What is the Dignify NY Campaign

Local government has always involved disagreement, and that’s a good thing. Healthy disagreement is essential to good government. The issue is not disagreement. The issue is how we treat one another while we disagree.

That’s the thinking behind NYCOM’s new initiative: Dignify NY.

The tone of public discourse has become increasingly divisive, and personal attacks, ridicule and hostile interactions are making it harder to conduct the public’s business — affecting elected officials, municipal employees and residents alike.

Dignity goes a step further than civility: it’s about recognizing the value of the person on the other side of the disagreement. It doesn’t mean avoiding accountability or having less debate. It means being able to criticize decisions, ask difficult questions and advocate forcefully without degrading the person on the other side.

As the people on the ground working every day to move our communities forward, local officials may disagree — sometimes strongly — but we still have to find common ground and do the work.

That’s why Dignify NY is focused on raising awareness, giving officials a shared vocabulary and providing the framework and tools to help change the tone.

Dignify NY is an invitation to disagree without demeaning, to debate without attacking, and to remember that how we treat one another is an important part of how we govern.