Culver City residents aged 18+ were invited to submit an expression of interest form to join the applicant pool for this one-of-a-kind opportunity to contribute to the future of public participation and the budget process in Culver City. A postcard inviting expressions of interest from Culver City residents was also sent to 10,000 randomly-selected households in Culver City.

Selected participants received an honorarium of $675 for joining these three-day ($30/hour for 22.5 hours total), in person events. Selected participants also received a transportation stipend. Caregiving support was also available, on a case-by-case basis, upon submission of accompanying documentation.

The expression of interest form requested the following demographic information: age cohort, educational attainment, employment status, homeowner / renter status, gender, party affiliation, and race. These demographic categories were approved by the City of Culver City City Council on January 12, 2026.

Respondents were also asked to select their residential neighborhood, whether or not they are / have been employed by the City of Culver City or are / have ever been on an appointed or voluntary City Commission, Board, or Committee, as well as their household income range. These responses were not included in the lottery selection process. 

• Respondents did not need experience with local government, public policy, or any familiarity with public finance or budgeting to apply – we are seeking individuals with a broad range of personal and professional experience.
• This project was not user or market research.
• Project organizers (CNDP) are not affiliated with any political party or advocacy campaign(s) or organizations.

Data Privacy: Individuals who submitted a form had their information pseudonymized and thirty participants have been randomly selected and stratified to include a broadly representative mix of residents in terms of age cohort, educational attainment, employment status, homeowner / renter status, gender, party affiliation, and race. Information submitted by respondents through this form has been collected, managed, and stored by CNDP and will not be shared with any third party. The City of Culver City will not collect, retain, or access respondent personal information collected by CNDP. Personal information shared with CNDP will remain confidential and not publicly disclosed. The aggregate demographic composition of the Civic Assembly participants will be included in the Participant Report but will not include any personally identifiable information.

Participant Selection

Individuals who submitted an expression of interest form were added to an applicant pool. A panel of thirty Assembly participants was randomly selected and demographically stratified via lottery for each Civic Assembly event. Those selected via lottery were invited to join the Assembly along with up to six alternate participants.

Project Background

On October 27, 2025, the City of Culver City, CA City Council approved a motion to authorize a civic assembly to develop strategies to increase public participation in the City’s budget process. On December 1, 2025, the City Council approved a professional services agreement with CNDP to design and implement the civic assembly following a competitive selection process. Assembly participants have been tasked with learning, deliberating, and making recommendations about how the City of Culver City can increase public participation in the budget process. The City of Culver City City Council unanimously approved the Assembly remit (“How might the City of Culver City increase public participation in the budget process?”) on March 16, 2026.

The City of Culver City announced an updated timeline for the Civic Assembly on April 22, 2026. That announcement can be found here. 

The first Assembly session was held in May, 2026. Thirty Culver City residents gathered to explore and deliberate about the challenges and opportunities related to increasing public participation in the budget process. They also began to craft actions that could be taken in order to address the challenges and opportunities. The second Assembly session will build upon their work, further reviewing and refining actions that can be taken.

An interim update from the Civic Assembly was presented to the City Council, along with contributions from Assembly participants, at the June 22, 2026 City Council Meeting.

The second Civic Assembly event was held in July 2026. Participants at this event learned about the work of the May Assembly group, reviewed and synthesized actions, selected Culver City-based community organizations to hear from, and prioritized actions they felt would address challenges and opportunities. A final report has been prepared and submitted to the City and City Council and a final presentation, including contributions from Assembly participants, was made to the City Council at the August 10, 2026 meeting.

Commissioning Sponsor & Funder

CNDP has been commissioned by the City of Culver City Council to develop and implement the Civic Assembly on Increasing Public Participation in the Budget Process.