Nov. 13, 2024

Longtime journalist and community activist Ken Koontz announced details of a presentation scheduled at the Forum next Tuesday, Nov. 19.

He offered these details in advance so that participants, both in the Belmont Center meeting room and online, would be able to read about the proposal in advance of the meeting.

Koontz envisions a “We The People Alliance” operating at the level of Charlotte City Council districts that, by tracking promises and actions of elected officeholders, would issue letter-grade reports on officeholders. The draft proposal below focuses on west Charlotte’s Council District 2.

Asked whether his proposal would cover only District 2, Koontz replied by message: “It is intended for EVERY precinct! However, much focus will likely be aimed at black precincts. Not just precincts, but any individual or group may secure a report card outline.”

Forum facilitators for decades have sought ways to sustain a level of accountability for all locally elected officials. The idea itself is not new, and there have been other times when officeholders’ accountability between elections has become a public issue. Koontz’s proposal is the latest in how to sustain the work. No details on financing or publicizing such an effort are in the draft proposal.

In connection with an announcement to Charlotte media Wednesday evening, Koontz wrote:

With recent elections in rear view mirrors, journalist and self-described “chronicler of the times” Ken Koontz has prepared a formula and outline for moving ahead and holding elected officials and public servants responsible and accountable for constituent and general public action demands.

“We The People Alliance” is designed as a grass roots formula that ultimately ends up as a report card grading representatives and others serving in official capacities on how they respond to service and constituent requests. Koontz says his outline puts the issue of holding public servants and those they elect squarely in the hands of the people. And with each election campaign cycle, those responsible parties are graded out on their work and requests.

“It’s all aimed at the voter precinct level where a report card measures responses and actions,” Koontz adds. “The grades are just as school grades A,B,C,D or F based on the efficiency of official responses,” he adds.

“For decades, ‘the people’ have railed against politicians by saying, ‘They don’t do anything for us, so I’m not voting,’ ” he explains. “Well. Now there is a measuring stick. But, it still will demand that constituents ask and stay on top of their requests to determine if desired outcomes were met and if the official ever put out effort to address their issues,” Koontz says.

Joining the panel presenting “We The People Alliance” will be several veteran neighborhood organizers, neighborhood activists, voter registration specialists and hopefully a Forum filled with Voter Precinct representatives and any others with an interest in improving responses from their elected public servants and elected officials who are once elected but then unresponsive and yet returned to office primarily on name recognition and not performance while still making idle promises when re-election rolls around again.

The panel is designed to include Action NC leader Robert Dawkins; community organizer and activist Jasmine Wright; Precinct Chair Charlene Henderson from the strongly active Hidden Valley community, and Monifa Drayton, an expert in community relevance and voter empowerment.

Their presentation to the Tuesday Forum’s livestream audience and those attending in-person at Belmont Center will begin at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19. Koontz says response and participation by majority black precincts is crucial to improving relationships between citizens and their elected officials.

A draft of the proposal to be discussed by the panel is below. A copy of the proposal draft may be downloaded as a PDF file here.