Residents of Encintas, California
This
is about the communication program Peak Democracy, that I see as being
sold to the city staff with a good dose of "smoke and mirrors." One
council member
did respond to my concerns, and contacted the president of the company
Mike Cohen. His response to the council person only increased my view
that this will result in a trivialization of city government with many
meaningful issues having never been examined. This response to the
member of the council, (scrubbed not to reveal his/her name, should tell
the story: )
4/4/2014
Dear Council member,
Thanks
for your taking this issue seriously, by not only your response to me
but by connecting with Mr. Cohen. Please clarify with Mr. Vina (City
Manager) whether the future agenda item based on my request to hold off
implementing this program is having this effect.
I did include you into the six specific questions that I addressed to Mr. Vena five days ago that have not been answered. And while Mr. Cohen did address the advertising issue, that is only a small part of my objection to the Terms of Service, TOS, as defined on his website. To meet the defects I describe for this program, he would have to revise his TOS which he did not specifically say he would. The TOS is a legal contract by federal law, and any verbal statements made by him does not negate the legal meaning of the clauses. What is worse, is that within the TOS is clause that this TOS contract may be altered by them without approval of the other party, which is not the city, but every citizen who uses it.
Let me organize the six questions that I addressed to Mr. Vena differently without any change to the text:
3-The specific Terms of Service (TOS) contract to be required of citizen respondents. If this is subject to negotiation, as was told to me by our city attorney, what is the time frame for finalizing this TOS, and was our contract with Peak Democracy made contingent on approval of such.
You have addressed this, but only in part. The entire sub-prime mortgage debacle was caused by small print such as this, that men who appeared responsible and honest told the lenders not to pay any attention to, "it's just boilerplate our lawyers make us include." The revised TOS must be submitted and vetted eliminating anything that goes even a inch beyond reasonable advisories such as the right to exclude copyrighted material. There are several other clauses that are openings for malicious actions such as Peak Democracy reserving the right to alter comments and share them with their "Partners." whomever they may be. A comment made to a city council by a citizen has one purpose, and no other party has any right to do more than store them for analysis, and this limitation should be non revocable.
Anther issue is ownership of the comments, which under the current contract will be stored in the servers of Peak Democracy. Right now we have the word of Mr. Cohen that if we want possession of this and the data base of citizen users there is a process we can begin which he assures is will allow us to take possession. The city should contractually be able to gain possession of this data upon demand.
1-Capacities of current Information Technology Department
2-Itemization of software tools are to be provided by Peak Democracy that are in addition to our current capacities.
4-Whether the software technology to be used by Peak Democracy, or its equivalent, would be available to be licensed or purchased by the city, and at what cost.
5-Specification of any elements of their services that are proprietary .
These four questions address the issue of whether we are getting value for our expenditure. Mr. Cohen did not make any distinction between various commercial applications that he most likely has licensed, such as survey software that is widely available and could be integrated into our existing IT operations. The example I included of the "Lets keep moving" statement and survey showed the capabilities of our present IT department. This should have been a starting point in calculating the value added in dollar terms of our contract with Peak Democracy. But, whether we waste nine or even nineteen thousand a year is really insignificant compared with the larger question which is this one:
6-Process of city's determination of the subject and text of material that will be disseminated through Peak Democracy.
I understand that our City Manager has been given the authority to enter into contracts for up to $100,000 which seems appropriate if it is for purchasing office supplies or other ongoing services that the city provides. However, this contract with Peak Democracy represents a redefinition of the way this city government will interact with it's voters. If this City Manager felt he had the authority to make such a meaningful change without approval of elected officials he may well conclude that he has the authority to control the messages that are sent out to the voters. As acknowledged by an earlier speaker at the council meeting when this was discussed, "The Brown (open meeting) Act may be due for some changes." I agree; but it's still the law of this state, and I contend that unless special care is taken with every communication, it could be in breach of this law. Mr. Cohen said how careful he is never to refer to his surveys as "votes" and I would suggest there are many similar linguistic devices that must be applied to avoid breach of this law.
Because of this, it is very possible that Peak Democracy will have an inordinate input into the text of the various material sent out under this contract. The other possibility previously mentioned, is that the city manager will arrogate this task for himself, that staff writes the communication and the questionnaires. It is commonly known that the wording of a question has a major effect on the results of a survey, even more when there is informational material included. This is why there is an elaborate procedure of descriptions in every initiative that is to be voted on in this state. The initiating party writes their understanding of the effect of the new law, which is countered by the opposition with rebuttals and counter-rebuttals, and then the whole package is vetted by a statewide elected officer.
