After many weeks, and two separate sessions, the Culver City Civic Assembly has concluded. One of the many challenges they took on was highlighted in the report to the City Council; “Democracy is hard to deliver if …most residents remain unaware of the means by which input / feedback can be given.”
It was a theme that several speakers from the July Assembly touched on as they spoke from the podium at the August 10, 2026 City Council meeting. They wanted to offer their reflections, but they also wanted to know that their voices were being heard.
The Center for New Democratic Processes, represented by Kyle Bozentko and Sarah Atwood, led the assemblies and created the report. Clocking in at 93 pages, the report covers the entire process, from the beginning of soliciting residents to volunteer for the assembly, to presenting the results to the council.
First, there was the May Assembly, where thirty participants (and three alternates) gathered at the Vets Building to hear from City Staff and discuss how to bring people into the budget process May Assembly participants identified challenges related to increasing public participation. These were synthesized and grouped into seven categories. They then prioritized the top challenges for increasing public participation in the budget process. This became the starting point for the July Assembly.
The report offered “Assembly members were a diverse cross-section of the city with various perspectives and a wide range of lived experiences. Their love for Culver City was evident in their determination to take on a challenging topic, and their collective work is the culmination of over 1,500 hours of participant time invested on behalf of their
fellow Culver City residents.”
The members of the July Assembly reiterated things that had been said by the May Assembly. First, that it was a very affirming experience to meet with so many other city residents and talk about how things could be improved. Using the budget as a focal point, prioritizing the needs and wants of a very diverse population, gave people a way to understand that they were already involved. Considering the phrase “nothing about us without us,” the assembly gave the participants a home base, and a collective sense of belonging.
A Civic Assembly is a beginning; bringing the results into practice will take time.
For the complete report, go to Civic Assembly Final Report (via Culver City’s website
Judith Martin-Straw
