The Courier-Post published an oped by The Citizens Campaign Founder Harry Pozycki in the Sunday, Oct. 23rd issues. In it, Pozycki explains the principles of the pledge and the power behind it.
“This bottom-up approach is the only way out of the rut of rigid ideology, blame-game politics and the governing problems they create. Progress on our biggest challenges will happen only when citizens come together to move a competition for the best solutions — as opposed to a contest for the cleverest negative attacks — to the center of our politics. One only has to look at the dispiriting presidential race to see why expecting our democracy to be fixed from the top down is an exercise in wishful thinking,” Pozycki said.
Once someone takes the pledge, they are encouraged to challenge their friends and neighbors to take the pledge. Pledge takers are also given access to a multitude of empowerment tools.
“People who activate their pledge are assisted by a “dream team” of volunteer experts in government law, administration, media, and the political strategies of policy implementation. They also get access to both live and online citizen power trainings, and free manuals on citizens’ legal rights in local government as well as other support tools. Among the most powerful tools available to Civic Challenge participants is a solutions menu packed with evidenced-based local government solutions and a Ten Step Guide to No-Blame Problem-Solving.”
Pozycki also mentioned the support of two former New Jersey Governors: Tom Kean and Jim Florio.
“When they came together to take the pledge, Florio said, ‘Gov. Kean and I are here together because we know that an engaged and problem-solving citizenry is the key to fixing our broken system.’
Kean added: ‘Jim Florio and I urge all New Jersey citizens to join us and take the Civic Pledge today. It is the first and most important step toward restoring a healthy democracy.'”