The Citizens Campaign

The Citizens Campaign is a United States nonprofit, nonpartisan civic organization based in Metuchen, New Jersey. Founded in 1998 by Harry and Caroline Pozycki under the former name The Center for Civic Responsibility, it focuses on making political participation more practical and accessible to ordinary residents. Rather than concentrating primarily on electoral campaigns, the organization teaches people how to identify local problems, formulate workable solutions, organize support, and secure adoption of policies through existing community and government institutions. Its approach emphasizes what it describes as citizen leadership. The organization identifies four local governmental and political power centers: elected municipal councils or committees, school boards, planning boards, and local political parties. It also describes several routes through which residents can exercise influence without running for office or spending heavily on campaigns. These include becoming citizen leaders who advance constructive proposals, serving as solutions advocates who document and explain community conditions, participating as local political party representatives, and accepting appointments to public boards and commissions. The Citizens Campaign combines education, policy development, civic organizing, and local media support. Its Academy for Citizen Empowerment has offered adult training through live and online classes, including instruction on the routes to public service and community leadership. Its Power Civics and Solutions Civics materials are designed to teach civic problem-solving and participation. According to the organization’s referenced materials, Solutions Civics was incorporated into mandatory social studies curricula in high schools in Newark, Trenton, Plainfield, and Perth Amboy in 2018, while Power Civics materials were introduced in courses at several colleges. A central institutional component is the Law and Policy Task Force, a volunteer network of lawyers and government specialists chaired by former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Gary Stein. The task force develops model ordinances, resolutions, and legislation addressing issues such as pay-to-play practices, public-records access, political-party transparency, public appointments, and competitive insurance purchasing. The organization has stated that its model ordinances have been adopted by numerous New Jersey municipalities, with the exact number varying by project and date. The organization has also established Civic Trusts in urban and economically challenged New Jersey communities. These local, nonpartisan associations bring citizen leaders together in recurring Solution Sessions to study policies used elsewhere and adapt them for local adoption. Its civic-information work has included support for hyperlocal journalism through the New Jersey Hyperlocal News Association, later described as the New Jersey Online News Resource Group, and ownership of PatersonPress.com, a local news outlet founded in 2010. Projects described in reference materials include emergency-response support during the COVID-19 pandemic, policing-reform proposals following the murder of George Floyd, and a partnership with Middlesex County College to establish a Citizen Leadership Center in 2020. The organization’s work is especially associated with New Jersey state and municipal reform, although its training model has been presented as applicable more broadly. Available material does not establish a commercial product business, public-company status, or international operations.

The Citizens Campaign began in 1998 as The Center for Civic Responsibility, founded by Harry and Caroline Pozycki. Its basic premise was that residents could exert meaningful influence over public decisions through organized, informed participation in local institutions, even when they did not seek elected office. The organization later adopted the name The Citizens Campaign as its civic-empowerment mission expanded. The organization developed a framework centered on four local power centers: municipal governing bodies, school boards, planning boards, and local political parties. It taught that citizens could enter these systems through several routes, including proposing policies, reporting on community problems, representing neighborhoods within political parties, and serving on public boards and commissions. Harry Pozycki’s Citizen Power: A Citizen Leadership Manual, published by Rutgers University Press, presented this framework and associated practical guidance. Its Law and Policy Task Force became an important vehicle for converting civic concerns into model laws and ordinances. Led by former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Gary Stein and supported by volunteer legal and government experts, the task force worked on political transparency, public records, pay-to-play restrictions, competitive procurement, and citizen access to public service. In 2009, proposals associated with the organization contributed to adoption of New Jersey’s Party Democracy Act and Citizen Service Act. The first addressed transparency and vacancy procedures within county political parties; the second required municipalities to publish information about boards and commissions. The organization also promoted pay-to-play reform. It developed model rules restricting political contributions by entities seeking certain government contracts and supported state and local reforms. Its work encountered resistance in some municipalities, where officials argued that the issue should be handled by the state legislature rather than through separate local ordinances. The organization additionally advocated best-price insurance contracting, seeking competitive broker selection, multiple quotations, and procurement arrangements designed to reduce public costs. In Newark, residents working with the organization successfully advanced seven reform ordinances after Cory Booker became mayor. The measures addressed subjects including pay-to-play, developer disclosure, public appointments, fundraising on public property, an inspector general, employee contributions to mayoral campaigns, and developer contributions during redevelopment proceedings. In Paterson, the organization supported the creation of an Environmental Commission, which helped the city qualify for Sustainable Jersey certification. Education became another major part of the model. The Academy for Citizen Empowerment offered free adult courses on local leadership and public service. Solutions Civics and Power Civics materials were used in secondary and higher education, with the referenced materials identifying New Jersey high schools and universities in several states as adopters or users. Civic Trusts extended the method into local communities by bringing residents together in recurring sessions to identify successful policies and advocate for their adaptation. The organization also supported local information ecosystems. Its New Jersey Hyperlocal News Association, later described as the New Jersey Online News Resource Group, provided training, story-planning guidance, public-records assistance, and networking for local journalists and citizen reporters. It owned PatersonPress.com, founded in October 2010, which received New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists recognition for online independent journalism and public service. In 2020, the organization described new work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including community emergency teams and distribution of essential supplies. It also advanced policing-reform proposals after George Floyd’s murder, including civilian review boards, de-escalation training, use-of-force accountability, and youth-inclusive public safety councils. A partnership with Middlesex County College in 2020 established a Citizen Leadership Center and supported expansion of the training model through community colleges. The available references describe the organization as continuing its civic-education and local-reform mission, but do not provide a current staff roster, financial profile, or independently verified nationwide scale.

