Today the Center for Michigan unveils “10,000 Voices” — the final report of the Michigan’s Defining Moment Public Engagement Campaign. More than 20,000 volunteer hours in the making, this report represents the work of more than 10,000 of your fellow citizens – people from many walks of life and every corner of Michigan who joined together over the past three years in one conversation about our great state.
These 10,000 voices blend into one urgent chorus for Michigan’s future. It details a long-term vision and concrete action plan for our state’s ascent to a new era of prosperity.
Imagine, for example, a place where newly minted college grads and retooled manufacturing workers vie for plentiful jobs with good wages right here at home. Imagine a Michigan that is such a great place to live that our grandchildren never feel a need to leave … and our children want to come back home. Imagine a place that enthusiastically invests in its most competitive assets – its natural resources, universities, and distinctive local communities. Imagine a place where citizens, community leaders, public workers, and politicians willingly hold themselves accountable for significant, strategic civic progress.
These are the great hopes of Michigan’s Defining Moment participants.
An Agenda for 2010 – Built in a Very Different Way
The more than 10,000 citizens who built this common ground, bottom up agenda for Michigan’s future did so because they share a belief that even in this time of deep political skepticism and economic upheaval, they can help transform our state. Deliberated and refined in an unprecedented, nonpartisan campaign of more than 600 community meetings statewide, the people’s 10-point action plan is to:
(This agenda is explained in detail on pages 4-9)
We expect this 10-point plan will become central to this year’s crucial statewide election when every statewide political office is up for grabs and nearly half of all legislators will be replaced due to term limits.
This vision – and the action steps to achieve it – grow not from the dogma of any particular political party, one-issue interest group or regional power base. Instead, this agenda is rooted in widespread public concern for the state as a whole.
This authentic citizens’ movement started nearly five years ago when the signatories on this letter formed the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Michigan. Motivated by the deeply challenged state economy and a paralyzed and hyper-partisan political environment, we launched the Center with the following mission statement: “Conducting research into public policy issues affecting the people of the state of Michigan, developing public policy initiatives for the improvement of civic leadership in Michigan and educating civic leaders and concerned citizens in Michigan as to more effective approaches to public policy and governance through dissemination of written materials and sponsorship of conferences or forums.”
The Michigan’s Defining Moment Public Engagement Campaign quickly became the Center’s central project. We launched “MDM: in 2007 in partnership with Public Sector Consultants, Inc. and the more than 100 statewide leaders listed on the inside cover of the book. We sought in-depth citizen deliberation rather than the standard device of allowing brief and shallow telephone opinion polls to shape public policy. We worked to collect and disseminate detailed non-partisan information about Michigan’s challenges and, in turn, gathered pragmatic, grass-roots ideas to build a better future.
Changing a State is Hard – But We’re Making Progress
Page 20 of this book outlines the Center for Michigan’s work plan for the coming years to drive the citizens’ common ground agenda. So far, we can point to four specific state-level outcomes provoked by this work:
YOU can take action today to improve Michigan!
Making this citizens’ common ground agenda a reality will take tremendous effort, by business and community leaders, educators, elected leaders and public sector workers, and, most importantly, by all of us as citizens.
We all have a part to play in building a more prosperous Michigan future.
You can start today by digesting this report. The full citizens’ common ground agenda is outlined on pages 4-9. The demographics of who participated and the methodology of how we gathered the voices of 10,000 people are explained on pages 15-17. And the foundations, corporations, and individuals who have funded the Michigan’s Defining Moment efforts are listed on page 22.
Most importantly, we urge you to review pages 10-11, which explain five simple steps any Michigan citizen can take right now to become more involved in creating the best possible future for our state.
The political paralysis in recent years illustrates that it will do little good for us all to point fingers of blame at Lansing and simply hope for a better future. Nor can we expect government to lead. Transformation is most likely to come through the innovation and creativity of Michiganders: the private sector, local community organizations, local educators and clergy and block club presidents and so many others.
We urge you to use your own network to advance the fundamental principles of this report. Whether it is crossing cultural divides, demanding higher standards in education, or fostering an entrepreneurial culture, we can all make a difference in our own domains, doing the work we love in the communities we care so much about.
It’s our state. It’s up to us to transform it. In the immortal words of anthropologist Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Thank you.
The Center for Michigan Board of Directors and Steering Committee,
Richard T. Cole, Chair, Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing, Michigan State University
Paul Courant, Dean of Libraries, University of Michigan
Paul Dimond, Of Counsel, Miller Canfield
Elisabeth Gerber, Professor of Public Policy, University of Michigan
Larry Good, Chairman, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
James S. Hilboldt, Chairman, Connable Office, Inc.
Paul Hillegonds, Sr. VP, DTE Energy, & former Michigan House Speaker
Mike Jandernoa, Managing Partner, Bridge Street Capital Partners
Jack Lessenberry, Michigan Public Radio Senior Political Analyst
William G. Milliken, former Governor of Michigan
Mark Murray, President, Meijer Stores, Inc.
Kathy Power, Vice President, The Center for Michigan
Philip Power, President, The Center for Michigan
Glenda D. Price, President Emeritus, Marygrove College
Milt Rohwer, President, The Frey Foundation
Doug Ross, Founder and Superintendent, University Preparatory Academy
Doug Rothwell, President and CEO, Business Leaders for Michigan
Craig Ruff, Senior Policy Fellow, Public Sector Consultants
Marilyn Schlack, President, Kalamazoo Valley Community College
John A. “Joe” Schwarz, former Member of Congress & former Michigan State Senator
S. Martin Taylor, Former director of Michigan Department of Labor and MESC
Jan Urban-Lurain, President, Spectra Data and Research, Inc.
