A 21st Century Soapbox in New York
By: Harvard Ash Center
Tags: Musicals, New York, Civic Engagement

By Hollie Russon Gilman, PhD and Tim Glynn-Burke

Hundreds of New Yorkers sit around tables inside a glittering white “tent” on the corner of Canal Street and 6th Avenue in Hudson Square. Each table is covered by maps of the city, pens and paper, and cups of coffee and water. Projected on a large screen at one end of the tent, above the tables, are the words “Can We Get Everything We Need? An Interactive About the City’s Budget.” The groups are participating in a simulation exercise, envisioning where and how they would spend $100 million in public dollars. Plywood message boards line the walls. Other participants are absorbed into tablets scattered throughout the tent. Live musical performances draw in more people.

Welcome to Talking Transition, an open conversation with residents of New York City that took place from November 9 — November 23rd.

Outgoing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was an effective and innovative executive, but few would say his administration will be remembered for its community engagement efforts. Some might even remember Bloomberg’s three terms for eschewing participation. As Bill de Blasio prepares to take over the Mayor’s Office, a handful of the city’s largest foundations tried to set a tone for city hall that is more open to community engagement and perhaps more inclusive.

The backers were the Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Revson Foundation, New York Women’s Foundation, New York Community Trust, New York Foundation, North Star Fund, Atlantic Philanthropies and the Brooklyn Community Foundation.

They saw a problem and an opportunity in the transition. Often transitions occur with little transparency and little or no public input. Again, this transition also comes on the heels of an administration criticized as paternalistic. The opportunity was to expand the typical transition process and encourage public deliberation in order to identify and highlight the preferences of residents. The initial idea started from Open Society Foundation’s President Chris Stone. Stone cites previous transitions that engaged the community, but typically in a relatively closed process. The goal was to have a more open and public process that widens the voices engaged, including bringing in traditionally marginalized viewpoints.

Nearly 70,000 people were engaged throughout the process. Notably, 60% of those surveyed cite that they did not vote in the 2013 Mayoral election.

In response, Talking Transition gave New Yorkers a host of platforms both online and offline through which to express their interests, ideas and priorities for the city and for de Blasio. It included a striking 15,000-square-foot tent, in a central part of the city, lined with message walls where residents could post sticky notes and computers for posting virtual comments.

Digital technology played an innovative role, extending Talking Transition’s reach beyond the tent. A company called Control Group designed and built a new engagement platform in collaboration with HR&A Advisors, Inc., allowing residents to submit their ideas via an online survey at www.TalkingTransitionNYC.com. People could also submit through Twitter (@TalkNYC2013; #TalkingTransition), and local libraries hosted additional opportunities for residents to participate virtually. There were three ways for citizens to voice their opinions: 1) iPads in the tent; 2) online website and social media; and 3) canvassers dispersed throughout all five boroughs. Nearly 70,000 people were engaged throughout the process. Notably, 60% of those surveyed cite that they did not vote in the 2013 Mayoral election.

Photo credit: Hollie Russon Gilman

The project also engaged local civic organizations and advocacy groups by giving them opportunities to highlight issues and viewpoints they want adopted by Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio. These groups organized programs and events following a variety of interactive formats. Like the comments themselves, the events addressed a range of topics like taxes, food access, public education, disaster response, media, and new approaches to community engagement like participatory budgeting. A total of 120 events took place during the two weeks.

According to the organizers of Talking Transition, their hope is to challenge Mayor-elect de Blasio “to consider a variety of ideas and concepts.” Organizers plan to present the transition team with a synopsis of the ideas and issues that were most talked about while the tent was open between November 9 and November 23. “This is a 21st century soapbox… we’re confident that Talking Transition will help inform the new administration’s agenda,” said Cecilia Clarke, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Community Foundation.

According to Danny Fuchs of HR&A Advisors, Inc., the feedback from Talking Transition will be divided into eleven categories that represent critical city needs: Housing, Jobs and Economy, Transportation, Parks and Public Spaces, Education, Law Enforcement and Safety, Health and Social Services, Arts and Culture, Environment, Management and Budget, and Civic Engagement. The organizers plan to release a website soon that will display the results of citizen feedback and a report outlining the information collected including where there is consensus and differences in opinions throughout the city.

But is the mayor-elect interested in the community’s priorities and ideas as collected through Talking Transition?

De Blasio himself visited the tent mid-way through its second and final week, reportedly saying he plans to consider residents’ input on New York’s future as collected through Talking Transition. He said that during his transition, “our job is to choose key leaders of the administration to prepare to engage the budget process, to prepare our agenda.” De Blasio’s transition team was earlier reported as saying that “the comments will help shape and inform his agenda.”

Talking Transition is an experiment. Organizers plan to offer the new administration ideas on integrating meaningful public engagement into city governance. Moreover, the process challenges the introduction of purely digital interfaces for citizen engagement and governance innovation. Talking Transition combined digital tools with traditional grassroots canvassers and a physical public space. Getting people into a physical space to talk about their city may be one of the more innovative contributions of Talking Transition. The experiment provides a unique opportunity for gathering lots of voices, and moreover–having these voices listened to.

Photo credit: Hollie Russon Gilman

This might represent a trend in more open transitions as well. In Boston, for example, which is experiencing its first mayoral transition in 20 years, Mayor-elect Marty Walsh launched a website where residents can not only read about the progress of the transition but also submit ideas or a resume. Preparing for another term, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer also launched a website for citizens to share their feedback and vision for the future of the city.

The results of Talking Transition and the subsequent response of the de Blasio Administration may provide insight into the likelihood of these open transitions models being replicated–including a combined digital, grassroots, and public space model. We plan to follow the story and will post future updates!

Hollie Russon Gilman holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Government at Harvard University. Her research interests include the impact of technology on government transparency and accountability, citizen engagement, and implementing democratic innovations. She most recently served in the White House as the Open Government and Innovation Advisor working on a second term Open Government agenda — including Participatory Budgeting as part of U.S. Open Government commitments. You can read more from Russon Gilman on Talking Transition and participatory budgeting in NYC here and here.