California Launching Digital Platform for Public Discussion on Fire Recovery

The Engaged California website. Engaged.ca.gov/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

California is launching a digital platform to encourage the public to share information on important issues and find solutions, said Gov. Gavin Newsom on Feb. 23. Recovery from the Los Angeles fires was selected as the first topic for the pilot project.

Newsom’s office said the Engaged California program is “a first-in-the-nation deliberative democracy program” that aims to bring Californians together “to engage, interact, and share ideas to help shape government services and collectively create policy solutions.”

The new program will “help create a town hall for the modern era,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re starting this effort by more directly involving Californians in the LA firestorm response and recovery.”

The devastating Los Angeles fires in January, especially the Palisades fire along the coastal area and the Eaton fire in northeastern Los Angeles County, caused 29 deaths and leveled more than 16,000 buildings. The recovery and rebuilding efforts have met with many challenges including toxic debris removal and an insurance crisis.

Barb Cosio-Moreno, spokesperson for the California Office of Data and Innovation (ODI), told The Epoch Times in an email on Feb. 24 that the new Engaged California website is open for everyone to sign up. However, “the actual deliberation will take place on a separate platform designed to hear specifically from survivors and those in the community who have been impacted.” She said that could happen in the coming weeks and months.

How Does It Work?

The Engaged California program invites Californians to share and discuss their ideas on the platform. Then, the state gathers public input and ideas. Lastly, new government services and policies can be created based on the input.

Anyone interested in the discussion, also called “democracy deliberation,” can go to the website and sign up with an email.

As of Feb. 24, the website notifies readers the first topic will be Los Angeles fire recovery. Three subcategories under the topic are available to choose one or more from, including the Eaton fire, the Palisades fire, and future topics.

A signee will receive an email notifying users to expect more emails when the conversations they selected are open.

The platform aims “to foster dialogue among residents with differing perspectives,” Cosio-Moreno said.

“We also have a number of cybersecurity tools at our disposal to protect against bots and any other bad actors from negatively impacting the conversation,” she said. “This is the pilot, so we will learn a lot from this first instance.”

The governor’s office said the digital platform is the result of years of development and is modeled after digital democracy efforts in Taiwan, which used online platforms to engage the public in policymaking.

“The launch of this program and our first deliberation will help us hear from the people we serve,” said Jeffery Marino, director of the ODI, in a statement.

ODI and the California Government Operations Agency, headed by Secretary Amy Tong, are the two government entities leading the program, which has drawn technical and advisory partnerships from several policy think tanks including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“We have to think differently to bring us closer to those we serve,” said Tong in a statement.

Cosio-Moreno said that the state has been actively working on this initiative for the past two years, and ODI and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace began development of the program last year.

Cosio-Moreno said the budget for the “initial program development and the first use case” was $500,000. The software tool was procured for approximately $115,000. “We are currently working with our partners to secure philanthropic funding to expand Engaged California for future use cases,” she said.