Mission & Values

The Public Life Foundation of Owensboro seeks to build a stronger foundation for public life. We facilitate broad and meaningful citizen participation in community decision-making and public policy.

“I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their won control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education.”

The central value of the foundation is DEMOCRATIC PROCESS. Democratic process empowers informed citizens to discuss issues, seek solutions, and create a better community.

Several additional values play a critical role in this democratic process:

OPENNESS – enhances citizens’ access to information, their participation in deliberation, and their ability to access public decisions.

JUSTICE – requires that all citizens have equal access to information and deliberation – and an equal voice in policy decisions.

STEWARDSHIP – asks responsible leaders to strengthen public institutions by encouraging citizen involvement.

VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS – mobilize people on behalf of the common good. When these values are fostered, the outcome is more likely to be an ETHICAL COMMUNITY that solves problems by overcoming divisions between the rich and poor, black and white, urban and rural, liberal and conservative.