Citizen Power
Citizen Power
A Citizen Leadership Manual Introducing the Art of No-Blame Problem Solving
The Citizens Campaign Unveils Online Course Empowering Everyone to Take Personal Responsibility for Healing Our Political Divide
CITIZEN POWER provides proven, practical guidelines for how Americans from all backgrounds can work together on common problems. In this age of polarization that paralyzes us in facing our most severe challenges, nothing is needed more.’
By teaching citizens to be informed participants in government problem solving and giving all citizens the opportunity for public service, The Citizens Campaign is laying the foundation for a new chapter in American democracy.’
HARRY POZYCKI is the Chairman and Founder of The Citizens Campaign, a non-partisan organization dedicated to bringing a solutions focus to our government and to restoring service, civility, and pragmatism to our political culture. Working as a full-time volunteer, with the help of former Harvard President, Derek Bok, and other Citizens Campaign board members, Harry assembled a team of government law experts and distinguished former government leaders. Together, they developed a “power platform” that teaches citizens evidence-based, public issue solving with a “no blame” strategy.
Expanding the reach and impact of citizen power, Harry then developed a program for creating community based Civic Trusts, where citizens, trained in no-blame problem solving, serve as Civic Trustees. Meeting in monthly “Solution Sessions,” Civic Trustees work together to find practical solutions to the challenges facing their cities and our country.
In partnership with the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, Harry also developed a high school curriculum known as Power Civics, and later an advanced college version. Combining the citizen leadership training of Power Civics with the public service opportunity of Civic Trusts, Harry recently launched the “Civic City” initiative, with a goal of expanding the problem-solving capacity of cities and, via sharing local solutions nationwide, the country.
For his substantial work and contributions in the civic arena, Harry received the New Jersey Governor’s Jefferson Award for Civic Innovation and was recognized by the Philadelphia Inquirer as its Citizen of the Year.
In 2001, Harry brought all sides together to pass New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act, which gives citizens access to government information so they can initiate constructive solutions without waiting for the political establishment. He was also the lead author of the Citizen Service Act and the Party Democracy Act, state laws which open up opportunities for citizens to serve in appointed government leadership posts and grassroots political party leadership roles. For this work, Harry received a Doctor of Humane Letters from Monmouth University.
In 1992, Harry led a bottom up reform fight and took over the chairmanship of what was then the most powerful political party organization in New Jersey, transferring the power over party endorsements to grassroots representatives. In 1995, Harry was elected to a county government position with executive and legislative power serving 750,000 residents. In this role, he authored and implemented a “Code of Conduct” requiring competitive hiring practices and competitive leasing contracts. To further ensure the integrity of government contracting on a statewide basis, Harry went on to lead the development and passage of what the New York Times reported was the strongest Pay-to-Play reform law in the nation.
Harry is a 1969 graduate of Brown University and holds a law degree from Fordham Law School. In 1973, he founded a law firm specializing in growth planning and environmental law. He co-authored an encyclopedia of Land Use Law in 1985 (West Publishing Co.) and served as chairman of the committee that developed and passed New Jersey’s Fair Housing Act. He is also credited by former Governor Tom Kean for his leadership in developing and gaining passage of the State Planning Act.
Harry and his wife, Caroline, and their two daughters and sons-in-law, reside in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
To meet this challenge, we need to expand our Country’s problem solving capacity. To do that, we need to envision a new role for citizens – one that goes beyond the ballot – one in which citizens can tap recent technological advances to turbocharge their search for proven solutions and exercise their new 21st century legal rights to participate in government problem solving decisions.
This book provides you with basic training in the use of these significant 21st century citizen powers, and importantly, it adds a step by step guide for No-Blame Problem Solving© that incorporates the strategies and tactics of highly successful practitioners of city and school district government.
Using these new legal and technological powers and this proven step-by-step problem solving process, we citizens can lead our Country back onto the path of civility and pragmatism. We don’t have to sit on the sidelines while our government gridlocks and problems compound. We can become skilled problem solvers who know how to use the levers of government power to advance practical solutions. We can become “citizen leaders,” and we can help our elected officials meet the challenges of this new century.
Even better, we can do this without leaving our hometowns. This book will introduce you to a variety of “non-elected,” local, citizen leadership positions in which you can apply the powers of practical, No-Blame Problem Solving with both local and national impact. Terms of service in these positions range from one to three years, and the time commitment is quite manageable. This book will teach you how to access these positions and prepare you to participate in them.
One of the newest, and many say one of the most rewarding of these positions, is service as a Civic Trustee. This book will show you how to train for and apply to serve as a Civic Trustee in your own community.
Your participation and that of other citizen leaders will not only produce a pipeline of practical solutions, it will provide a powerful example of service, civility, and pragmatism that can heal today’s political divide.
So I hope you choose to become a 21st century “citizen leader,” to inspire your fellow citizens and rekindle the spirit of the great American barn raising, when we put our judgments of each other aside to get the barn built !
Title
Copyright
Contents
Dedication
Author's Note
Acknowledgement
Introduction
Chapter One. The 4 Power Centers: Prime Decision-Making Arenas of Local Government
THE LOCAL GOVERNING BODY (Mayor & Council) and Your Legal Rights to Participate in Decision-Making
THE SCHOOL BOARD and Your Legal Rights to Participate in Decision-Making
THE PLANNING BOARD and Your Legal Rights to Participate in Decision-Making
THE LOCAL POLITICAL PARTY and Your Legal Rights to Participate in Decision-Making
Chapter Two. Citizen Power in the 21st Century Expanded citizen problem solving power through advances in technology
Expanded citizen rights to participate in government decision-making
Accessing current policy details (OPRA-the Open Public Records Act)
Introducing your solutions OPMA-the Open Public Meetings Act
Chapter Three. The Power of Practical Solutions: The 3 principles of pragmatic problem solving
Solutions should be based on evidence of success
Solutions should be cost-effective
Solutions should be beneficial to the community as a whole
Chapter Four. The Power of the No-Blame Approach Chapter Five. Using the Strategy of no Blame Problem Solving
Identifying Your Issue and Finding Solutions
Adapting Your Solution to Make It "Doable"
Presenting Your Solution For Adoption
Respectful Pursuit to Implementation of Your Solution
Chapter Six. The No-Blame Problem Solving Guide
The Key Steps
Chapter Seven. Media Literacy in the Search For Solutions
Chapter Eight. Powerful Roles for Citizen Problem Solvers
Serving as a Civic Trustee
Serving as a Solutions Advocate
Serving in an Appointed Government Office Serving as a Neighborhood Political Party Representative
Chapter Nine. The Civic Trust
Civic Trusts. A Great Opportunity to Serve your Community and your Country
Note to Non Citizens
About the Author
Civic Trustee Handbook
Back Cover
