Introducing the Bay Area Governance Project

Sketching a vision of good government for The Bay

In many respects, the Bay Area is where the future starts. Globe-shifting technological and cultural paradigms regularly emerge from visions of a better future that are born here. But this is not utopia; our cities are struggling and our governments have not delivered results. We can do better and we must. Many of our local issues require regional action. So we’re introducing the Bay Area Governance Project - we’re sketching a vision of good government for the Bay Area. We’ll do it by tracing our problems to the source and investigating a wide range of possible solutions, along with how they can be achieved technically and politically.

I believe good government requires good citizenship, and in this case, that means understanding the structure of state and local government and how they interact. Citizens with this knowledge are powerful because they can uncover and pursue specific, object-level political solutions. Anything less is just vibing. As founding researcher, I am building on the civic research and education work under way at the Civ Lab and bringing it to all citizens of the Bay.

Daniel is also joining as founding researcher. He is the best citizen I know. He’s an absolute expert in state and local government, and even better, he founded the first civics school you’d actually want to attend. His deep knowledge of NYC’s history of municipal reconfiguration offers lessons learned for us here in the Bay. Together, we span the breadth and depth necessary for such an undertaking.

We will soon begin mapping the landscape and marking the paths forward. You can expect to see detailed accounting of local, state, and federal governing structures, along the legal obstacles and affordances they provide.