Issue Position: Why California Needs a Chief Engagement Officrer

Issue Position

Throughout the country, but particularly here in California, there is a revolution occurring in the relationship between governments and citizens. Through technology and new public processes, citizens are becoming more involved in the policy decisions that affect our everyday lives.

However, listening to the news out of Sacramento and the Secretary of State's office, you'd never know of these advances. From California businesses forced to wait weeks to register, to an elections system rated as one of the worst in the country, Californians are right to feel disengaged by their government.

For more than 6 years I have traveled throughout California, working with municipal and regional government officials to improve the way they engage their residents by attempting to understand their "common sense" in order to make better decisions. I have also worked with governments to use technology to better inform and involve their residents.

For years, termed-out legislators have viewed the office of Secretary of State as either a soft place to land or a steppingstone to higher office. This has resulted in a weird mixture of inexperience and "insider" relationships, which has prevented and/or delayed much-needed reforms from taking place. In fact, the nonpartisan Pew Research Center ranks California toward the bottom of all states in its elections procedures, and this includes important issues like our inability to count all absentee ballots and our low level of military voting.

I see the office of Secretary of State more as California's "Chief Engagement Officer," charged with making California government more responsive, more transparent, and more participatory to Californians and California businesses. I'm running for Secretary of State to change the office from a reactive establishment to a proactive institution that encourages civic engagement and streamlines business development. The main issues are improving accessibility and voter turnout through technology, design, and competition, and turning around our business registration process to demonstrate that we are a state that welcomes entrepreneurs.

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