Next Steps: A Participants' Summary
By Don Palm and Susan Lovenburg

This is a political effort in mid-stream and discussion was about prospects for change and strategies at both state and local levels. There was opportunity to talk with some of the most influential people working on these issues today. 

Mac Taylor, California Legislative Analyst, took time from his work reviewing the governor's May budget revision to talk in a very candid way about his views on the state's prospects. He shared his perception of the current stumbling blocks to reform (i.e. no consensus about what is wrong) and what he considers key discussion areas: 

• taking a longer budget view, though he does not see how the Legislature can enact permanent solutions in this political environment
• using reserves/rainy day fund/spending cap to protect against the volatility of CA tax structure
• understanding the impact of ballot box budgeting in locking revenue into certain program areas
• providing for better infrastructure planning
• having an honest conversation about Prop 13: what are the interests it was intended to address and what have been the unintended consequences
• redefining the state/local relationship 

Jim Mayer, Executive Director for California Forward, updated progress on the reform movement and remained throughout the day to engage in discussion with the group. 

Dan Morain offered his perspective as a senior editorial writer for the Sacramento Bee. He sees possible hope in realignment of the state/local relationship, a true spending cap, and flattening of the tax structure.

There weren't any fireworks, this wasn't a Tea Party meeting; we just talked about next steps.

What did we conclude? Change at the state level won't come quickly or with any one dramatic act. We'll be looking at a series of small changes for elections and budgeting that altogether will make a more responsive system. But that won't come in the next year. We have a real crisis on our hands in delivering local services that are efficient and equitable and as complete as possible.

Marjorie Rist, Yolo County's Chief Probation Officer; Jonathan London, Executive Director for UC Davis's Center for Regional Change; and Diane Littlefield from Sierra Health Foundation, all talked about ways their organizations have worked to build strong collaboratives for our communities. 

In the short term, that is the strategy we'll need to follow to help our communities survive and thrive. Linda Shaffer's "Funding Our Future," a San Francisco based group whose evolution is stunningly parallel to ours, only reinforced that understanding: we will find the future through regional collaboration and through cooperation across regions.

Gary Sandy, director of local government relations for UC Davis, and Delaine Eastin, former California Superintendent of Public Instruction, gave moving talks about the kind of vision we need as we rebuild our budgets and imagine what our government can and should do. They reminded us that reform needs a moral compass and it is every society's first responsibility to care for its children, and in doing so, for the future.  Their vision informs Saving California Communities at our foundations.

Time	Program	Related Materials
8:30 a.m.	Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m.	Welcome and Introduction Gary Sandy, UC Davis Government and Community Relations	Sandy's remarks
9:05 a.m.	Saving California Communities Update Susan Lovenburg, Trustee, Davis Joint Unified School District	Lovenburg's key points
9:15 a.m.	State of Statewide Reform Efforts  Jim Mayer, Executive Director, California Forward Introduced by Susan Lovenburg	Mayer's slide presentation (PDF 701 kb)
10:00 a.m.	BREAK
10:15 a.m.	California Budget Process Issues and State of the State Mac Taylor, Legislative Analyst Introduced by Davis Campbell
11:00 a.m.	Reform Efforts in Perspective: Reflections -- Past, Present, Future Dan Morain, Senior Editor, Opinion, Sacramento Bee Introduced by Lucas Frerichs	Morain's related article
11:45 a.m.	BREAK – Lunch in Meeting Room
12:00 noon	Call to Action – Courage, Vision, Heart – We can do better! Delaine Eastin, Former California Superintendent of Public Instruction Introduced by Jan Agee	Eastin's presentation
12:30 p.m.	PANEL Local Actions:  New Level of Collaboration and Strategic Efforts Moderator:  Don Saylor, Mayor Pro Tem, City of Davis Grass Roots Organizing Linda Shaffer, "Funding Our Future" Multi-jurisdiction Collaborations Yolo Leadership Group – Community Safety Initiative Marjorie Rist, Yolo County Chief Probation Officer Regionalization - A New Framework for Action and Analyses Jonathan London, Executive Director, Center for Regional Change UCD Philanthropy – Strategic Directions for Healthy Communities Diane Littlefield, Sierra Health Foundation	Shaffer's slide presentation (PDF 1 mb)  Littlefield's related article - Defining Moment for Health Philanthropy  (PDF 259 kb)
1:30 p.m.	GROUP DISCUSSION and REPORT Facilitator: Davis Campbell