RE: Best Practices, Introduction

[Jim.Marxen, Panelist <jmarxen@dtsc.ca.gov>]

Rebekah, thanks for your questions.  I do believe the public's trust in government has eroded further since our parents' generation (I'm also in my 40s).  While there was a level of cynicism and distrust then, I think it's become much more profound, and not necessarily because we in government are making "worse" decisions.  I think the era of mass communication has given us a much better picture of what goes on in the world, and what were once kept as deep and dark secrets are now front page news.  Also, I think communities are rightfully demanding a bigger role in making decisions that affect them.  Working for my department, I've seen it, and I think we hurt the level of trust when we use public participation as an ends, rather than a means in the decision-making process.  As agencies we make mistakes by assuming the public understands our mandate, by letting the public believe we can do more than our mandate allows, and by not giving the public a clear idea of the process involved in a cleanup or permit decision, and pretending to listen when we're not.

I think we can fix these problems ... they are not insurmountable.  But regaining some level of trust and building a level of cooperative decision-making with communities will take time.