Thank you David. I could never do as brilliant of a job on a point by point discussion of the NRP and the neighborhood associations. I would like to say a special "here-here" to his public recognition of the non-partisan nature of neighborhood work. My own ongoing interest in neighborhood work has been nurtured by my experience of working alongside people of incredibly diverse political backgrounds for a common social goal. Not only has it been a wonderful learning experience, now I can say with more than a tongue-in-cheek that some of my best friends really ARE Republicans, even a couple Libertarians! I would like to add two comments: 1) The value of participatory democracy as a complement to representative democracy; and 2) The relative success of the Minneapolis NRP model for citizen participation. First as a matter of personal disclosure, I am very involved in neighborhoods. First as a volunteer, then as the past Executive Coordinator of the Lyndale Neighborhood Association. I served a term as an elected representative to the NRP Policy Board. I have been very involved in the Center for Neighborhoods, most recently as their President. I do extensive organizational development work with grassroots organizations, including neighborhood groups, in the Twin Cities and around the country. I am also on the board of the Lyndale Neighborhood Development Corporation. 1) The value of participatory democracy as a complement to representative democracy. There is much made of the degree to which neighborhood organizations are representative of the demographics and the opinions of the people within their defined area of interest. I think that this misses the real value of a grassroots community involvement. Most neighborhood groups are built on a foundation of participatory democracy rather than representative democracy. The principle of participatory democracy, to provide an opportunity to engage in the ongoing civic affairs, has a long and rich tradition in American political and civic life. Most social movements for positive, progressive change were built and lead by organizations which incorporate the principles of participatory democracy rather than representative democracy. Participatory democracy believes that people can and should come together, advocate for their own interests, and work together to improve their own lot. Effective participatory democracy inherently works best for the people who choose to participate. It also works best when there are minimal barriers to meaningful participation. I would argue, and I am certainly not the first nor the most qualified, that representative democracy while very effective at distilling the majority perspective and with appropriate safe guards protecting minority rights does not do an incredibly effective job of marshaling necessary resources to bring about real civic and social change. A healthy representative democracy needs a healthy civic life where people are activly engaged in discussing, advocating, and participating in community affairs. A healthy representative democracy must be complemented by a healthy participatory democracy. The paradoxical need for structural support and institutional independence as part of the complementary process leads to confusing roles of and for the non profit organizations that serve as the formalized structures of the participatory democracy. 2) The relative success of the Minneapolis NRP model for citizen participation. I, like Tim, am extremely suspicious whenever the terms "best", "leading", "exemplary", "foremost" are ever used to describe Minnesota initiatives. I too have found that Minnesotans are quick to consider themselves at the forefront of progressive change without a fair or complete understanding of what else is being done nationally. >From my limited experience traveling around the country consulting with, viewing, visiting, and learning from citizen participation efforts I feel comfortable proposing that: a. The NRP has the highest level of ongoing citizen participation for a city it's size. this is true both is gross numbers as wells as total hours per citizen. b. The NRP is considered one of the financially most effective citizen participation programs in the country. This is calculated by considering the costs of planning as it relates to implementation, and the total amount of human and financial resources leveraged by program initiatives. c. The NRP program is being used as a model in the development or redesign of citizen participation programs around the country -- with the basic principle of engaging citizens in both planning and implementation with an initial commitments of resources being the key learning of what makes NRP successful in leveraging human and financial resources. I should add that I think that there is a lot of room for improvement in the NRP and the citizen participation system in Minneapolis. But that of course would be another post. Joseph Barisonzi Lyndale 10-7 _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
