Steven Clift wrote:
> Does NRP or anyone for that matter produce trainings or guidelines for
> local/neighborhood democracy?
The NRP does provide training for contractors. They also stress
resident participation. However, there is no viable recourse when
democratic processes breakdown. NRP contacts do require
a grievance process, but grievances are adjudicated by the same
group that you have a complaint against. You can appeal to
the NRP, but, as far as I understand it, to have your grievance
heard you have to agree to abide by whatever decision
they make. And once again your grievance is being heard by the
same organization that your grievance refers to. The only other
recourse is the courts, which is cost prohibitive for most people.
I filed a grievance because at one meeting, I was repeated
heckled while trying to speak. The grievance was summarily
dismissed and the grievance committee wouldn't even answer
my questions about structure of the process and then cut me
off and would not allow me to present my case.
It is not that hard to make this a fair process, it just requires binding
arbitration (not mediation which is quite different). I believe that our
local group's grievance police did offer arbitration as a option, but
after a number of grievances were filed they wrote arbitration
out of the policy.
> While it has been suggested that neighborhoods are non-profits and not
> government units, has this ever been tested in the courts?
It has not been tested in the courts in reference to the NRP, which
I believe is a special case because the nature of the program requires
citizen participation.
> I worked a lot
> with government information access policy at the state for a few years, at
> it seemed to me that with government money often flowed some application
> of the data practices act. Also why do the state's open meeting laws not
> apply if government money is being allocated? Or do they really?
The data practices act has been more strongly supported by the courts.
The open meeting law has been weakened by the courts. The open legal
question is: When the government contacts out business that it normally
conducts itself, are the contracting agents responsible for granting the same
rights to individuals that would have been required from the government.
In other words, if the city council is subject to the open meeting law and the
data practices act when they make budgetary decisions, then if these
decisions are handled by NRP contracts do these laws apply to them?
I believe the answer is yes.
Mike Atherton
Prospect Park
Ward 2
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