On January 11, thirty-six residents gathered at the Democracy Center , in Little Tokyo, for seven hours to develop recommendations for a city bill of rights and a potential preamble to the city charter. This preamble would codify city values and help guide the resolution of ambiguities in the legal interpretation of the charter. As in the previous mini-assembly, participants were selected by lottery from hundreds of applicants to reflect Los Angeles’s demographic diversity. T

On December 13th, thirty-six residents gathered at the Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles for seven hours to tackle one of the city's most contentious issues: how LA approves development and manages land use. These decisions shape housing supply, affordability, and neighborhood character—yet everyday Angelenos rarely get a real voice in the process. This wasn't another one-minute public comment session. Participants were chosen by lottery from hundreds of sign-ups to

Public Democracy LA has been authorized by the Los Angeles Charter Review Commission to conduct two mini-assemblies as part of Los Angeles' charter reform process—a major milestone in bringing everyday Angelenos into the heart of how our city is governed. The first mini-assembly will take place Saturday, December 13  at the Institute of Contemporary Art LA. Forty Angelenos, selected by lottery from 300 volunteers to reflect the city's demographic diversity, will deliberate on

December 1, its city council voted 3-2 to use a civic assembly to propose modifications to the budgeting process to enable meaningful public participation as budget decisions are made. Budgets embody government priorities, and Culver City wants to include the public in setting the priorities. A civic assembly will be created using a lottery (sortition) to select a statistically representative sample of approximately 30 city residents to review and possibly modify proposals.

Last month’s Model Civic Assembly in Culver City, co-hosted with our partners at Braver Angels, offered a glimpse of what’s possible when everyday Angelenos come together to learn, listen, and deliberate. When we launched this experiment in model assemblies, we weren’t sure a short session could capture the spirit of a full civic assembly. But the response was powerful.As one participant shared,  “Just listening to people’s experiences and what people want and need about dif

In-Person Model Civic Assembly Saturday, was held on June 7, 1–4pm | in Culver City | A hands-on opportunity to experience a mini civic assembly in action. Participants deliberated on policies to guide wildfire response and prevention, and explored how this model can be used on the issues they care most about. The event was Sponsored by Public Democracy Los Angeles and BraverAngels. An informative and detailed account of the assembly was published in LAist , also known as KPC