The Morrison Institute for Public Policy hosts Arizona's first citizens initiative review, Sept. 18-21, 2014. Participants from a random pool participated in reviewing Proposition 487 which is about government pensions. (Photo by Tynin Fries)ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy partnered with Healthy Democracy to host Arizona’s inaugural citizens’ initiative review, which discussed pension reform among a small group of residents Sept. 18-21.
Arizonans will vote on Proposition 487, which favors a shift from public direct benefit systems, to private defined benefit pension systems, at the Nov. 4 election. The CIR brought together 20 randomly selected Phoenix voters of various backgrounds to learn about the different sides of the issue and create an unbiased resource for voters.
Toni Spears, 45, is a real estate agent and independent contractor who participated as a panelist. Spears said that she had started to lose faith in voters’ influence on policy before she participated in the CIR.
“(The CIR) restored my faith in the democratic system and the voice that citizens can have,” Spears said. “I think this is an effective process, and a good means of having citizens come together and get information out there that’s more neutral, to help other citizens in the process.”
Raymond Wheeler, 47, is a small business owner who also participated as a panelist in the CIR.
Rather than focusing on coming to a conclusion about which type of pension plan should be enacted in Phoenix, the project centered itself around determining what information is relevant to a Phoenix citizen who wishes to vote on this issue, which made the process easier for Wheeler, he said.
“Our goal as analysts, was (to determine) what information was reliable, and should be put out there for the public to be able to make an informed decision,” Wheeler said. “Good or bad, against or for- it didn’t matter as much to us as putting out good, quality information.”
Throughout the CIR process, many panelists, expressed concerns that the proposition, as it was written on the ballot, would not be readily understood by the average voter.
The group of Arizonans that participated in The Morrison Institute's Citizen's Initiative Review used most available wall space to break apart the aspects of Proposition 487. The goal is for the review to result in an understandable document that summarizes Proposition 487. (Photo by Tynin Fries)This held true for panelist Graciela Gray-Cude, 50, a water fitness instructor who learned a lot of information about economics and politics, she said.
“It clarified, for me, information that I got out on the street,” Gray-Cude said.
Annette Sutfin, 31, is a social worker and CIR panelist who believes issues often get muddled due to the mudslinging of those representing them, she said. She said the process involved “boiling it down to tangible key terms, and tangible pros and cons.”
“I just thought it was a really cool opportunity to get a chance to engage in the democratic process,” Sutfin said.
Panelist Davis Bates Sr., 54, is an information technology worker who wishes members of Phoenix’s government could work together as easily as the randomly selected panelists did, he said.
“We did not come to a conclusion of agreeing to disagree. We agreed to meet somewhere ... and agree on an outcome. It’d be nice if politicians could do the same thing,” Bates said.
The panel’s report, which includes key findings, pros and cons of the issue, can be found on the Morrison Institute’s website at morrisoninstitute.asu.edu.
The Morrison Institute will be holding its bimonthly policy forum on Oct. 2, where it will report on the process of the CIR.
Reach the reporter at ekamezak@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @emikamezaki
