A New Way Forward & A Consensus Approach to Public Policy

The honeymoon is over. The dust has already settled on the President’s Inaugural Address and the State of the State for many Governors. The Mayors have returned from their winter conference and special interests already staked out their positions on legislative agenda’s across America. Over the next legislative cycle, what issues will be tackled, which ones will be resolved and which issues will our government leaders punt to the next session will depend in large part to how well our legislators can get along.

We elected our leaders to represent a common mission not a party platform. Yet in legislating, most often it is politics that trump sound public policy.

It is time to shift how government decisions are made and for our elected leaders to find:

a new way forward while seeking consensus instead of controversy.

It is time our leaders lead us forward, not back. This starts by reframing the problems plaguing our state or nation in a way that each side could identify with. Once we find a connection to an issue, we are most likely to work hard at finding a resolution. In doing so it is hard to look beyond the politics, but as long as we can agree to concepts and work to make small steps towards building or rebuilding trust in finding a common agenda, our lawmakers can eventually find common ground and those difficult issues, the ones that kept getting put off or “re-authorized,” will move off the agenda so we can focus on the next great challenge.

Daniel Cherrin

DANIEL CHERRIN |served the City of Detroit as its Communications Director and the Press Secretary to Detroit Mayor, Ken Cockrel, Jr. He is a public relations + affairs specialist who just happens to be a lawyer, with 20 years of experience providing senior public relations and government relations’ counsel to organizations on state and federal regulatory and legislative matters, as well as issues affecting corporate and individual reputation, crisis management and the media. Daniel is the founder of NORTH COAST STRATEGIES (Est. 2005) an independent public relations consultancy that combines the best of a big agency with hands-on executive-level experience and support. As a signatory company to the United Nations Global Compact, we are dedicated to addressing issues around human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption. We are also focused on redefining your brand and changing the conversation to create an impact.