Citizens’ Oversight Panels
One Component of the East County Political Strategy

Raymond Lutz, President East County Democratic Club
Version 2    December 2, 2006

NOTE: This is not set in cement. I am interested in your comments, corrections, and suggestions!

There are many details that need to be studied and discussed in this election in an effort to develop election tactics that may be successful. This analysis does not attempt to fully analyze these tactical issues, but is focused on a longer-term strategy for success in another dimension.
What is Success?
Getting Democrats into office should not be our only measure of success. Indeed, this may be all but impossible in this area, given the lopsided voter registration realities. On this front, we need to eliminate the negative perception of being a Democrat in this area, and push for registering Democrats, particularly at colleges and other places where registrants tend to choose the Democratic party.
In brief, there are many possible ways to succeed:
•	Place Democrats in Partisan offices – Depends on improving the registration bias, recruiting excellent candidates, and running effective campaigns. This seems nearly impossible right now, but we can make headway on improving our chances.
•	Place Democrats in Nonpartisan offices – Less of an uphill battle since candidates are more often rated on their qualifications rather than their party. Less dependency on the registration bias, but the other factors remain.
•	Support Moderate Republicans – This may be a very important factor, and may be the reason that many Democrats are registering as ‘decline-to-state,’ so they can choose to support the more moderate Republican during the primary. I’m not sure how we can address this as a partisan organization, but nonpartisan PACs like ECU may play an important role.
•	Monitor the behavior of Boards, Councils, and seated representatives–“Holding their feet to the fire.” By doing this correctly, we will not only have an positive impact on keeping officials from unethical decisions, but will also improve our position with regard to the registration bias, recruiting excellent candidates, and running effective campaigns. The balance of this analysis considers this component.
Holding feet to the fire
Officials in office today are frequently in bed with businesses, churches, special interests and others in the area. They sometimes sneak in decisions that may never reach the light of day, to line their own pockets, improve the position of their friends, or promote their own religious or partisan beliefs. This sort of corrupt behavior is unfortunately more prevalent than can be at first imagined, and yet, putting ethical Democrats in office is all but impossible. And to top it off, local media is frequently just as corrupt, with no desire to point out the ineffective operation of these bodies. We are left with only one option, police these government positions, ‘holding their feet to the fire,’ making sure we review their decisions and make sure that bad decisions are revealed to the media and the public. How do we do this?
Citizens’ Oversight Panels (COPs)
We need an organizing principle to help us police the behavior of these boards, councils, and candidates. Here, I will say ‘body,’ although it may be an individual official, such as a assembly, house, or senate official. For each such body, a set of volunteers will serve on a Citizens’ Oversight Panel. The Panel would attend their body’s meetings, if possible, or else monitor their actions, and become well versed in the nuances of the politics and decisions that are being made. Unsuccessful candidates for those bodies or seats are an obvious first set of members for the panels. Other activists in the area may also find themselves drawn to particular a board, council, or official, and may wish to become a part of that panel. If we have enough people involved, we can have elections to the leading positions on each panel, with other volunteers welcomed to be a part of any panel.
Benefits:
•	Meetings Monitored. Meetings of the governing body are attended by outside reviewers who are well versed in the agenda items of the body. Even having one outsider in the room will remarkably change the climate for corrupt insider decisions or even rude comments about Democrats.
•	Public Speaking. The Panel may determine a formal position and invite members to speak to that position, or panel members may speak on their own behalf. Regular speaking and bringing issues to the floor keep the body from ignoring them completely. Public speaking on these issues is good practice and mastering such speaking is essential to being successful in any campaign.
•	Media Exposure. Panels can easily bring information to the media if it is not already being covered. “Reports of COPs” make an interesting media addition. Occassionally, “COP Citations” may be presented to an official or governing body, leveraging the (intentional) wordplay, whenever the COP detects a particularly corrupt or unacceptable action.
•	Candidates Trained. Members of Panels automatically become members of a pool of possible candidates for elections to the governing body being monitored. Recruiting candidates is a natural consequence of the network of COPs, instead of an ad-hoc and last-minute event right before the application deadline. Candidates are well trained in the politics of the body, and can easily present a viable position on any topic.
•	More Effective Campaigns. The public will be kept informed of the decisions of the body, with bad decisions listed in full during the campaign instead of being lost in the short memory of the populace. Members of the COP have kept a high profile in the run up to the election and may have some name recognition by the public. Their speaking skills are honed by practice at the meetings.
•	Shared Responsibility. Many club members are tired of going to feel-good events and want to be productive and be a part of the governing process. The COPs provides an opportunity for many members to be involved, working as a group to obtain results that would be impossible as individuals. For example, a Panel responsible for a given governing body can share the responsibility among its members of attending long or frequent meetings. Those members don’t need to try to be a involved in all the boards and bodies in the area, so the scope of their volunteer efforts can be focused while others track other bodies. Reports from the various COPs can be reviewed by everyone, keeping everyone up to date. Detailed research on agenda items can be split up amongst the members of the Panel.
