CivicLex is hosting a Civic Assembly in 2026!
At Tuesday’s General Government and Planning (GGP) Committee meeting, CivicLex Executive Director Richard Young and Deputy Director Kit Anderson will share CivicLex’s plans to host a Civic Assembly in 2026 focused on the City Charter.
What is a Civic Assembly?
You can think of a Civic Assembly like jury duty for public policy.
In a Civic Assembly, a randomly selected group of residents meets several times to learn about a topic, hear from experts, deliberate, and create recommendations.
This New Yorker article explores a similar Civic Assembly in Oregon focused on youth homelessness.
Over the past 30 years, Assemblies have been used more than 700 times around the world to tackle tough issues.
What will the Assembly consider?
Over a series of meetings in February and March 2026, Assembly members will explore the question: “What changes should be made to the Charter to improve representation, trust, and participation in local government?”
The City Charter is essentially Lexington’s local constitution. It lays out how government is structured, what it’s allowed to do, and the rules it must follow. This fall, CivicLex will run a public engagement process, asking residents to weigh in on what changes to the Charter the Assembly should consider. These could include:
Changes to Council like term limits, election timing, compensation, and the number of districts
Technical processes like redistricting, future Charter review requirements, or public engagement processes
Or other ideas suggested by residents
Who will be in the Assembly, and how are they chosen?
The Assembly will include 30 randomly selected Lexingtonians — two from each of the city’s 12 Council districts, plus six at-large members.
Over 6,000 letters will be mailed to randomly selected households in fall 2025.
From those who respond, multiple groups of 30 randomized people will be created that represent the city’s demographics, including age, race, gender, and political affiliation. One of those groups of 30 will then be randomly selected to be the Assembly.
Members will be compensated for their time and provided with childcare and transportation support if needed.
What’s CivicLex’s role?
CivicLex will organize the Assembly, provide background research, invite a range of expert and public perspectives, and facilitate conversations to help participants build deep understanding before they deliberate and make recommendations.
CivicLex will not provide or advocate for any recommendations.
On Tuesday, CivicLex will ask Council to commit to reviewing and providing a meaningful public response to whatever recommendations come from the Assembly.
The Assembly is fully funded by CivicLex. No city funds are being requested.
You can view the presentation slides here (starting on page 19) or learn more about the Civic Assembly on the CivicLex website.
The General Government and Planning Committee will meet Tuesday, July 1 at 1pm in Council Chambers. You can attend in person or watch live on LexTV.