My simple question above as to what process we will use under Peak Democracy has gone unanswered by our city manager, and it could very well be this has not even been addressed in the many hours of staff evaluation. To assume that this will somehow be worked out is naive, as it very well could become more fodder for the inevitable devolution of our "non partisan" council into factions, with the majority controlling these city council communication. This would have the effect of exacerbating divisiveness which when it reaches a certain level, transforms government into an especially ugly exchange of epithets, further lowering the public's view of the entire enterprise as in-- "a curse on all their houses." The term limit movement is a manifestation of the public's distrust of all who take on the responsibilities of governance, which in my considered view would be exacerbated by this Peak Democracy program.
These are big questions, not those such of who shall get the trash pickup contract for the city, rightly made by a city manager. Variations of this discussion have taken place from the forum in ancient Athens to our own Constitutional convention. The relationship of our city government to the people is not a trivial matter, and not a technical question of simply purchasing a package of software. And to assume that we can try something out for a year and then see if "it works." is not realistic, as the nature of city government could have been altered irreversibly. In fact, with an optimistic slant, that is the essence of the sales pitch Mr. Cohen made for this program.
I agree with the principle that we should make it easier for people to get involved; but but do we get better government when these additional people's involvement is a text message about something they have heard about from a radio sound bite while they have an extra twenty seconds at a stop light? Mr. Cohen's letter that you appended included these words: "Our goal is to delight and thrill (not just satisfy) Encinitas"
Video games and movies are properly designed to "delight and thrill" the customers. Government, at all levels, are institutions to arrive at the best solution to complex, even life altering, issues- often at great personal sacrifice by those who accept the responsibility of participation. Certainly there is always room for improvement, for adapting procedures to new technology. A city manager remains head of the staff and his making the decision to adopt this program without the knowledge of at least two members of the council reflects what I see as the Peak Democracy tilt towards legitimizing more authority in this office while lessening that of elected officials.
I did include you into the six specific questions that I addressed to Mr. Vena five days ago that have not been answered. And while Mr. Cohen did address the advertising issue, that is only a small part of my objection to the Terms of Service, TOS, as defined on his website. To meet the defects I describe for this program, he would have to revise his TOS which he did not specifically say he would. The TOS is a legal contract by federal law, and any verbal statements made by him does not negate the legal meaning of the clauses. What is worse, is that within the TOS is clause that this TOS contract may be altered by them without approval of the other party, which is not the city, but every citizen who uses it.
Let me organize the six questions that I addressed to Mr. Vena differently without any change to the text:
3-The specific Terms of Service (TOS) contract to be required of citizen respondents. If this is subject to negotiation, as was told to me by our city attorney, what is the time frame for finalizing this TOS, and was our contract with Peak Democracy made contingent on approval of such.
You have addressed this, but only in part. The entire sub-prime mortgage debacle was caused by small print such as this, that men who appeared responsible and honest told the lenders not to pay any attention to, "it's just boilerplate our lawyers make us include." The revised TOS must be submitted and vetted eliminating anything that goes even a inch beyond reasonable advisories such as the right to exclude copyrighted material. There are several other clauses that are openings for malicious actions such as Peak Democracy reserving the right to alter comments and share them with their "Partners." whomever they may be. A comment made to a city council by a citizen has one purpose, and no other party has any right to do more than store them for analysis, and this limitation should be non revocable.
Anther issue is ownership of the comments, which under the current contract will be stored in the servers of Peak Democracy. Right now we have the word of Mr. Cohen that if we want possession of this and the data base of citizen users there is a process we can begin which he assures is will allow us to take possession. The city should contractually be able to gain possession of this data upon demand.
1-Capacities of current Information Technology Department
2-Itemization of software tools are to be provided by Peak Democracy that are in addition to our current capacities.
4-Whether the software technology to be used by Peak Democracy, or its equivalent, would be available to be licensed or purchased by the city, and at what cost.
5-Specification of any elements of their services that are proprietary .