•	Continued Attention. To keep the governing body from lapsing back into bad behavior, constant vigilance is frequently necessary. For example, the City of El Cajon has agreed to pull the partisan and religious videos from the government channel, but will they start playing them again? They might, if we don’t continue to request the logs on a monthly basis. In this case, we need to send a letter to the City of El Cajon every month requesting the logs to maintain a watch on this problem. If we stop asking for the logs, they might sneak the videos back on.
•	Mitigates Incumbency Advantage. On many board in this area, we witness a common strategy. The member quits in the middle of the term, and substitute is appointed to fill out the term. Then, that person is considered an incumbent, even though they were never elected to office, and they are then usually successful in the election. Being a member of the Citizens’ Oversight Panel for that board is an excellent springboard to launch into office. This fact can be included on the candidate statement, “X years on the Citizens’ Oversight Panel for the XXX Board,” for example. It’s almost as good as being an incumbent.
Type of Organization
The following are my opinions about how to move forward.
Partisan? 
Yes. It is proposed that the COPs be organized as part of the East County Democratic Club. In my view, the COPs are best if they can clearly be able to be linked to the Democratic Party. As they continue to uncover corruption and deceit, the public will be drawn to support the positions of the Party and thereby improve the climate, allowing continued improvements in the registration bias over time.
527 PAC?
No. The function of the COPs is not to raise funds or support specific candidates financially. Yet, at some future date, it may be appropriate for the COPs that are formed to become a 527 PAC.
Offices Covered
Which offices, councils, and boards should be covered by COPs? This is open to discussion. The following is an initial suggestion:
•	52nd District – Our friend Duncan Hunter
•	36th State Senate District and 77th State Assembly District
•	El Cajon City Council
•	County Board of Supervisors
•	Grossmont Cuyamaca Community College Board
•	Grossmont Union High School District Board
•	Cajon Valley School District (and other school districts?)
As we get some experience with this structure, extension to the following seems appropriate, in conjunction with the La Mesa and Santee Democratic Clubs.
•	La Mesa City Council
•	Santee City Council
•	Other city councils?
Participation
This proposal will only be effective if the workload is shared among many people. What we don’t want  are the same key players on every single COP. Each COP should have at a minimum, a Chair and Co-chair, and once we get things rolling, the Immediate Past Chair. Any other club members or associates may be a member of the COP. It is preferred if the Chair and Co-chair do not serve on multiple COPs. Unsuccessful candidates of past elections are prime candidates for COP membership.
Duties of COP Participants
The amount of work will vary significantly depending on the schedule of body meetings and the extent of the agenda of each meeting, as well as how corrupt the group is. Indeed, federal and state officials will necessarily be monitored from afar, by monitoring voting records and other actions. 
Previously unsuccessful candidates to those bodies will find participation on the COP provide a high-profile citizen action position that will keep their head above the fray. A short summary of the actions of the body can be presented at each club meeting to keep others informed, and to get advice on how to proceed with interaction, media exposure, or possible legal action. However, due to the rate of most local bodies, decisions on most actions will necessarily be made at the level of the COP with the input of Club Board.
Candidate Selection
One of my observations about the recent elections is that in some cases, I saw much more advertising and promotion during the primary than during the general election. Most of the thrashing around in the primary was a total waste of time. The realities of lop-sided voter registration made the primary an exercise in futility.
This proposal may allow us to more easily determine our top choice for any elected position, board seat, etc. based on who is active on the COP, and how productive they have been. If we can avoid unnecessary expenditure during the primary, more resources can be devoted to the general election. I’m not certain how to handle it, but a initial selection in a caucus can reduce the expenditures and consternation in the primary. The COP for that governing position can be a help in this process.
Next Steps
Please review this proposal and make any comments you might have to the Members list. Before we announce this to the public, it should remain confidential amongst our members only. Sleep on these ideas and let me know if you have any suggestions to improve the concept.
If we agree that the Club should go in this direction, Club bylaws should be revised and approved to support the organizational changes. This can occur so we can have the COPs up and running in the new year.

Comments:
I'm fully in support of the proposal, so consider this as a proxy vote in support of whatever version is passed, if that is allowed.  Comments to follow: 
A couple of thoughts right away.  Contested primaries are not necessarily a waste of time.  In many cases a spirited primary can raise candidate’s profiles with the public.  But spirited should not mean trash the opposition and make everyone involved look immature and unready for the job.  Candidates should employ some strategic planning into their primary campaigns to provide some stepping stones for the general election that follows, but that’s another issue altogether.
36th and 77th.  What they actually do in the Legislature is a mystery to most and COP's could provide all sorts of information that could be brought to the public’s attention, and the news media’s too, but where to get that info is unclear to me.  The committee’s and subcommittee’s they sit on, bills proposed, hearings attended, bills sponsored, etc would be good to know.  I have no idea what Jay LaSuer has done in the 6 years he’s been in the Assembly.  Have we gotten our monies worth?  No, I don’t doubt, but who knows?
Gregg Rosner
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