title
CC - ACTION ITEM: (1) Consideration of Conducting a Civic Assembly to Develop Strategies to Increase Public Participation in the Budget Process; (2) Consideration of the Short-Term Recommendations by the City Council Governance Subcommittee to Promote Public Participation in the Budget Process for Fiscal Year 2026-2027; (3) Discussion of a Potential Budget Questionnaire Exercise for Departments to Use During the Budget Process; and (4) Direction to the City Manager as Deemed Appropriate.
body
Meeting Date: October 27, 2025
Contact Person/Dept: Lisa Soghor/Finance Department
Phone Number: (310) 253-5865
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Attachments: Yes [X] No []
Public Notification: (Email) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (10/22/2025); (Email) Ongoing Topics - Fiscal and Budget Issues (10/22/2025)
Department Approval: Lisa Soghor, Chief Financial Officer (10/21/2025)
_____________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council (1) consider conducting a civic assembly to develop strategies to increase public participation in the budget process; (2) consider the City Council Governance Subcommittee’s short-term recommendations to promote public participation in the budget process for Fiscal Year 2026-2027; (3) discuss a potential budget questionnaire exercise for Departments to use during the budget process; and (4) provide direction to the City Manager as deemed appropriate.
BACKGROUND
On May 19-20, 2025, the City Council received presentations on the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2025-2026. During the discussion, Council Member Fish and Council Member McMorrin proposed and received Council consensus that a one-time funding enhancement in the amount of $250,000 be added to the Finance Department budget to create a new community-centered budget process through the potential use of a civic assembly process. During the meeting, City Council consensus was achieved by Vice Mayor Puza, Council Member Fish and Council Member McMorrin to agendize consideration of a participatory budget process.
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.
Civic Assembly
On July 8, 2025, the City Council Standing Governance Subcommittee received a presentation on Civic Assemblies from Public Democracy Los Angeles representatives Michelle Dennis and Wayne Liebman. Ms. Dennis and Mr. Liebman explained that a civic assembly is a demographically representative group of community members selected by lottery to learn about and deliberate upon a public matter and make recommendations to City Council. Participants are compensated for their time and provided with comprehensive support including, but not limited to, childcare, elder care, and translation services.
Ms. Dennis proposed the following four-part process for the City to follow to conduct a civic assembly:
1. City Council Planning: including the selection of a consultant to facilitate the Civic Assembly, identification of the topic to be addressed by the Civic Assembly, determination of the City’s demographics to be matched by Civic Assembly participants, and selection of experts to provide input to participants
2. Selection of Participants: including an invitation to all households in the City and a process to randomly select a panel of participants from respondents reflecting demographic characteristics of the City
3. Learning and Deliberation by Participants: during which participants engage in a structured deliberation process with experts who provide initial learning input and are available to answer questions if needed
4. Recommendations Prepared and Submitted: Civic Assembly participants form recommendations and present them to the City Council.
Ultimately, it is up to the City Council to decide whether to follow any of the recommendations of the Civic Assembly.
Ms. Dennis highlighted the benefits of the Civic Assembly process including the development of informed and deliberated recommendations, building civic communication skills, promoting inclusivity, building trust and transparency in government, and empowering the community. She also provided an example of a civic assembly conducted in Petaluma, California regarding the potential uses of the Petaluma Fairgrounds. Petaluma City Manager, Peggy Flynn, shared her experience working with the company Healthy Democracy to lead the process. The presentation concluded with a recommendation that the City select Healthy Democracy.
The Subcommittee discussed how a civic assembly process could be used to help the City develop strategies to promote public participation in the budget process, the potential timeline to create and implement a civic assembly, and next steps including developing a request for proposals (RFP) for consultant services to lead the process. The Subcommittee also discussed the possibility of forgoing the City’s request for proposal process and selecting Healthy Democracy for this project; however, the Subcommittee did not make a recommendation on the process for consultant selection. The Subcommittee directed staff to bring the item to Council for further discussion and direction regarding next steps.
On October 13, City Council, by consensus, invited Michelle Dennis and Wayne Liebman from Public Democracy Los Angeles to make a presentation to City Council on the benefits of civic assemblies and how they can help the City develop strategies to increase public participation in the budget process and present their recommendation for foregoing an RFP process and selecting Healthy Demography to conduct a civic assembly for the City.
Ms. Dennis is prepared to give a presentation as part of this item during the October 27 Council Meeting. A copy of Ms. Dennis’ October 27 presentation is provided as Attachment 1 and a copy of the Short Paper About Selecting Healthy Democracy prepared by Michelle Dennis and Wayne Liebman is provided as Attachment 2. In addition, Healthy Democracy has developed a draft budget for Council consideration. It is provided as Attachment 3.
Staff recommends that the Council consider whether to conduct a civic assembly and provide direction to staff. If Council desires to move forward with a civic assembly, staff requests City Council specifically identify the topic to be addressed by the Civic Assembly.
