‘Democracy at its best’: How VotingMatters creates space for civil dialogue
When we designed our VotingMatters series this year, our goal was to bring communities together in cozy venues, creating safe spaces where people could speak their minds about what mattered to them.
Last week, CalMatters hosted three such events in the Los Angeles metro and Inland Empire. On Monday, we gathered at Bodevi Wine & Espresso Bar in San Fernando, teaming up with the San Fernando Valley Sun , a trusted print and online publication whose office locals feel comfortable visiting to chat with reporters. Attendees passionately shared opposing points of view on Propositions 32, 33, and 36 , as Semantha Raquel Norris wrote for the Sun .
At the event, community organizer Teodora Reyes reconnected with her former high school volleyball coach, Saul Sandoval, a San Fernando Valley Sun account executive. Although their views on Prop 36 turned out to be "polar opposites," Sandoval said, "You saw people in this room really disagreeing on some of the issues, but at the end they still shook hands and wished each other well. That's democracy at its best." Reyes agreed that attendees shared their perspectives respectfully.
Early the next morning, VotingMatters was back with a breakfast session at the Japanese American National Museum's Democracy Center , our first hybrid event. We plan to take the event series into a virtual format for the first time later this week.
On Wednesday, CalMatters teamed up with the Office of Student Life at San Bernardino Valley College for our first VotingMatters event in the Inland Empire, hosted at KVCR Public Media 's studio. Connie M. Leyva, KVCR Public Media's executive director and a former California state senator, shared her experiences working in the government and explained why it's important to vote: "Democracy, as messy as it can be, works when people engage and participate."
More VotingMatters sessions hosted by other CalMatters staff, outside of the main series that I host, are also popping up around the state: On Wednesday, audio editor Mary Franklin Harvin presented at YubaNet's Pizza and Politics event in Grass Valley, and on October 18, College Journalism Network assistant editor Matthew Reagan will be presenting at Boyle Heights Beat's VoterChat event .
VotingMatters is just the start of many partnerships we're building with trusted organizations across the state. CalMatters will return to San Bernardino Valley College, where our San Diego and Inland Empire reporter Deborah Brennan will hold a listening session October 9. We'll also come back to the Japanese American National Museum's Democracy Center on October 25 when our co-founder Dave Lesher presents at the Democracy and AI event.
This week, VotingMatters is continuing in the Los Angeles metro area and the Inland Empire, along with new virtual sessions:
The week after, VotingMatters will come to the Central Coast:
