In the Name of Efficient Governance Berkeley Reimagines Boards and Commissions
In a new effort to enhance Berkeley’s operations, City Auditor Jenny Wong commissioned a group of outside experts to conduct the Reimagine Advisory and Taskforces (RAT) initiative. The RAT initiative is an effort to streamline the existing processes involving more than 40 committees, panels, boards, task forces and commissions that provide recommendations to City Council on everything from building design to the sale of candy bars. Councilmember Droste, who has championed the streamlining effort, noted “when you are in the middle of a housing crisis and a modest development spends five years bouncing between ZAB, Design Review, Civic Arts and City Council then it’s time to reevaluate.”
The RAT initiative was led up by a group of UC Berkeley Nobel laureates in collaboration with the Synthetic Reality Institute. The team employed cutting edge and rigorous scientific methods to determine the fundamental values driving civic discourse. RAT chair R U Nuttz indicated that the group “Wanted to get past the narrow issue focus of the existing commission structure and really unpack the Berkeley Zeitgeist that is at the core of these deliberations. If we could identify the fundamental values driving public discourse, then perhaps we could imagine an alternative structure that is responsive to the underlying needs.”
To “unpack” the Berkeley Zeitgeist, the group conducted a Values In Legislative Enterprise (VILE) analysis. The VILE analysis employed cutting edge AI technology to probe over 10,000 hours of deliberations among Berkeley’s boards and commissions including public comments. Analytics Team lead C More Bytes indicated, “Our algorithms are capable of correlating narrow, apparently issue-oriented, hyperbole to broader socio-culture beliefs where they can be generalized across the public space. Our hypothesis was that simply forming committees around socio-cultural beliefs could achieve the same outcomes more quickly and efficiently.”
Wanted to get past the narrow issue focus of the existing commission structure and really unpack the Berkeley Zeitgeist
R U Nuttz
Based on this analysis, the RAT initiative suggests four standing advisory committees could effectively address the socio-cultural Zeitgeist driving public discourse. Their report recommends the following committee structure:
R U Nutts declared, “The scientific evidence is clear. Public policy narrows down to four lanes in the City of Berkeley. By acting on the evidence and reimagining its boards and commissions, Berkeley could be a leader in progressive governance.” Councilmember Hahn was circumspect about the recommendations expressing concerns that, “fewer commissions could limit council’s capacity to sequester tough issues in committee when we don’t want to vote on them.” Auditor Wong was grateful of the taskforce’s work, and at the press conference where they rolled out their recommendations she indicated, “City Council will be sending the report to the Open Governance Commission for consideration.”