A government office to get you involved
Two weeks ago, fewer than 15% of registered voters bothered to show up at the polls for New York City’s primary election. That’s an enormous dropoff in turnout from the Bernie vs. Hillary primary of 2016, when 67% of the city’s Democrats voted — but also since the last municipal primary in 2013, when (a still paltry) 22% of Democrats went to the polls.
As Harry Siegel shrewdly pointed out in these pages, New Yorkers seemed more likely to tweet their outrage about the corporate startup Bodega than they were to vote.
This is not only a problem in New York City. Trust in government across the United States is at historic lows.
That cynicism can become a dangerous self-fulfilling prophecy — in which skepticism leads to withdrawal, and democratic participation becomes so paltry that the legitimacy of our system is critically weakened.
And yet the capacity for constructive activism is very high — with more people engaged in civic action than at any time in recent decades. Black Lives Matter, the Fight for $15, and support for Dreamers has given rise to a new generation of voices. The Women’s March was the most-attended mass protest in American history.
People who never before called their member of Congress, wrote a letter, or attended a rally have been doing so in droves.
From what I see, New Yorkers are ready to get involved. They are tired of the status quo, outraged by injustice and eager to be part of the solution. But often, they are not sure where to go.
That’s why I have just introduced legislation to create a New York City Office of Civic Engagement.
I know that civic engagement can build trust across lines of difference because I’ve seen it in action.
Five years ago this fall, Hurricane Sandy clobbered our city. Government agencies deployed in response — but what really made the difference was a grassroots partnership in which people gave of themselves to help their neighbors and their city. I’ll never forget the miracle we created at the Park Slope Armory in Brooklyn, offering 500 frail, elderly evacuees “courtesy, gentleness and goodness beyond description,” in the words of one of them.
Participatory budgeting — now entering its seventh year in New York City — does something similar. Community members come together to brainstorm ideas for improving schools, parks, libraries and more. The proposed projects go on a ballot, and everyone can vote, including noncitizens. Pretty simple, but surprisingly powerful.
Last year, over 100,000 participated, making the process one of the largest civic engagement activities anywhere in the country.
The top vote-getting project in my district was a mobile shower trailer, proposed by the CHiPS soup kitchen, that will provide some dignity to their homeless patrons. Of course the mobile showers could have been funded by the city’s Department of Homeless Services. But think about the difference it makes that volunteers worked to research the project and get it on the ballot, and that our neighbors voted overwhelmingly to welcome it.
The mission of the Office of Civic Engagement would be to breathe life into public participation in the democratic life of our city more broadly. This summer, I responded to a jury duty notice and spent a day with hundreds of other Brooklyn residents, most of whom spent the day on social media while seeking to evade service.
What if we offered everyone a menu of civic service options instead? Some people might choose a jury. Others could serve on a park cleanup crew, or do homeless outreach.
What if we offered, or even expected, every young person in the five boroughs to give a year of civic service, for a not-for-profit community group, a settlement house, the Parks Department, or a government agency — military service would qualify, too — and then enabled them to go to CUNY for free, or to get real help finding a good first job?
The new office could also undertake a campaign to increase voter participation by organizing volunteers to reach out to their friends and neighbors.
I’m no Pollyanna. We won’t reverse low voter turnout or restore trust in government with a new office. And some will, of course, roll their eyes at what they see as ever-growing bureaucracy. But at this moment, when trust in our democracy is dangerously low, shouldn’t we try to make civic duty mean more to New Yorkers than a hashtag?