About MFP

Reviving Citizen Civic Engagement

The basic premise that created the Metropolitan Forum Project (MFP) is simple - people of metropolitan Los Angeles deserve to have a government that is responsive to civic engagement and accountable. Is the current fiscal relationship between state, regional, and local government encouraging of citizen participation or does it discourage such engagement? Have changes in the State Constitution, through legislative action and ballot initiatives impacted the way local government can provide public services? What is at stake - Why does it matter? How does government structure impact services from police and fire protection, to education and healthcare, to landuse, transportation and parks?

The Metropolitan Forum Project seeks to answer these questions by broadening participation in this debate, a policy discussion which will profoundly affect the lives of all Californians, but which - like many public policy debates - is in danger of never having a hearing in the court of public opinion. The MFP represents an independent, non-partisan effort to brighten the stage on which government reform discussions take place by both enriching such dialogue with research and by grassroots 'living room' discussions throughout the region.

The bottom line - restructuring government is a huge challenge which impacts our daily lives and is an essential for metropolitan Los Angeles' future.

MFP Expert Panel (Biographies)

• David Abel
• Ron Bates
• Michael Colantuono, Esq.
• Stephen Erie
• Michael George
• Bill Hauck
• David Janssen
• John Perez
• Bishop Leon Ralph
• Fred Silva
• Amanda Susskind
• Zev Yaroslavsky