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CC - ACTION ITEM: (1) Approval of Remit Question and Schedule for the Civic Assembly as Recommended by the Civic Assembly Ad Hoc Committee; and (2) Other Direction to the City Manager as Deemed Appropriate.
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Meeting Date: March 16, 2026
Contact Person/Dept: Elizabeth Shavelson/Finance Department
Phone Number: (310) 253-5865
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No []
Attachments: Yes [X] No []
Public Notification: (Email) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (03/12/2026); (Email) Ongoing Topics - Fiscal and Budget Issues (03/12/2026)
Department Approval: Lisa Soghor, Assistant City Manager (03/10/2026)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council (1) approve the remit question and schedule for Civic Assembly as recommended by the Civic Assembly Ad Hoc Subcommittee; and (2) provide other direction to the City Manager as deemed appropriate.
BACKGROUND
On June 9, 2025, the City Council approved the Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 which included $250,000 for budget outreach consultant services and requested that staff return to Council for more direction regarding how the funding would be spent.
On October 27, 2025, the City Council considered conducting a civic assembly to develop strategies to increase public participation in the budget process. By majority vote, Council authorized conducting a civic assembly to consider how the public wants to be engaged or participate in the City’s budget process, placed a cap on the budget for the civic assembly of $250,000 to include all City costs and directed staff to solicit proposals from organizations to develop and conduct a civic assembly.
On November 10, 2025, the City Council received an update on staff’s efforts to solicit proposals for a consultant to develop and create a civic assembly and, by majority vote, established the Civic Assembly Ad Hoc Subcommittee (Subcommittee) and appointed Mayor Puza and Vice Mayor Fish to evaluate proposals and make a recommendation to the City Council.
On December 1, 2025, the City Council approved a professional services agreement with the Center for New Democratic Processes (CNDP) to develop and conduct a civic assembly in an amount not-to-exceed $230,000 as recommended by the Subcommittee.
The Subcommittee, CNDP, and staff met to discuss the proposed demographics, timeline and scope for the civic assembly.
On January 12, 2026, the City Council approved the demographics for the Civic Assembly as recommended by the Subcommittee.
DISCUSSION
The CNDP aims to convene a civic assembly consisting of 30 participants for 45 hours of study and deliberation. To launch the project, CNDP will mail thousands of flyers to Culver City residents describing the Civic Assembly process and asking recipients to indicate their interest and availability to participate in the assembly and identify their personal demographic information. The 30-person assembly will be designed to mirror the demographic criteria established by the City Council on January 12, 2026 and the members will ultimately be selected via a sortition or lottery process from amongst the residents who expressed interest in participating.
Assembly participants are asked to provide recommendations in response to a defined prompt or “remit” question. As part of the assembly process, participants are provided background information and are able to request supplemental information to help inform their deliberations and the recommendations they develop.
Staff has been working with the Subcommittee and CNDP to develop the final remit question and schedule for the civic assembly.
Remit Question
On October 27, 2025, the City Council considered conducting a civic assembly to develop strategies to increase public participation in the budget process. By majority vote, Council authorized conducting a civic assembly to consider how the public wants to be engaged or participate in the City’s budget process.
On March 10, 2026, the Subcommittee met with CNDP to finalize the remit question for the civic assembly. The Subcommittee recommends the final remit question posed to the assembly be:
How might the City of Culver City increase public participation in the budget process?
Civic Assembly Session Dates
Based on their extensive experience conducting civic assemblies and other deliberative processes, CNDP recommends compressing the timeline of the City’s civic assembly to maximize engagement and information retention, minimize the attrition rate, and avoid convening during the summer months when many participants are likely to have limited availability due to changing seasonal schedules, childcare and other responsibilities, travel plans, and other commitments. A compressed timeline will also allow participants to engage in the current budget process for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 to the extent possible, deliberate in a timely manner, and develop recommendations to increase public participation in the budget process for Fiscal Year 2027-2028 that can be considered for funding as part of the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget.
CNDP plans to convene the civic assembly over two, three-day periods in May 2026. Proposed dates for the civic assembly are Thursday, May 14, 2026 - Saturday, May 16, 2026 and Thursday, May 28, 2026 - Saturday, May 30, 2026.
Space at the Veterans Memorial Complex has been reserved for these dates, and CNDP is coordinating with City staff to ensure that other logistical details are in place for these dates given the venue’s outstanding commitments and reservations.
Representatives from the CNDP will be available at the meeting to answer questions regarding the remit and schedule.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
There is no fiscal impact associated with the recommended action.
ATTACHMENTS
None.
recommended action
MOTION
That the City Council:
1. Approve the proposed remit question and schedule for the civic assembly as recommended by the Civic Assembly Ad Hoc Committee; and
2. Provide other direction to the City Manager as deemed appropriate.