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Speak up for good government.

Welcome and thank you to our new subscribers!


I'm devoting much of this newsletter to a review of what Speak Up for Good Government—and this website—is really all about.


The mission of Speak Up for Good Government is to improve the effectiveness of our federal government by reducing legislative gridlock and empowering the public to impact and inform federal legislation.



Each of my eight good government principles addresses a gap in the functioning of our federal government. When taken together, they form a path to a much-improved legislative process.


Speak Up for Good Government also identifies and promotes organizations whose work aligns with one or more of these principles. Links to organizations that I have identified and/or worked with can be found in the resources section under each principle.


As I establish connections with these organizations, I am trying to identify synergies and opportunities for collaboration between organizations.


Please let me know of any organizations that you are aware of that support any of my eight principles. I am particularly interested in identifying and connecting with organizations that are promoting the incorporation of regional differences into federal legislation, thus empowering states and municipalities to determine the best way to achieve national objectives.


 

As I mentioned last month, I agreed to become the chairperson for ASQ's Center for Electoral Quality and Integrity. We have developed a draft set of best practices for eleven operational areas that we will be sharing with election officials in order to solicit their input. Once refined, the "consensus best practices" can be leveraged to increase voter confidence, support strategic benchmarking, and support development and implementation of model legislation designed to increase voter confidence in our election system.


Within the next two months, the Center for Electoral Quality and Integrity is expected to have a public-facing website and a social media presence that I will share with Speak Up Good Government newsletter subscribers and with social media followers.


 

As we reach the end of the Jewish High Holidays, which are a time to reflect on "sins" and a time to resolve on ways to improve in the upcoming year, I continue to reflect on the importance of respect and empathy and I continue to work to improve my ability to actively listen to and respect those with differing views.


This month's social media posts all focused on respect, empathy, and civil discourse:



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Have a great month.

Quality centers around providing goods and services that meet or exceed customer expectations. From a Government perspective, that means meeting or exceeding the expectations of voters.


Voters' expectations and the "Voice of the Voter" are unifying themes that tie together all eight of my good government principles.

Although I have shared some positive information in my last two newsletters, there is broad agreement that, from the voters' perspective, our Federal Government is not meeting our expectations.

I continue to highlight the work of Voice of the People. Voice of the People is "working to re-anchor our democracy in its founding principles by giving ‘We the People’ a greater and more effective voice in government". Voice of the People Action is asking all congressional candidates, including current Members of the U.S. House and Senate, to take their "Listen to the People pledge".


I was very pleased that at this month's Leadership meeting for the American Society for Quality's (ASQ) Government Division, we discussed voice of the customer and how it is integral to the work we're doing.


Much of the work I'm personally involved with for ASQ Government Division's Center for Electoral Quality and Integrity revolves around voting processes that meet voter expectations and improving voter confidence in the overall electoral process. I have recently agreed to be the chairperson for this very important work. I will share additional details next month.


One of the challenges in listening to the voters is that we don't even talk to or listen to each other. Earlier this month, I attended a very informative and impactful workshop hosted by Braver Angels on having meaningful and constructive conversations with people that don't share your political ideology. Their "LAPP" methodology provides guidance on effective listening, acknowledging the other's perspective, pivoting from listening to a two-way dialog, and effective ways to share your perspective.


Here is a summary of this month's social media posts:

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Have a great month.



One of my daily news sources is the 1440 Daily Digest. I find it to be an unbiased daily snapshot of what happened in the last 24 hours. Here's an excerpt from their July 3 digest that I found to be very uplifting:


Tuesday (July 4th) marks the 247th commemoration of the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress. The Congress actually voted to separate from Great Britain two days earlier, and most didn't sign the document until August ... and some argue the US didn't really become a country until we began operating under the Constitution in 1789.


Still, since then, the country has grown from 13 colonies with about 2.5 million people to 50 states and 14 territories with a population of more than 330 million. The economy has swelled to over $26T, with a median household income above $70K.

Scientific and technological advances—public sanitation, the germ theory of disease, and more—have revolutionized public health, with our citizens living 35 years longer on average since the mid-20th century. Deaths during childbirth have dropped fiftyfold, while the child mortality rate—the percentage of children dying before age five—has plummeted from 45% to 1%.


We've built almost 4 million miles of paved roads and more than 5,000 public airports. More than 2.7 million miles of power lines electrify the country, with about 85% of households having access to broadband internet and 92% having at least one computer. In 1800, 95% of the population lived in rural areas, and now about 83% live in urban areas.


Almost 90% of adults have a high school degree or equivalent, while just over one-third have a college degree. About 45 million immigrants call America home—the most of any country—while a roughly equal number of international tourists visit each year.


While there will always be challenges to face and improvements to make, we've come a long way since the beginning.


I would not have started Speak Up for Good Government if I wasn't very concerned about our democracy and didn't feel that we can expect much more from Congress and the Federal government. But we have come a long way in 247 years. Hopefully that progress will continue in the next 247 years!


Also this month:


I agreed to chair the Center for Electoral Quality and Integrity. Much more on that in August.


I've added some new website resources:

  • Allsides and the News Literacy Project to Accurate and Unbiased Voter Info.

    • AllSides is a media technology and solutions company that strengthens our democratic society with balanced news, media bias ratings, diverse perspectives, and real conversation. They expose people to information and ideas from all sides of the political spectrum so they can better understand the world — and each other.

    • The mission of the News Literacy Project is to build a national movement to advance the practice of news literacy throughout American society, creating better informed, more engaged and more empowered individuals — and ultimately a stronger democracy.

  • Win Together to Commitment to Excellence. Win Together® exists to enable performance excellence in local governments.

Have a great month!

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