ABSTRACT
The city of Tillamook itself lies just to the west of the Coast Range, near the mouth of Tillamook Bay. The economy of the area is deeply dependent on dairy farming and the manufacture and marketing of dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. Chris Ansell and Allison Gash, in their groundbreaking 2008 article, “Collaborative Governance in Theory and Practice,” defined collaborative governance somewhat narrowly, placing government in the center. Collaborative governance, as they defined it, is “a governing arrangement where one or more public agencies directly engage non-state stakeholders in a collective decision-making process that is formal, consensus-oriented, and deliberative and that aims to make or implement public policy or manage public programs or assets”. Collaborative governance is often utilized to resolve public policy differences, and looked to as an antidote for the stalemate and dysfunction of our current political climate.
