• Certified Public Finance Officer
• Worked 37 years in LA area budget positions,
20 years as Director of Finance for the City of
Santa Monica
• Taught Public Budgeting and Finance at UCLA
for 21 years
• Collaborator and volunteer with Public
Democracy Los Angeles
• Culver City resident for 44 years
Michelle Dennis
ROLE OF A CIVIC ASSEMBLY IN
RESPONDING TO THE CITY’S
BUDGET CHALLENGES
City of Culver City
City Council Presentation
October 27, 2025
Presenter: Michelle Dennis
• The City’s July 1 fiscal forecast shows a total structural deficit of $ 129 M over the next 10 years that will use up all City reserves leaving no fiscal room for anything new.
• My factoring in the Aug. voter approved Sales Tax increase, results in:
Over the next 4 years, a total structural deficit of $ 47.9 M that will use up the same amount of reserves;
Over the following 3 years, rough structural balance between revenues expenditures is achieved; and
Over the remaining 3 years, revenues out perform expenditures by $ 3 M to $ 4 M per year if voters re-approve an expiring .5 % Sales Tax before Mar. 2033.
Primary Implication: For the next 7 years at least, there is no fiscal room other than using remaining reserves for government services to expand or be added as the City’s population grows.
TEN YEARS OF BUDGET CHALLENGES
RESPONDING TO THESE BUDGET
CHALLENGES
• These budget challenges will significantly impact the community, and responding will require a new collaboration and partnership with the community in the budget process. • Currently, the community can participate in the budget process by speaking for 1 to 3 minutes at Council meetings. Planned is a budget priorities survey, and for the community to go to two question and answer budget information sessions. These are top down opportunities created FOR the community.
• A Civic Assembly provides a way for the community to say how they want to participate in the budget process– these can be bottom up opportunities created BY the community.
• A Civic Assembly is a demographically
representative group of community members
selected by lot to learn about, deliberate upon,
and make recommendations to City Council
about a public matter.
• It is up to City Council whether or not to follow
the recommendations of the Civic Assembly.
WHAT IS A CIVIC ASSEMBLY?
Source: Adapted from Democracy Matters
SOURCE: Mejia Mauricio, “2023 Trends in Deliberative Democracy: OECD Database Update, Dec. 7, 2023 CIVIC ASSEMBLY PART I – CITY
COUNCIL PLANNING
• Select Civic Assembly facilitating organization
• Determine topic to be addressed by the Civic
Assembly
• Determine City demographics to be matched by
Civic Assembly participants
• Choose experts to provide learning input to
Civic Assembly participants
CIVIC ASSEMBLY PART II– SELECTION
OF PARTICIPANTS
• Invitation to all households in the City
• Random selection of participants from
household respondents reflecting demographic
characteristics of the City
• Computer creation of multiple combinations of
Civic Assembly participants from pool reflecting
demographic characteristics of City
• Random selection of one combination
• Comprehensive support is provided to the one
combination of Civic Assembly participants
CIVIC ASSEMBLY PART III – LEARNING
AND DELIBERATION BY
PARTICIPANTS
• Experts provide initial learning input
• Community members meet with Civic Assembly
participants to present and discuss their ideas
• Experts continue to be on tap, not on top
• Structed deliberation process is followed
• Deliberation is facilitated so that all voices are heard CIVIC ASSEMBLY PART IV –
RECOMMENDATIONS PREPARED
AND SUBMITTED
• Rough consensus sought to form recommendations
• Recommendations written by Civic Assembly
participants
• Recommendations presented by Civic Assembly
participants to City Council
• Written response to recommendations from City Council
CAN YOU TRUST RANDOMLY
SELECTED PEOPLE ?
Enter link here
CULVER CITY MODEL CIVIC ASSEMBLY
“I was surprised at just how nuanced our discussion could get,” and "I was so floored by how it encourages
collaboration and deep respect between people.”
A CIVIC ASSEMBLY BENEFITS THE
CITY
• Provides informed and deliberated
recommendations on complex issues and
processes
• Builds civic communication skills
• Enables inclusivity
• Builds trust and transparency in government
• Empowers the community
• Approve a Civic Assembly to find out how the community wants to participate in the budget making process.
• Retain Healthy Democracy for a maximum of $ 250,000 to facilitate the following primary Civic Assembly tasks and various other administrative matters:
1) Select a random panel of 20 community members, and a few back up community members by February, 2026;
2)Prepare the selected community members to participate at each public opportunity in the upcoming budget making process; 3) Activate a Civic Assembly with the 20 community member panel in July 2026;
4)Assist Civic Assembly community members to prepare and submit recommendations to City Council in August, 2026.
Community members who are selected are paid for their participation.
PROPOSAL
CONTRACTING AS SOLE SOURCE
• Only two organizations in the United States have facilitated a Civic Assembly for local government: Healthy Democracy and Unify America.
• Healthy Democracy has facilitated six Civic Assemblies (2019 – 2025), and Unify America has facilitated one (2023).
• It is proposed Healthy Democracy be retained as a sole source provider because:
Healthy Democracy is the most experienced and qualified ; There is a lack of multi organization competition;
Sole source provides specialized expertise quickly; and Sole source avoids high administrative and time costs associated with an RFP process to be conducted by City staff.