What a fascinating session. Debra Horner of U of M Ford School of Public Policy talked about the survey the school does of every local government jurisdiction in Michigan–yes, all 1,856 (counties, townships, cities, villages). This particular survey was on Civic Discourse including how councilmembers interacted with each other, how they felt residents interacted with each other, and how officials interacted with residents. The first survey on this topic was done in 2012 and the most recent in June 2018 (but still in the preliminary digesting of info stage). Look for the survey (and many other topics, such as how local government officials feel about medical marihuana) at http://closup.umich.edu/michigan-public-policy-survey.

The second speaker, John Bebow of the Center for Michigan talked about an initiative a year in the making where a group of un-likeminded Michiganders participated to see what their beliefs were and if their beliefs changed over the course of a year. It culminated in a video called Michigan Divided. Real people, conservative and liberal, business owners and unemployed, gay and straight and other slices of MI life let videographers, photographers and journalist become immersed in their lives to get people to talk about what matters and if the political divide was too large to conquer or if civic or civil discourse could prevail. What they found was that people came to understand each other better and could be civil and even kind to each other, but when it was all said and done — nobody moved an inch on their entrenched beliefs. Learn more about this fascinating project here https://www.bridgemi.com/center-michigan/michigan-divide-documentary-follows-families-fiery-political-year.

The final speaker was Ferndale councilmember and League vice-president Melanie Piana talked about methods and strategies she has learned through attending the Harvard 3-week program and what her council has crafted. Melanie believes municipal officials should try and reduce anger among residents and provide a personal touch of making people feel HEARD and cared about. She encourages neighbors to talk with each other when disturbed about loud music or still-there dog poop instead of calling the police or code enforcement. She sincerely believes that if the council behaves cordially even though they disagree that it sets the example for everyone else. In Ferndale they also set up an unwritten code to sustain civility: No surprises, No Gossip, Protect Staff, and What’s your Heartburn. This last is a ranking of a scale of 1 to 4, how many chili peppers (or how much) heartburn does this particular issue give you? It elaborates on a simple yes or no or for or against.

In conclusion, I highly recommend learning more about this by reading the U of M survey (when it is finalized); watching some of the videos in the MI Divided project, and thinking about Ferndale’s approach and how it can be duplicated (council rues and a strong meeting chair can also do wonders). The feel good take away: local government is still the level of government most trusted by people in the US, and even when we strongly, fundamentally disagree, we can still see each other as humans worthy of kindness and understanding.