Anti-Government Stakeholders Expect More of You than They Realize From Citizen Participation

by

It’s not news to you that the public expect things —

  • Roads to be maintained . . .
  • Restaurants not to make them sick . . .
  • Water to be safe to drink . . .
  • Schools to educate kids . . .
  • First responders to aid in emergencies . . .

But — did you realize, that INCLUDES stakeholders with “anti-government” attitudes?

  • They too expect these things (and MUCH more) from government — which is YOU.

Know the secret to unwinding this paradox? 

How do you get those who profess to HATE government — who make calls for a smaller and “more competent” government, for blanket cuts to organizations and regulation — to realize the don’t really mean what they say?  That they need government agencies like yours, just as much as anyone…?

One way is through your Citizen Participation.

  • Beware, that does NOT mean more public involvement.
  • It means doing your outreach in a strategic way — aimed to diffuse anti-government sentiments so they realize the paradox themselves. 

Your Citizen Participation has to create a paradigm shift in the minds of anti-government stakeholders.

  • Chances are, your current Citizen Participation is actually exacerbating this paradox.

 

While this is no small task, it’s entirely doable! 

In Clinic #77, we help you see how to create Citizen Participation that diffuses such hatred, and illuminates the true expectations and needs of these anti-government stakeholders.

During this clinic, we cover

  1.  How you set up a room can contribute to the “Us vs. Them” misperception your public has
  2.  FOIA requests — are you triggering them?  How do you respond when your receive one?
  3.  Chances are, at least some — if not all — of your Citizen Participation is well intentioned, but wrong-headed.
  4.  Are you inviting the public’s input, when there’s no room in the technical process for it?
  5.  Do you expect your public to buy your solution before you’ve sold the problem?

All of our training, including these monthly clinics, are aimed to HELP YOU . . .

Don’t buy into the rhetoric that

  • there’s nothing you can do about anti-government attitudes
  • there’s nothing you can do about “politics”
  • changing opponents’ minds

None of that is true!

It isn’t easy, but PREVENTING and HEALING Anti-Government attitudes is entirely doable.

 

For 45-minutes, turn off your phone and close your email so you don’t miss out on how YOU CAN DO THIS.

Get the Recording of Clinic #77