People-centered Democracy

We began with a simple idea: regular people should have more control over the decisions that impact their lives. It’s time we built a 21st Century democracy that can move us beyond our divides.

CAMPAIGN TOOLKIT

Hudson Valley Community cOngress (HVCC)

The HVCC is an experiment in building new, post-partisan democratic institutions that give people the opportunity to say what they care most about, to identify shared priorities through a community vote, and to engage in becoming part of the solution.

The ECP has facilitated the Community Congress process in the Town of Philipstown (2017) and City of Peekskill (2019). Over the course of the Philipstown and Peekskill initiatives, 75 community residents proposed community priorities, 2,284 cast ballots, and 1,340 people signed up to volunteer. Any city resident 13 years or older in the Peekskill Community Congress was allowed to participate and nearly half of the ballots were cast by 13-17 year-olds with the top-voted priority proposed by youth.

These people-centered Democratic models have sparked ongoing community action around a range of issues. In Philiptown, these efforts included the Philipstown Trails Committee, the Hudson Highlands Land Trust’s (HHLT) Philipstown Clean Water Initiative, Philipstown Climate Smart Communities, the Philipstown Comprehensive Plan Update Committee. In Peekskill, these efforts included Peekskill Walks, the Peekskill Early Voting initiative, shaping Mayor Rainey’s agenda around youth employment and the Peekskill’s $10m Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

Our vision for the future includes active community congresses across the Hudson Valley, not only revealing community majorities around local issues but communicating across Hudson Valley communities to define shared priorities at the regional, state and federal levels.