Just to be clear: This is an idea. It's a beta. But with your encouragement we think it could work.

Here's our argument: Just as engines need spark plugs, cities need people who can turn good ideas into action.The private sector knows this. The marketplace celebrates innovators and entrepreneurs who dream up the next big idea for a product or a company. But in the civic arena, it's a different story.

There's no research and development and very little real risk-taking. Instead, resources are dependent on short-term ‘deliverables’. Projects that tilt political are seen as troublesome or worse. Young leaders aren't given meaningful opportunities to prove their stuff. Too often rigid board structures and bureaucracies call the shots. Staying power and safety are rewarded rather than insight and ingenuity.

Sure, in Toronto we talk a good game about innovation and leadership. But we seem to forget that real innovation is messy and that failure is often as important as success.

We talk about creativity, but we don't invest in it — much less in the real dreamers, tireless inventors and public convenors — the people who are out there on the edge, and reporting back to the rest of us where we could go and how we could get there.

Just as a tree begins with a tiny seed and a lot of water, our greatest city projects begin with seed planters that require resources to transform their ideas into reality. Often, once the project gets off the ground, conventional funding becomes attainable. Civic entrepreneurs income stream to support their work, especially when they are at the earliest stages of developing innovative projects that have the potential to help transform our city. 'Crowdsourcing' an income for proven CityBuilders fundamentally is what CityPatron is all about.

Okay. We know that patronage is an old-fashioned word and carries a lot of other baggage besides. But when we think about 'patronage' we're thinking about it as a business model — one with a remarkable and rich history. Before there were arts councils or science foundations, there were patrons enobling themselves or their cities by funding artists and inventors to create works of unique beauty or public utility.

We want to democratize the patronage process. After all, why should it only be rich people who get to work with artists and inventors and share in the excitement and beauty of their creative process?

This is a simple idea. To start, the CityPatron program will select four to six new CityBuilders each year. CityBuilders will be extraordinary Torontonians who have a track record of creating public value for the city. This could include creating works of art, activism or civic entrepreneurship — but broadly we mean people who work to make the city a better, more interesting place for its residents.

CityBuilders will post a profile and, importantly, a program of work. This program will outline what they propose to do for the funding or patronage they receive. CityPatrons will then support the CityBuilder of their choice, pledging $5, $10, $20, $50 or $100 a month for one year. In return, the CityBuilder will provide his or her patrons with a monthly newsletter that chronicles their work, and invitations to special events held periodically throughout the year.

If this works as we intend, CityPatrons will get to support a program of work they believe in, and share in the CityBuilder's creative process and success. CityBuilders get access to the resources they need to get on with their work, creating a better, livelier city.