How timely that this topic should arise on the Mpls. Issues list. The Center
For
Neighborhoods, along with co-sponsors Center for Policy, Planning and Performance,
the Wilder Foundation-Center for Communities, the U of MN's Center for Urban and
Regional Affairs, and Macalester's Urban Studies Department, has been holding a
series of workshops on the topic of citizen participation with the intent of
producing a "Citizen Participation Compact" report. Tomorrow evening is the fourth,
and final, meeting in the series. The first meeting included participants from both
Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the session tomorrow evening will also be a joint
gathering of people from both sides of the Mississippi River. The two in-between
sessions were held with participants meeting in each of their respective cities. If
my memory serves me correctly, enrollment for this series of workshops was announced
on this e-list. Elected officials, neighborhood and community leaders, as well as the
broader municipal community were invited to participate in this process.
This series of Citizen Participation Compact workshops have been held as
follow-up
to the 8th Annual State of Neighborhoods Address that occurred on July 17, 2003. At
that event there was a panel presentation by several memers of the Community Summit
Task Force (David Rubedor, Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Assn.; Greg Luce, Project
504; and Ramon Leon, Latino Business Development Center). Here is a weblink to the
Task Force's full report:
http://www.center4neighborhoods.org/Community_Summit%20report%20PDF.pdf
The Citizen Participation Compact was convened with the objective of creating a
citizen participation compact for each city, Minneapolis and St. Paul, for use with
all opportunities where there is both formal and informal citizen participation.
Those of us attending these sessions have worked on:
1. Establishing principles that assert the goals of the citizen participation
system,
2. Defining actions that describe how those principles can be accomplished,
3. Identifying the roles and responsibilities of each of the partners
(governmental,
commercial, organizational, academic) toward fulfilling those goals, and
4. Suggesting ways for holding those partners accountable to the principles and
actions outlined in the compact.
The hoped for goal of these workshops is centered around developing an
understanding
of how each of the above four points must contribute in supporting the system of
citizen participation, to find ways to broaden involvement by diverse community
interests, and to help one another improve our efforts to create a rich and vibrant
forum for public engagement. Believe me, while this sounds somewhat theoretical,
perhaps even academic, the compact process has been a lively, reality-bound sharing
of both the best and the worst in the workshop participants' citizen participation
experience in their respective cities. Many, but certainly not all, workshop
participants are veterans of years of civic involvement at one level or another.
In short, if the above-cited document from the Community Summit Task Force
outlines
a possible VISION for citizen participation, then what the guiding PRINCIPLES are to
which each partner in the participation process will abide, what the RESPONSIBILITIES
are of each partner throughout the participation process, what ROLE will each partner
play in the process and its final outcome (decision-maker, advisor, etc.), and what
method(s) of ACCOUNTABILITY will be used to ensure adherence to the integrity of the
participation process, is what the four workshops have been grappling with.
(Capitalized words are for the purpose of emphasis, not "shouting.")
Though there is information I could share that has been generated in the three
workshops to date, I am not at liberty to make that information public at this time.
Near the close of tomorrow night's final workshop, we will be discussing our thoughts
and ideas about what the next steps should be in this compact process, and how the
information that has been an outgrowth of that process might be used to further the
work of a broader and more meaningful civic engagement. I, or perhaps someone else
who has been involved in this process, will share the results of our work as soon as
possible following tomorrow night's last meeting.
One point that I believe I can share without compromising the citizen
participation
compact work is this: Over and over one word kept arising in our talks. That word is
INTEGRITY. This is considered a key component to the success of any civic engagement
process. Without integrity there can be no trust. Without trust between all parties
engaged in the process there cannot be a truly successful, satisfying, and meaningful
outcome.
In closing, I also wish to commend and thank Tom Leighton for kicking off this
thread. As a member, from the East Phillips neighborhood, serving on the Lake Street
Reconstruction & Repaving Project Advisory Committee, the citizen compact workshops
and Tom's remarks, questions, concerns are most timely.
Jenny Heiser
East Phillips Neighborhood
East Phillips Improvement Coalition member
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of
> List Manager
> Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 10:57 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: [Mpls] Community input on projects
>
>
> > I'd be interested to
> > hear other stories about neighborhood input on development projects, and what
> > people learned about the kinds of input that was appropriate/inappropriate or
> > effective/ineffective. After we trade some illustrative stories, I was
> > thinking we could try a Issues List conversation on whether and how
> > neighborhood input can still be meaningful, even where it must be balanced
> > against overall city policies, and limited by the particular context of the
> > decision at hand?
>
> First, Tom, thanks for the incredibly constructive suggestion. It's great
> that a city employee takes the time to plumb the list for actual experiences
> and think of a way to help constructively affect city policy.
>
> I hope even if list members' experiences with neighborhood input were
> negative, we take the high road to help figure out a better way if one is
> necessary.
>
> David Brauer
> List manager
>
> REMINDERS:
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>
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