These four questions address the issue of whether we are getting value for our expenditure. Mr. Cohen did not make any distinction between various commercial applications that he most likely has licensed, such as survey software that is widely available and could be integrated into our existing IT operations. The example I included of the "Lets keep moving" statement and survey showed the capabilities of our present IT department. This should have been a starting point in calculating the value added in dollar terms of our contract with Peak Democracy. But, whether we waste nine or even nineteen thousand a year is really insignificant compared with the larger question which is this one:
6-Process of city's determination of the subject and text of material that will be disseminated through Peak Democracy.
I understand that our City Manager has been given the authority to enter into contracts for up to $100,000 which seems appropriate if it is for purchasing office supplies or other ongoing services that the city provides. However, this contract with Peak Democracy represents a redefinition of the way this city government will interact with it's voters. If this City Manager felt he had the authority to make such a meaningful change without approval of elected officials he may well conclude that he has the authority to control the messages that are sent out to the voters. As acknowledged by an earlier speaker at the council meeting when this was discussed, "The Brown (open meeting) Act may be due for some changes." I agree; but it's still the law of this state, and I contend that unless special care is taken with every communication, it could be in breach of this law. Mr. Cohen said how careful he is never to refer to his surveys as "votes" and I would suggest there are many similar linguistic devices that must be applied to avoid breach of this law.
Because of this, it is very possible that Peak Democracy will have an inordinate input into the text of the various material sent out under this contract. The other possibility previously mentioned, is that the city manager will arrogate this task for himself, that staff writes the communication and the questionnaires. It is commonly known that the wording of a question has a major effect on the results of a survey, even more when there is informational material included. This is why there is an elaborate procedure of descriptions in every initiative that is to be voted on in this state. The initiating party writes their understanding of the effect of the new law, which is countered by the opposition with rebuttals and counter-rebuttals, and then the whole package is vetted by a statewide elected officer.
My simple question above as to what process we will use under Peak Democracy has gone unanswered by our city manager, and it could very well be this has not even been addressed in the many hours of staff evaluation. To assume that this will somehow be worked out is naive, as it very well could become more fodder for the inevitable devolution of our "non partisan" council into factions, with the majority controlling these city council communication. This would have the effect of exacerbating divisiveness which when it reaches a certain level, transforms government into an especially ugly exchange of epithets, further lowering the public's view of the entire enterprise as in-- "a curse on all their houses." The term limit movement is a manifestation of the public's distrust of all who take on the responsibilities of governance, which in my considered view would be exacerbated by this Peak Democracy program.
These are big questions, not those such of who shall get the trash pickup contract for the city, rightly made by a city manager. Variations of this discussion have taken place from the forum in ancient Athens to our own Constitutional convention. The relationship of our city government to the people is not a trivial matter, and not a technical question of simply purchasing a package of software. And to assume that we can try something out for a year and then see if "it works." is not realistic, as the nature of city government could have been altered irreversibly. In fact, with an optimistic slant, that is the essence of the sales pitch Mr. Cohen made for this program.
I agree with the principle that we should make it easier for people to get involved; but but do we get better government when these additional people's involvement is a text message about something they have heard about from a radio sound bite while they have an extra twenty seconds at a stop light? Mr. Cohen's letter that you appended included these words: "Our goal is to delight and thrill (not just satisfy) Encinitas"
Video games and movies are properly designed to "delight and thrill" the customers. Government, at all levels, are institutions to arrive at the best solution to complex, even life altering, issues- often at great personal sacrifice by those who accept the responsibility of participation. Certainly there is always room for improvement, for adapting procedures to new technology. A city manager remains head of the staff and his making the decision to adopt this program without the knowledge of at least two members of the council reflects what I see as the Peak Democracy tilt towards legitimizing more authority in this office while lessening that of elected officials.
As
we embrace the revolution in communication exemplified by ubiquitous
smart phones with instant universal connectivity there is no doubt that
government at all levels will be affected along with everything else.
While it is foolish to stand athwart this accelerating revolution
yelling, "Stop," it's irresponsible not to take sufficient time to
consider the effects of this change on existing values and procedures.
This is too important to be outsourced to any private company,
especially one that is promising pizazz and thrills to replace the hard
work of defining government's role in a society based on individual
liberty.
Al Rodbell
---------------
Extensive links to published articles about Peak Democracy and details of the council action are appended to "Peak Democracy" --unexamined effects on City of Encinitas"
---------------
Extensive links to published articles about Peak Democracy and details of the council action are appended to "Peak Democracy" --unexamined effects on City of Encinitas"
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