A Central Oregon nonprofit is asking residents across three counties and the Warm Springs Reservation to do something unusual: weigh in on artificial intelligence before local decisions get made without them.
The Central Oregon Civic Action Project (COCAP) launched the 2026 Community Solutions Assembly on AI this spring, a three-phase public process designed to bring a representative cross-section of everyday residents into the conversation on how AI is affecting — and should affect — life in the region. Two of those phases are open for participation right now.
The first is an anonymous online poll, open to all Central Oregon residents through mid-June. It takes about five minutes and works differently from a standard survey: participants can submit their own ideas and vote on responses from other community members, building a real-time picture of where the region agrees, where it doesn’t, and what common ground already exists.
“This is a different kind of poll,” said Josh Burgess, COCAP’s founder and executive director. “It’s not just checking boxes. People contribute their own perspectives and respond to each other’s ideas. That’s how you get a real picture of what a community actually thinks.”
Residents can take the poll at oregon.bloomproject.us/landing.
The second phase — Community Conversations — runs through June. These are small group discussions, held both in person and online across the region, that go deeper into the themes the poll surfaces. Hosted and facilitated by COCAP’s local partner organizations, the conversations are open to anyone and require no background in AI or civic engagement.
Residents can sign up for conversations at oregon.bloomproject.us/conversations.
Both phases feed into the larger Assembly. This fall, a randomly selected group of Central Oregon residents — chosen to reflect the region’s actual demographics in terms of age, geography, income, political views, and more — will convene to deliberate and produce concrete recommendations for local, state, and AI oversight institutions and officials. Those recommendations will be public and formally delivered.
“We’re not talking for talk’s sake,” Burgess said. “The poll and the conversations are the foundation. They help us frame the question the assembly is based on. Everything builds toward real recommendations that will shape policies.”
COCAP ran a similar process in 2024, convening Oregon’s first Civic Assembly on the topic of youth homelessness in Deschutes County. The Assembly brought together a representative sample of residents over multiple sessions; their recommendations have since prompted active responses from the city, county, and local school districts.
The AI Assembly is being conducted in partnership with Citizens4Community, Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council and Community College, Mosaic Health, and the Bloom Project.
About COCAP:
The Central Oregon Civic Action Project is a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to collaborative problem solving in Central Oregon. It creates structured civic processes that bring residents across demographic and political divides into meaningful dialogue on community issues.
