California’s upcoming digital town hall to convene community on Los Angeles fire recovery

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday announced the upcoming launch of a “deliberative democracy” program, designed to include residents in efforts to rebuild Los Angeles amid the continuing wildfires that began last month.

Newsom’s office announced in a press release that the program, called Engaged California, is designed to promote “honest, respectful discussions on important topics to help create more responsive and people-driven policies and programs,” modeled after similar programs in Taiwan. The announcement describes the program as “different from a poll or town hall” and “not designed to mimic social media.”

“Government works better when we build it together – and this means making it easier for everyone to be involved. After years of development, I am excited to launch this new pilot program to help create a town hall for the modern era – where Californians share their perspectives, concerns, and ideas geared toward finding real solutions,” Newsom said in the release.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the new program will include a tool that will allow people to submit ideas, which will then be analyzed and prioritized by artificial intelligence.

According to the announcement the program is being led by the Government Operations Agency, the California Office of Data, and Carnegie California, a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace program based in Alameda. Newsom’s office said the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County and community organizations are helping the state reach hard-to-reach communities.

According to a tracker maintained by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, nearly 400 fires in the Greater Los Angeles area have burned more than 57,000 acres, destroyed 16,000 structures and killed 29 people. One estimate places the cost of the fires at more than $250 billion, one of the costliest natural disasters in the state’s history.

California is using wildfire recovery efforts as the starting point for the new program, which could be expanded to include other initiatives.