’s governance problems.
One mayor said the regional approach in our early Framework didn’t merit consideration if it didn’t reference SB 375. Since then, SB 375 has become a critical part of our Framework, serving as a precedent for statewide approval of a regional approach to achieving a common goal.
Someone else noticed that an early version of the Framework didn’t mention nonprofits – if we were going to move government closer to the people, who did we think was closest to the people? Now nonprofits are included in the Framework as an essential partner in local government service delivery.
Everywhere California Forward has gone, from rural Merced County to downtown L.A., people have mentioned the need for transparency and accountability – they want a report card from their government. These concepts have served as the foundation of our Framework, which proposes an outcomes-driven operation.
One man at the Oakland Chamber of Commerce was frustrated that an early version of the Framework didn’t have any actual policy proposals in it – we now have five concise, vetted proposals.
The Framework is not a collection of our ideas; it’s a collection of California’s ideas.
Richard Raya is the Policy Director for California Forward