• 2020

  Citizen Leadership Center partnership

  [1]The Citizens Campaignen.wikipedia.org

  The Citizens Campaign partnered with Middlesex County College on training, courses, online continuing education, and a Civic Trust based at the college’s Perth Amboy center.

• 2018

  Solutions Civics enters school curricula

  [1]The Citizens Campaignen.wikipedia.org

  Solutions Civics materials were adopted into mandatory social studies curricula in high schools in Newark, Trenton, Plainfield, and Perth Amboy, according to the referenced account.

• 2010

  PatersonPress.com founded

  [1]The Citizens Campaignen.wikipedia.org

  The organization’s referenced materials identify October 2010 as the founding date of its Paterson hyperlocal news outlet.

• 2009

  Party Democracy Act adopted

  [1]The Citizens Campaignen.wikipedia.org

  New Jersey enacted legislation concerning county political-party rules, public access to party documents, and vacancy-election procedures.

• 2009

  Citizen Service Act adopted

  [1]The Citizens Campaignen.wikipedia.org

  New Jersey required municipalities to maintain directories of boards and commissions, including membership, terms, and vacancies.

• 1998

  Organization founded

  [1]The Citizens Campaignen.wikipedia.org

  Harry and Caroline Pozycki founded the organization, originally known as The Center for Civic Responsibility.

A nonpartisan civic-empowerment organization focused on practical citizen leadership, local policy adoption, government transparency, and community-level political participation.

• Civic education publication

  Citizen Power

  Citizen Power: A Citizen Leadership Manual is a training and reference publication associated with Harry Pozycki and published by Rutgers University Press. It explains the organization’s framework of local governmental power centers and describes practical routes through which residents can develop proposals, obtain appointments, participate in political organizations, and influence public decisions.

• Civic education program

  Power Civics

  Power Civics is an educational toolkit designed to teach students and community members how to understand government, identify public problems, develop solutions, and participate constructively in civic life. The materials were used in college courses and in the Citizen Leadership Center model.

• Civic education program · 2018

  Solutions Civics

  Solutions Civics presents civic participation as practical problem-solving. Its teaching materials connect classroom civics with local policy proposals and community action, and were reported as adopted in high-school social studies programs in several New Jersey cities in 2018.

• Leadership training

  Academy for Citizen Empowerment

  The Academy for Citizen Empowerment is the organization’s adult-learning arm. It has offered free online and in-person classes, including Paths to Service instruction on local boards, commissions, political organizations, and other channels for community leadership.

• Community organizing platform

  Civic Trusts

  Civic Trusts are nonpartisan local civic associations, particularly in economically challenged urban communities. Their participants meet in Solution Sessions to study policies used elsewhere, adapt them to local circumstances, and advocate for adoption with organizational guidance and strategic support.

• 2009Party Democracy Act

  New Jersey

  The Law and Policy Task Force helped develop legislation requiring county political parties to maintain accessible constitutions and bylaws and to use transparent, secret-ballot procedures when filling certain vacancies.

  Outcome. Enacted as New Jersey Public Law 2009, chapter 135.

  Source
• 2009Citizen Service Act

  New Jersey

  The organization supported legislation requiring municipalities to publish information about boards and commissions, including members, terms, and open seats.

  Outcome. Enacted as New Jersey Public Law 2009, chapter 141.

  Source
• Pay-to-play reform

  New Jersey

  The organization developed state, county, and municipal proposals limiting political contributions by entities seeking certain public contracts and promoting greater transparency in government contracting.

  Outcome. The organization reported state-level reforms, executive action, and adoption of model ordinances by numerous municipalities; the referenced materials also describe resistance in some communities.

  Source
• Best Price Insurance Contracting

  New Jersey

  A procurement reform campaign sought competitive broker selection, flat-fee arrangements, and multiple insurance quotations for municipalities and school districts.

  Outcome. The organization reported savings in several municipalities and school districts, but the available reference does not provide independently verified financial documentation.

  Source
• Newark reform ordinances

  Newark, New Jersey

  Residents supported seven reform ordinances covering contracting, developer disclosures, public appointments, fundraising, an inspector general, employee contributions, and redevelopment-related political contributions.

  Outcome. The referenced material states that all seven proposed ordinances passed.

  Source
• Paterson environmental organizing

  Paterson, New Jersey

  The organization assisted residents in establishing an Environmental Commission and promoting a best-price insurance contracting ordinance.

  Outcome. The Environmental Commission helped Paterson qualify for Sustainable Jersey certification, according to the reference.

  Source

• 2020

  Launch community COVID-19 response plansStrategy

  Background

  The pandemic created urgent needs for protective supplies, food, quarantine support, and community-level communication.

  Action taken

  Civic Trusts proposed expanding Community Emergency Response Teams, distributing masks, food, and quarantine kits, and using community connectors to facilitate contact tracing.

  Aftermath

  The available reference describes the plans but does not provide measured outcomes.

  Source

• 2020

  Advance change-of-culture policing reformsStrategy

  Background

  The murder of George Floyd prompted renewed public debate about police accountability and community oversight.

  Action taken

  The organization promoted civilian complaint review boards, stronger de-escalation training, use-of-force-based promotion and salary accountability, and Citizens Public Safety Advisory Councils with youth participation.

  Aftermath

  The reference identifies the proposals but does not document their implementation or outcomes.

  Source

• 2020

  Establish Citizen Leadership Center partnershipStrategy

  Background

  The organization sought to extend civic-leadership training through higher education and community-college networks.

  Action taken

  It partnered with Middlesex County College to place Citizen Power and Power Civics in courses, offer online continuing education, and connect trained students with a Civic Trust.

  Aftermath

  The organization announced a contest intended to encourage additional community-college partnerships across the country.

  Source

1. 1The Citizens Campaignen.wikipedia.org