Richard Spady's Freedom Forum is proposing legislation in the State of Washington to recruit "Citizen Councilors" to gather in small study circles (of 8-12 people) in their own homes, workplaces or public gathering spots to study and discuss issues of concern to public officials and then advise those officials on those issues. The members of these groups might or might not be part of existing organizations, churches, unions, etc. Any citizen could register to be part of this official government advisory network.
Every 1-3 months issues to be put before the Citizen Councilor network would be chosen by the State Auditor in consultation with a steering committee made up of government and public representatives. Fair, balanced briefing materials on the issues would be created and distributed to all Citizen Councilor groups. The groups would then meet and, using special questionnaires and tabulation techniques developed by Spady and his colleagues, would express their opinions to the officials who convened them. The results would also be made available to the public and the media.
Ultimately, these Citizen Councilors could discuss not only state issues, but local and national ones, as well. Spady envisions them giving feedback on the President's annual State of the Union address. The whole operation would be coordinated by a volunteer citizen councilor coordinator working out of the State Auditor's office, and funded by a $15-20/year donation from each of the Citizen Councilors, as well as donations from other sources or monies allocated by the government.
The proposed bill of which the above is a summary is not available on the Freedom Forum's website http://www.forumfoundation.org/frames/homebase.html. However, copies can be obtained from Richard J. Spady in Seattle at (425) 747-8373 or <fastforum@aol.com>.