Cynthia Wilbanks, Vice President for State Relations, University of Michigan
10 Comments
I’m extremely happy with what I have read so far. This is a great, interesting, and persuasive report. However, I still do not understand why a great organization such as The Center for Michigan does not support or promote voting for a new Constitutional Convention. (I understand it may be because of its non-profit status but a little more focus on it would be appreciated.)
Many of the ideas proposed are to fix our broken government and bring Michigan into the 21st century. What better way to do that than rewrite our old state constitution? Our current constitution allows the extremes of both parties and their special interests to dominate our political process and government institutions. The hyper-partisanship is so extreme that common sense in our public policy is no longer common. That is at the heart of all our problems. We cannot seriously fix our other problems until we fix who controls the political process. We need to radically alter Michigan politics and government. As Mr. Power has written before, two reforms could significantly improve the situation.
Redistricting reform: Change it so that non partisan, independent committees create the districts instead of the hyper-partisan political parties.
Primary reform: Alter primaries so that all candidates – Democrats, Independents, Republicans, all of the above are on the same ballot and the top two vote getters move on to the general election; our politics should not be controlled by a dogmatic two party monopoly!
Both reforms should help level the playing field so that more independent minded, pragmatic candidates are elected. Electing candidates who are more interested in collaboration and results than confrontation and renunciations should significantly improve our politics and public policy.
We will be able to push for these reforms if we have a new Constitutional Convention. In addition, we would be able to examine all of those other issues and hopefully improve and update our state for the 21st century.
Supporters of The Center for Michigan want reforms and voting for a new Constitutional Convention will be the first step to achieving those reforms. That is why The Pragmatic Center is starting a campaign for a new Constitutional Convention. I wish The Center for Michigan would join us and be more willing to examine this issue.
i have not read the report, but will. However, how can we rewrite a constitution when we can’t agree on anything ?
The Dem’s only goal is to expand power through unionization. The Repub’s is to lower taxes and make this a more business friendly state, even though were stuck with high union wages and work rules.
Like G.M. and Chrysler the best solution may be to blow it up and start over.
Sounds like the report is going to be the Michigan version of Sir Thomas Moore’s Utopia !
Create a More Business-friendly Entrepreneurial Environment, hold politicians more accountable, Build on Michigan’s Distinctive Competitive Assets?. Unfortunately these are the same bunch of unspecific, uninspiring, un-executable clap trap that one would expect from a bunch of nonprofit, public sector and media types. But I must say that no one should be surprised! The only specific ideas, example “school reform” your group can come up with is, “lengthen the school day and year”. But this isn’t reform any more than is raising our drop out age to 18. Maybe that’s part of the problem. Or ending term limits??? .. as if our Reps in Washington with NO term limits offer some example of sucess worthy of copying? While I can’t say that I think it will work at least groups like the fair tax crowd can come up with very specific proposals rather than the vague generalities you folks come up with.
Why don’t you come up with a real ballot proposal instead of this silly petition? Or can’t you agree on what that would be?
Imagine if the people of the United States had to vote every 16 years whether we wanted to have a constitutional convention to revise the entire U.S. Constitution.
Why can’t the Michigan Constitution be written like the U.S. Constitution with a line-item veto for the governor? Everything else would go into Michigan statutes.
About the 10,000 Voices report, will enacting it end the Michigan recession?
Is there one specific, high priority, thing the legislature and governor should do from this report to end the Michigan recession?
If it is not in the report, what is it? Every other item in the report is secondary, dependent on this item.
To me, it seems to be doing something about eliminating state business taxes. End the recession and get other state tax revenues to start increasing.
Matt has captured it quite well.
There are no tangible programs or practices to be explored, there are no means or methods for accountablity (save for campaign ads)suggested, the only thing that seems to be important is the 10,000 voices.
At the meeting I attended there was a lot of “I wants”, and this Board reflects. It is too bad that the Board wasn’t able to get 10,000 or even 100 ideas for change they wanted to develop.
The booklet is the old poltics, one for a new Michigan would have offered ideas that people could have taken to their communities to work on for change rather have to leave it to the politicians who have wasted their opportunities.
I agree with Matt.
Who isn’t for clean air and water ?
Who doesn’t want to improve education ?
Who doesn’t want the parties to work together ?
Who doesn’t want clean energy AT A REASONABLE PRICE ? Excluding Green’s.
Who doesn’t want world peace ?
Well hell if we all want it, why don’t we have it ? Beacause reasonable, doesn’t mean the same thing to different people.
A new constitution ? how about a balanced budget ? What a laugh !
We are seeing what real change is all about with Obama. A double dose of the same old stuff, only worse, and the whole country is going bankrupt.
But we can work together ? NO WE CAN’T !
The majority of the country is against Obama healthcare reform, cap and trade and bailouts yet they get shoved down our throats. The Arizona immigration bill is supported by a vast number of citizens, but the liberal media makes it look like Nazism.
How do we work together ? On what ?
I have a feeling TCFM has a left wing agenda to convince us we need to invest in our future ( Meaning Higher Taxes)for a few minor reforms, keeping unions in a strong position and us dependent on government our friend !
The 10 points in the “the people’s 10-point action plan” is very similar to the various points put forward in MSU Extension’s/Land Policy Institute’s New Economy training! New Economy training is the first phase of the Michigan Prosperity Initiative: http://www.landpolicy.msu.edu/MPI
They did all of those meetings and 10,000 people, this could have been accomplished at the local coffee shop in about an hourunless it was snowing and some of the people were late.
I dont believe what I just read,
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[...] 27, 2010, Leaders Without Borders sponsored a breakfast meeting to discuss the report “Michigan’s Defining Moment—Making it Happen.” The Center for Michigan, a nonpartisan “think and do” tank, issued the report that was based [...]