Mayor Chris Beutler today announced a public input process that will include a telephone survey and deliberative discussion, along with some sort of online comment-gathering system. The data will be gathered and analyzed by the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center [PPC] and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bureau of Sociological Research [BOSR].
I, for one, am glad this is going to happen. It's a good sign that Mayor Beutler not only says that he is interested in receiving public input to support the budget process, but that he has followed through with a plan to gather that input. The methods chosen are relatively inexpensive, and the resultant data -- assuming the survey instruments are solid -- should be useful, both to the City and to its residents.
On the point of the robustness of the survey instruments, I have faith that the PPC and BOSR will do an excellent job. Both organizations have many years of experience in many types of data collection and analysis. I don't know who else was in the running for the job, but it seems natural that the resources available from NU and UNL should be utilized for this sort of thing.
And there's the first problem. Many Lincolnites will object to University involvement in the collection of opinions on topics that may include those that benefit NU and UNL. I'm not talking just about UNL expanding into the State Fair Grounds; UNL could benefit from other projects -- such as a Haymarket arena -- as well. Skeptical Lincolnites will say that stinks like a conflict of interest. I understand their concern, but I'm cautiously optimistic that such concerns are overblown. One of the best ways the City can reduce skepticism is to make public all of the gathered data and survey instruments promptly following the completion of the process. Mayor Beutler will need to have the data quickly in order to use it for his budget preparations later this spring. In order to truly build public trust, Mayor Beutler should release the data around the same time he receives it. Remember, almost any entity -- public or private -- could very well come with similar conflicts. Mayor Beutler could have outsourced, but doing so comes with its own share of backlash.
Another potential problem is the cost. The City's press release makes no mention of the amount being paid to the PPC and BOSR, nor does it say from which of the City's "pots" the money will come. Considering that we're spending money in an effort to better allocate resources in the next budget cycle, I think it's a mistake not to have mentioned these things. It's certainly not an accidental oversight -- nothing in these press releases is accidental -- so therefore it feels like the information is being hidden. Why? Both parties -- the City and the University -- are public entities. The funding mechanism should be transparent. Look for a City Council member or two to have a few choice words regarding the money.
Speaking generally, if this process proves successful I hope it is repeated periodically. Elections are an imperfect means of gathering public input, and public meetings are poorly attended, and rarely are the attendees representative of a cross-section of the city. A telephone survey or any sort of polling process that gathers input from a random selection of the population helps fill in the information gaps. I could easily get behind a biennial process of some sort.
[Disclosure: I used to work for the PPC]
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