Feature:

First Catalyst Grant Awarded to City of Sacramento's Dept. of Neighborhood Services 

Last month's launch of CSC's "Citizen Engagement Grant Program" has elicited an overwhelming response from cities, school districts and non-profits from around the state that are attempting to engage their local public in meaningful conversations around important policy issues. Following reviews by the City/Regional Task Force and CSC's Executive Committee, we are delighted to offer the City of Sacramento's Department of Neighborhood Services our first Catalyst Grant in the amount of $5,000.00. 

 

The grant will be used to support a citywide gathering entitled "Neighborhoods' Summit 2008" in which residents and leaders from both the City and private sector will be brought together to discuss opportunities to cooperate in building a better Sacramento. Mariano Jauco from Neighborhood Services said the grant will be matched with other grants and donated services to conduct the conference.

 

To learn more about the Citizen Engagement Grant Program, or to apply for one yourself, please see our website. 

Publications:

CSC Writes Extensive Report on Civic Engagement in California 

Developed in cooperation with students from the Pepperdine School of Public Policy, Common Sense California is pleased to announce the publishing of "Inventory: Citizen Engagement Projects in California." This 30+ page report describes over twenty efforts to engage Californians in policy-making, ranging from the currently-running "Threshold 2008" project in San Mateo County to a local initiative to involve the residents of Chico in developing a downtown "Access Plan". The document is broken into statewide, region-wide, and citywide projects.

 

As Executive Director, Pete Peterson states in the report's Foreword, two of the main purposes for producing it are to "demonstrate the wide variety of issues which have been addressed through citizen engagement at almost every level of government, and to inspire Californians who may have believed the distance between citizen and government was too great to bridge." 

 

The "Inventory" is available for free download in the "Reports & Studies" section

of our website. 

Support CSC:

Crosby/Benn Matching Grant Program Extends Through August 

Offered by well-known civic engagement supporters and practitioners Ned Crosby and Pat Benn, the Crosby/Benn Matching Grant Program allows supporters of Common Sense California to double their donations through the end of August. 

 

If you would like to contribute to our work during this particularly important time, please do so through our website or by check made out to "Common Sense California" (we are a registered 501-c-3) sent to our offices:

 

24255 Pacific Coast Highway

Drescher Campus

Malibu, California 90263

 

Thanks!