With this information, staff could prepare an RFP and solicit proposals from firms to form and facilitate a civic assembly for Council consideration. If Council wishes to proceed with conducting a civic assembly and elects to forgo the RFP process and select Health Democracy as the facilitating organization, staff will work with Health Democracy and return to Council with an agreement for review and approval. Under Culver City Municipal Code section 3.07.065, professional services such as the consultant work discussed here do not require utilization of a bidding or RFP procedure, provided competitive quotes are obtained, unless to do so would be impractical as determined by the City Manager. In this case, City Council may give direction to the City Manager to forego both the RFP process and competitive quotes, if desired.
Short-Term Recommendations by the City Council Governance Subcommittee to Promote Public Participation in the Budget Process for Fiscal Year 2026-2027
During the discussion of Public Democracy Los Angeles’ presentation, the Standing Governance Subcommittee determined that the City would not be able to select a consultant, initiate a civic assembly, conduct a lottery, assemble participants, hold deliberative sessions, and develop recommendations for City Council consideration in time for them to be incorporated into the budget process for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. Public Democracy Los Angeles representative Michelle Dennis offered to provide the Subcommittee with recommendations to increase public participation in the short-term.
On August 6, 2025, Michelle Dennis gave a presentation to the Standing Governance Subcommittee with her suggestions to improve the budget process in the short-term. The Subcommittee directed staff to bring the following three recommendations to the Council for consideration:
1. When the Mid-Year Budget Report is available to Council and public, have the Chief Financial Officer provide a public question and answer session about the facts presented in the Mid-Year Budget Report. This public session can replace one of the City’s Budget 101 sessions and should be held after the report is released but before Council considers the Mid-Year Budget Report.
2. Early in the budget process and before the March Work Plan Presentations, have all the City’s Department Heads hold a public forum to discuss what the departments do, discuss their current work plans, and hear from residents about their priorities. This forum would be an open-house format with all Department Heads in one room, available for questions and conversation.
3. When the Proposed Budget is available to the Council and public, have the Chief Financial Officer provide a public question and answer session about the facts presented in the Proposed Budget. This public session could be held in place of the second City Budget 101 session.
Every year, City staff work to develop the annual budget in accordance with Council Policy 5001 - Budget Development and Administration. Staff has reviewed the foregoing short-term recommendations and believes that they can be incorporated into the City’s budget process for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 if Council desires. If Council wishes to record these public sessions and make the videos available on the City’s website, there may be some additional costs for third-party audio-visual support.
Staff seeks direction from Council on whether to incorporate any or all of these recommendations into the City’s budget process for Fiscal Year 2026-2027.
Potential Budget Questionnaire Exercise for Departments to Use During the Budget Process
On April 14, 2025, Council Member McMorrin discussed a questionnaire exercise that the City of Nashville uses during its annual budget process and received City Council consensus for staff to bring back an item for discussion regarding the potential use of a similar budget questionnaire exercise for departments to fill out in order to streamline the way budget information is collected. A copy of the April 2024 questionnaire circulated by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (Metro) Council Budget & Finance Committee is provided as Attachment 4.
As part of the City’s existing annual budget process, departments submit a series of forms regarding their existing and proposed budget. The information and requests provided by departments are summarized in the City Manager’s Proposed Budget that is presented to Council in May. Staff has reviewed the Metro Council Budget & Finance Committee Questionnaire and could draft a similar questionnaire to be incorporated into the City’s budget process for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 process if Council desires.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
The Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 includes $250,000 for budget outreach consultant services in Account No. 10114100.619800 (Finance Administration - Other Contractual Services) that could be used to hire a consultant to conduct a civic assembly and to cover other costs related to the civic assembly process such as third-party audio-visual services and advertising. City staff time necessary to support the process is not included in the $250,000.
Depending on Council direction, additional funding may be needed to incorporate additional public outreach and other tasks into the City’s annual budget process.
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2025-10-27 ATT 1 Michelle Dennis’ October 27 presentation on Civic Assemblies
2. 2025-10-27 ATT 2 Short Paper About Selecting Healthy Democracy Prepared by Michelle Dennis and Wayne Liebman
3. 2025-10-27 ATT 3 Culver City Civic Assembly Draft Budget Prepared by Healthy Democracy
4. 2025-10-27 ATT 4 Metro Council Budget & Finance Committee Questionnaire
MOTION
That the City Council:
1. Consider conducting a civic assembly to develop strategies to increase public participation in the budget process;
2. Consider the City Council Governance Subcommittee’s short-term recommendations to promote public participation in the budget process for Fiscal Year 2026-2027;
3. Discuss a potential budget questionnaire exercise for Departments to use during the budget process; and
4. Provide direction to the City Manager as deemed appropriate.