Introduction

Hi. My name is Jon Li, and I have initiated this process. I am going to use a conversational writing style. This is what I call a multi-logue – an effort to use technology for many people to participate in a conversation with a constructive outcome.

I am facilitating setting up this process, and I hope to have an ongoing role in this discussion, but I am committed to an open-ended, grassroots, democratic decision process. So I am setting up an information design that is intentionally self-critical, with a dynamic decision electoral process to re-enforce the whole idea of an upwelling of data, opinion, ideas, challenges, accusations and decisions.

The California's Future class at the ASUCD Experimental College at the University of California at Davis serves as a physical home base for these ideas, for face to face conversation and accountability.

Even so, this process of decision taking is electronic, and will be re-designed by an ever larger circle of people, as more people around the state discover that they can participate just like anyone else. The only thing we are asking for is accountability – no anonymous – every person should give their name and their current physical address, and a unique email address, even if it is gmail. We are building a community of citizens in both the real physical world, and the electronic consciousness that is evolving as more people become comfortable with the Internet’s potential.

The integrity of this idea will grow with greater participation. People from economic interests have a special reason to become involved, in an effort to try to protect what they have so far. Unlike the legislature, this process is subject to repeated re-evaluation, and if someone is producing something we need, then they should be able to explain what it is and how it should be regulated. We just ask advocates to be self-identified. If you have a position, present it.

We also invite people from out of state and around the world to participate. Just be accurate about where you are coming from.

Communication will be managed by three intervening patterns: instantaneous, weekly and monthly. Email web site updates will happen in real time. The weekly newsletter, Ecotopian Express, will be the primary communication tool to the people working on the project: identify proposed changes in the next issue of the monthly web revision, identify work that needs to be done next, the calendar for the next week, up coming events. Each week, the Ecotopian Express will be built on the web site, and on Friday, the final version will be archived, and the next week's edition will start. Monthly, the web site goes through a complete overhaul to reflect changes in the organization.

For the foreseeable future, this organization will automatically change the first of each month. Initially, there is a steering committee of Jason Aller, Darach Miller, Maurice Urbain, Andrea Jones and Jon Li. They will serve for a term to the end of January, 2010. By January 1st a new process will be posted for ratification by January 16th and an election of a new steering committee and other positions determined by vote with each email person having a vote.

The evolving decision process will include an elected group of editors for each section of the draft constitution document, to be responsible for managing that particular component of the multi-logue for the following month. To find out more about your potential to participate in the evolution of the design of this process, go to * Blog on how to pick who takes over for the month of February 2010

The more of a range of Californios we have in this discussion, the better the quality, and the more honest the process.

-Jon Li