Participants reported that they are particularly interested in success stories that address their local problems and they want their local officials to take action to implement them. Many audiences were engaged in educational discussions that raised their understanding of the complexity of resolving their concerns and came to see how each issue is tied to others in an interdependent way. 

One participant summed up learnings from in-depth smart growth discussions within study circles in Fresno and indicated that he understood the connections between “lack of vision; lack of coordinated leadership; leap frog development; and loss of valuable natural resources, farmlands, and open areas”. Other participant comments about what they learned were:   

• “people from diverse perspectives all take quite reasonable positions”

• “the importance of changing fiscal incentives in tax allocations”

• “we need a community-wide needs assessment of all constituencies, their concerns and ideas on how to solve them”

• “that there is significant concern that social responsibility be the ultimate priority”

• “possibly there is enough money out there for a good health care system - just need to stop wasting money”

• “we are empowered and can empower others to help with the huge problems we face”

Many participants reported feeling frustrated that we have let things get this bad - - inadequate housing; endless freeway traffic; no job-housing centers; too many who cannot afford to purchase homes, even the ones they may be living in; deteriorating inner cities; declining schools and educational standards, and on and on. Like their counterparts at the Orange County and Fresno Area Regional Forums, they expressed mistrust of politicians who seem intelligent but not willing to take on tough fights or solutions. 

These findings are no surprise to the League of Women Voters who engage with ordinary citizens every day and know how difficult it is to involve people in the political fray. The League will continue to seek ways to engage and educate people, because they know that once people understand how much their voices mean to the success of issues of importance to them, they want to be involved. Participants say, “Let’s do something!” and “Come up with an action plan!”