Civic Assembly FAQ

  • In a civic assembly, a randomly selected, representative group of people comes together across ideological and demographic differences to learn about, deliberate on, and recommend solutions to key public policy questions.  

    At the outset, government commits to incorporating the assembly’s recommendations into its decision-making. This could mean formally considering and responding to the assembly’s recommendations, integrating them into policy, or even adopting them wholesale. 

    The assembly will have three main phases: 

    1. Learning: Participants will learn about the issue from every angle. That includes hearing from academic experts, advocates, city and county officials, and the broader community. 

    1. Deliberation: Working together, participants consider everything they have learned and weigh the trade-offs of different approaches.  

    1. Recommendations: The assembly creates and votes on recommendations. The recommendations that receive a high level of support (more than a simple majority) go into a final report for city and county officials. 

    At the outset, city government commits to incorporating the assembly’s recommendations into its decision-making. This could mean formally considering and responding to the assembly’s recommendations, integrating them into policy, or even adopting them wholesale. 

    The assembly will have three main phases: 

    1. Learning: Participants will learn about the issue from every angle. That includes hearing from academic experts, advocates, city officials, and the broader community. 

    1. Deliberation: Working together, participants consider everything they have learned and weigh the trade-offs of different approaches.  

    1. Recommendations: The assembly creates and votes on recommendations. The recommendations that receive a high level of support (more than a simple majority) go into a final report for city officials. 

  • The assembly will consider how Snohomish County should use AI to make county services more effective and efficient.  We all want county government to do a good job and use our tax dollars well. AI tools may be able to help but people have different opinions about whether and how we should use them. Last August, KNKX radio and The Everett Herald reported that some local governments in Washington have been using AI but they may not have clear policies. This Civic Assembly will help ensure that future decisions about AI reflect the priorities and values of the people who live here. 

  • When county government responds to the assembly’s recommendations, officials will explain which recommendations they plan to implement (and how), as well as which recommendations they don’t plan to implement (and why). County officials may need extra time to consider some recommendations. For example, a recommendation might make sense but could have budget implications or be difficult to implement. In that case, county officials will keep the assembly updated on their progress. All responses from county government will be public. 

  • There have been more than 700 civic assemblies around the world. In Raleigh, NC, residents are making recommendations on about housing and neighborhood development. In Deschutes County, OR, residents made recommendations for addressing youth homelessness. In Petaluma, CA and Fort Collins, CO, residents made recommendations on how to develop specific plots of land. In Lexington, KY, residents will get started soon on recommendations to update their city’s charter. 

    Many places around the world have used civic assemblies to create public policies that better reflect the people who live there, from Sydney, Australia to Bogotá, Colombia to Victoria, Canada. Ireland and France have even held national assemblies that made recommendations for the entire country. In some places, assemblies have become a routine part of government. 

    Snohomish County will be the largest jurisdiction in the U.S. to participate in a civic assembly. 

  • Civic assemblies often address challenging issues that require a close look at the trade-offs of various approaches. They frequently tackle issues like city planning, the environment, homelessness, and more. 

  • Assembly members do not need to be experts. In fact, learning is a huge part of a civic assembly. Participants learn deeply about the issue from all different angles, hearing from academic experts, advocates, government officials, and the broader community. Each individual also brings their own knowledge and experience, and the civic assembly is a unique opportunity to reflect that in government decisions. 

  • Register for the assembly if you receive an invitation. Once the assembly begins, anyone can follow along online. You’ll be able to watch and hear presentations from a wide variety of experts and advocates, and read written summaries of everything that happened.

  • Civic Genius, a program of the National Civic League, is organizing and facilitating the assembly. The National Civic League is a national, nonpartisan organization, founded by Teddy Roosevelt, that has supported community decision-making efforts for more than 125 years. We help governments across the country improve the way they get public input when making decisions.  

    Our team will train facilitators; bring in a wide variety of experts, advocates and people with different experiences to educate assembly members on different aspects of the issue; and ensure that the assembly members have everything they need to create clear, actionable recommendations for the county to consider. 

  • Civic Genius, a program of the National Civic League, will select a panel of Snohomish County residents through a civic lottery. The final group of Assembly members will be broadly representative of the county in terms of age, gender, race, and geography. 

    Here’s how the process works: 

    • Civic Genius will mail invitations to 15,000 randomly selected households, inviting residents to enter a civic lottery. 

    • Civic Genius will review Snohomish County demographics to determine what it would look like to create a snapshot of the community. 

    • Of the people who responded, Civic Genius will use a specialized online tool to randomly select 40 people who reflect the county’s demographic make-up. 

    Think of it as creating a snapshot of the community. The assembly will reflect the county’s population broadly, meaning you’ll see a mix of ages, people from different cities, racial diversity, people from different backgrounds, and more. 

  • For a county the size of Snohomish, having 40 people enables us to get a good statistical cross-section of the community, and it’s still a small enough group that all participants can work together effectively.  

  • Panelot is a tool developed by a team of researchers from Cornell, MIT, and other universities, specifically for this purpose. Many researchers, including at the National Civic League, consider Panelot’s algorithm to be the fairest when selecting people for civic assemblies. Panelot is online for anyone to check out. 

  • It’s important for people to see themselves reflected in the decisions that county government makes. But often, the county hears from a lot of the same people. There are all kinds of reasons people don’t participate in things like town halls and local meetings: maybe they don’t have much confidence in government, feel under-informed about the topic, or are working or taking care of their families when these meetings are scheduled. The civic assembly is a way of inviting a broad cross-section of residents into the decision-making process. 

  • Every resident of Snohomish County has something to contribute to making our city a great place to be, but getting involved can be tough. Many folks are juggling busy schedules or family responsibilities. Others may feel like their voice doesn’t matter, or simply don’t know where to start. The assembly is an opportunity for local residents to truly become active participants in the process. 

    Additionally, one of the main principles of the assembly is fairness. Because traditional ways of getting involved are challenging for many people (for example, they work in the evenings when meetings are scheduled or they don’t know how to get comprehensive information on a complex issue), the assembly proactively invites in folks who might not otherwise be part of the conversation. By selecting participants at random, we’re making sure everyone has a fair shot at being selected for the assembly. 

  • Only members selected by lottery will participate in the full assembly, but transparency to the public is a top priority. 

    All learning materials that the assembly members receive will be available to the public, along with videos of the learning portions of the sessions. The website will also have a schedule of deliberations and summaries of each assembly session.  

  • Yes.  All participants will receive a $500 stipend for their time and to cover childcare, elder care, and transportation.