Civility and Service
Karen Crowley | Published on 6/1/2024
Many of you are aware of the Building Bridges Project – an effort by Snohomish County Councilmembers Nate Nehring and Jared Mead to cultivate “civility and understanding across diverse opinions.” The two were nominated for our 2024 Democracy in Action Award in recognition of their efforts.
You may not know that our League has taken a formal position in support of civil discourse. Under the leadership of then Civil Discourse Committee Chair Joan Smith, we adopted the following position in 2019:
Promote civil discourse through action and education for all government bodies, staff, and the public for the purpose of improved public policy decisions and processes. Civil discourse means, at a minimum, mutual, respectful, courteous, constructive, and orderly communication.
Building Bridges approached our League, asking us to support their newly created Candidate Pledge. The pledge directly aligns with our stated position and we have enthusiastically given our support for this pledge. Look for an op-ed piece to appear in
The Herald soon. Let’s urge all candidates to take the
pledge.