Board of Contributors: Rising to 'The Budget Challenge,' or 'How I spent my 64th year' Board of Contributors: Rising to 'The Budget Challenge,' or 'How I spent my 64th year' (June 08, 2005)

by Stephen Levy

A recent lunch with a local editor resulted in an invitation to write this column. Not, the editor said ever so sweetly, one of those usual (boring?) columns where you explain economics, but something more conversational about what happened when you went around California talking about the state budget.

So here goes.

The journey began in early 2004. A man I'd never heard of dropped by my Palo Alto office and said he wanted to talk about his deep concern about California's future. We have become friends during the months since and he has funded a significant effort to educate and engage Californians about the future we will build for ourselves, our children, our grandchildren -- near-term and long-term, in other words..

My new friend's name is Noel Perry. He lives in Woodside. He is a venture capitalist, an artist and a philanthropist. He calls his new organization "Next Ten" because it is important to think out for at least the next 10 years as we try to build, or rebuild, a better place.

Throughout most of 2004 I developed a presentation with the exciting, sexy title of "California Budget Basics." It's no wonder that you've never heard of this effort.

Actually we were asked to prepare such a report and presentation by a number of business and civic organizations -- whose members were reluctant to get engaged in state budget discussions because they felt seriously uninformed.

This was the genesis of our idea that Californians might feel more empowered to become engaged if they felt better informed. It's not that there are no materials available to residents about the budget. Turn on any TV station or look in your mailbox around election time and I guarantee you will find plenty of paid advertising to "educate" your family -- usually in the most simplistic, emotional and slanted manner possible -- about the state's incredibly complex budget, budgeting process and related politics.

Once we developed a basic presentation, we went on the road. We gave two-hour presentations in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, Sacramento, San Francisco and on the Peninsula. All together, we gave 15 presentations in 2004.

I don't know if anyone changed his or her mind as a result of these sessions. We didn't ask that, but we did ask a number of other questions.

The results made me feel really good about how I spent my 64th year on earth. People felt we were fair -- and credible. We were not trying to sell them our point of view. (Comments are available on our Web site, www.next-ten.org, under "budget insights.")

My own experience is that Californians feel a great deal of distrust when it comes to politics and government. It is going to take time to restore that trust. I don't even know whether that is possible, but it feels good to be able to spend a little bit of my time on this planet trying, in a small way, to help.

People can and will still disagree. But if we can agree on some facts and narrow our differences so they are not about personality or blame or misinformation, it is an important start.

We asked what was the most surprising thing participants heard during thepresentations.

There was a clear winner: "We hear so much about the large number of public employees in California." Well, according to Census data, California has the second-lowest number of state employees in relation to population among all states. The national average is 143 state employees per 10,000 residents. California has 108. Only Illinois has fewer, 105 per 10,000 residents.

We were reaching 40 to 60 people in each presentation. It didn't take us long to realize it was going to take a long time to engage Californians at this pace -- maybe my next 64 years or so.

Well, because the Palo Alto area is the Internet capitol of the world that is the next part of this story. We also felt strongly that not just business leaders but everyone -- community leaders, school leaders, seniors, parents and everyone in between with a stake in the state's fiscal future -- needed to develop a deeper understanding of the issues and realities involved.

In recent months, we have created the "California Budget Challenge," an online tool people tell us is both educational and fun to use. Check it out at www.next-ten.org. If you're one who thinks our state leaders are dumb, or worse, take a crack at balancing the state budget over the next 10 years. See whether you think it is hard or easy and what big choices you would make.

Our Challenge is, of course, simplified compared to the actual state budget -- but it does include the major areas of choice. And we invite your feedback online.

So far more than 10,000 Californians have "taken the Challenge" to get more engaged. My wife says the Challenge gives you control, and it's there for you 24/7 in your home, at your pace.

The most surprising and gratifying result for me so far is the large number of teachers who are using the Challenge in schools all over the state. We are most interested in getting feedback from teachers on how to make the Challenge most useful in the classroom.

It's a beginning. Please tell us what you think about it.

Stephen Levy is director of the Palo Alto-based Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, and is a new member of the Weekly's Board of Contributors. Levy can be e-mailed at slevy@ccsce.com and Noel Perry can be e-mailed at noel@baccharis.com.

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