CU feedback (PDF)

Page 1:
(subhead: Jon Barret comments (JB): Change to "The first survey of city leaders to...")
Page 2
Michelle on first paragraph:
-An Initiative can’t conduct a survey
-How much attention do we want to draw to city managers, it was just a few)
Michelle on second paragraph:
This list seems like a mishmash of responses from different questions about different things
(the country v. city, now v. in 10 years) and is misleading. Also, "crumbling infrastructure" feels
worn.
Michelle on third paragraph:
Leading with the fund is an odd choice. That question feels very in the weeds and not really a
proxy for innovation.
PAGE 3
Michelle on second paragraph:
The data points highlighted here seem odd and don't really paint a picture.
Michelle on third paragraph:
This is a misinterpretation of the data. Our survey clearly showed that the opioid crisis was not
widely felt, but deeply felt in specific places.
JB on ACI section lead:
It's not immediately clear that "find and answer" in the first sentence is referring to the
question asked above. Safer to assume people aren't reading all of the display text. Perhaps: "In
June 2017, MRB launched a new $200 million initiative to empower city leaders to generate
innovation and advance policy that moves the nation forward."
The dashes in here are inconsistent with the rest of the document.
Page 4:
Michelle: It's not common to turn the sample description into a graphic. Normally this is buried
at the end.
Michelle on non white/Hispanic: This should be 14% (rather than 15%). We have updated the
data since then.
SECTION 1 Title page
Michelle: I would re-frame this around the overall concept of more demands, less support.
Infrastructure feels small here.

PAGE 6:
Michelle: We have a lot of quotes if folks want options
Room for Improvement section
Michelle: One of the interesting things is that this was an open-ended question, which means
these mayors said this unprompted. We might want a way to signal that fact.
Pullquote
Michelle: I would put what is in the parentheses in a footnote or in an appendix.
Page 7
Michelle on revenue challenges: This phrasing is awkward. Maybe budget or money or
resources?
Michelle on quotes in top half: Neither of these quotes supports the top responses. Maybe we
should sub in new quotes?
Jon on pull quotes here and next page: Should have quotes for all.
Page 10
Michelle: Can we add some framing language here about why innovation is important at the
municipal level? And then something explaining why asking about capacity is a proxy for
capability?
Michelle on private support for public programs: This one seems in the weeds.
Page 11
Michelle on top half: Should we organize this in descending order? Should we put some framing
language about why citizen engagement is imp and a key part of innovation in city hall?
Michelle on second half: I don't think this table is useful. Maybe there are a couple of data
points to pull out.
Section 3 title page
Content seems to be missing.
Michelle on subhead: Should we frame this in a bigger way, beyond the immediate
relationships? Maybe something around how the dysfunction we see elsewhere isn't the driving
force in cities, maybe how the "palace intrigue" of DC gives way to pragmatic problem-solving
in city halls?
Section 4 title page
Michelle on subhead: There's nothing about opioids.

Page 16
Michelle on intro: The fact that this isn't very controversial, even among Republican mayors, is
striking. Perhaps that's what we can highlight in the text here.
JB on table on upper left: would switch places with Republicans and Northeast, so Dem and
Repub are together at top with geographical regions grouped below.
Michelle on table below: This table isn't particularly useful. Perhaps we can pull out a couple of
points? It helps build the argument I mentioned above, about how bc the public opinion # is
low, the real challenge is $, not political fights.
Page 17
Michelle on intro: We should make the point that we are describing activities already occurring
in cities.
Michelle on coloring: Can we shade so dark is more and as the hue lightens is goes gradually to
no experience? Right not it's not intuitive.