Two couples walk into an ice cream shop, one from New Haven, one from East Haven. They are escorted to sit down, seriatim, at two round tables. In the center of the second table is a little cup with small red strips of paper. (More on this later.) At the first table they learn about the Connecti cut Citizens’ Assembly, a great experiment in democracy taking place this summer in New Haven. Most didn’t know much about it. At the second they review propositions related to the property tax in Connecticut, a topic with which the CT Citizens’ Assembly is grappling all summer. The New Haven couple, Brianna and Harrison, argue passionately that the tax system in Connecticut should not be reformed by taxing the wealthy. The East Haven couple, Tracey and Bob, counter that they are open to the wealthy being taxed, but only a little more than they are now. All four folks agree that we should audit the state and cities and towns to reduce administrative expenses. The New Haveners argue that if you want to live in a wealthy town, more power to you as long as you can pay for it: You worked hard and earned what you have. You have no obligation to support other people even in struggling towns nearby. Areas of agreement emerge as well. Both couples agree public money should not be going to private school education. Both are leery of the idea that politicians should live with the minimum wage of the state so they can truly experience and appreciate the struggles of their constituents; but the East Haveners kind of like the idea of officials, such as U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, spending a night at their house near Tweed New Haven Airport. There he can get a true earful of the airplanes flying noisily overhead, so he’d have some idea of what they’re going through. Chatting completed, both couples take the little red slips from the cup on the table in front of them, then cross the room to the ice cream barista. They exchange the slips for vanilla, chocolate, and cookie dough ice cream, in cone or cup, your choice. Discussions continue over the ice cream. At the door, new folks are ushered in and the two-table discussion routine continues. That was the democratic scene Monday evening at the season’s first “Great Ice Cream Assembly,” convened at the Ben Jerry’s ice cream store on Temple Street. Couples like the two from East Haven and New Haven showed up for a one-time event taking place in tandem with the Citizens’ Assembly, a more ambitious summer-long democracy experiment. Facilitators Benjamin Solotaire and Kieran Mabey with Marge Funk and Carol Lee. The Citizens’ Assembly is bringing together 100 people from around the state chosen at random to study Connecticut’s reliance on the property tax, then vote and recommend its solutions to lawmakers. It is comparable to a jury to sort out a political issue. (Click here for more about how the Citizens’ Assembly works. And here for an article about the introductory and first working session of the assembly held last week. And here about the sponsorship of Yale and Prof. Helene Landemore, the local main force behind the project, along with UConn and the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and State Comptroller Sean Scanlon and the other sponsors.) The idea is having everyday citizens tackle tough issues that elected officials have failed to address. Based on decision-making citizen assemblies in ancient Athens, the idea has become a worldwide movement, with 733 deliberative assemblies convened to “break political gridlock” on issues ranging from same-sex marriage and abortion (in Ireland) to climate change (in France). This time around it’s the property tax bind in our fair state. The folks attending the Assembly’s ice cream social Monday night are not part of those 100 people giving up summer weekends for a democracy workout, but interested enough to show up for an evening’s mini version. On Monday night, between the table discussions and the ice cream, you could click on the QR code of The Idea Exchange, a group separate from the Citizens’ Assembly. The exchange has been pitching propositions, ideas, conducting online straw votes, and then passing them along to the Citizens’ Assembly for deliberation, or not. Brianna and Harrison clicked on the QR code and said they were going to do precisely that. The greeters, ushers, and explainers Monday were volunteers associated with what’s called the Scale Committee of the Citizens’ Assembly. They included Benjamin Solotaire, who was up from New York City where he is a senior adviser to the Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Civic Engagement Commission; Kieran Mabey, a post-doc associate professor and lecturer in political science at Yale; and Dani Klein, a Yale undergrad and student of Prof. Landemore. Great Ice Cream Assembly participant Carole Lee with her reward. Kline said that she and her committee, when not at the ice cream assemblies, function as what she termed “the concierge team” for the 100 members of the Assembly, assisting them on the five weekends this summer when they come in to the Omni Hotel to review proposals, deliberate, and vote. Informal socializing over an ice cream cone is a way to grease the wheels of listening and compromising essential to democracy. Kline said that the 100 actual Assembly members — who remain anonymous, like grand jurors — will do their socializing just among themselves at venues other than the ice cream socials. Four more ice cream get-togethers are planned for the summer, all at Ben Jerry’s on Temple Street. Kline said that hundreds had registered to participate. Monday night’s event, which ran for three hours, showed a steady stream who entered, were greeted, told about the Assembly, and then did about 15 minutes of discussion on subjects such as, “We should eliminate the car tax.” It felt like speed-dating with democracy. Another group of agreeable citizens whom this reporter eavesdropped on — New Haveners Marge Funk, Carol Lee, and Ann Langdon-Days — had not heard much about the initiative before Monday night. Carol Lee, who turned out to have been married to the late Mayor Richard C. Lee’s brother Ray, said she found the session useful. She was disappointed because in exchange for her red slip she was offered vanilla and chocolate ice cream cake instead of the cup of chocolate chip ice cream she craved. Nevertheless, “I want to learn more,” Lee said, “and see how I can get involved.” The other dates for the rest of the seasons’ Great Ice Cream Assemblies are Aug. 28, and Sept. 2, 15, and 30, all at Ben Jerry’s, 159 Temple St., from 6 to 9 p.m. You can register here, or just show up. Sample propositions/ideas that might be discussed The post Tax The Rich More Or The Same? Vanilla Or Cookie Dough? appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less