Citizen Participation Ken Thomson, Editor

The articles in this department have been written by Athena Bradley, staff writer for Citizen Participation, a publication of Lin- coln Filene Center for Citizenship and Pub- lic Affairs.

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Thinking Globally, Acting Locally

During the last few years, more than 1,000 local governments in the United States have taken action on foreign af- fairs issues. Once dismissed as trivial and symbolic, such initiatives are be- coming increasingly mainstream and effective.

For example, more than 900 local governments now have nuclear freeze resolutions. Nonbinding resolutions supporting a comprehensive test ban have passed in 176 communities. And a coalition of over 600 mayors, city council members, and county supervi- sors, called Local Elected Officials for Social Responsibility, has formed to support local efforts toward reversing the arms race.

At least 70 cities and 19 states have divested more than $20 billion in as- sets from firms doing business in South Africa. At last count, 759 American cities have established 1,120 sister city relationships with cities in the Soviet Union, China, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Many, in-

cluding Chicago and Los Angeles, are sanctuary cities for Guatemalan and Salvadoran refugees.

Some communities have even creat- ed their own local office of foreign af- fairs. “Peace Commissions” have been established in Cambridge, MA; Washington, DC; Boulder County, CO; and Eugene, OR. The Cambridge Peace Commission spends $20,000 a year on activities such as educating citizens about arms control, develop- ing a sister city relationship, providing sanctuary for Central American refu- gees, and encouraging area military contractors to diversify. The Commis- sion’s projects have involved citizens from all backgrounds and walks of life throughout the city.

In Seattle, an Office of International Affairs has been opened. In its first year, the office has a staff of four and a budget of $250,000. Its goals include coordinating Seattle’s tourism, trade, and exchanges with 13 sister cities (in- cluding Tashkent in the Soviet Union and Managua in Nicaragua). New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, and Boston have recently opened similar offices.

Community Reinvestment Movement

Remember “redlining”? The name

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originated with a practice of some banks in the 1970s which would liter- ally “draw” red lines on city maps around neighborhoods to which they would not make loans. This practice gave birth to a movement led by Gale Cincotta of National People’s Action that pushed for passage of the Feder- al Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) in 1974 and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in 1975. The HMDA requires that banks report on the locations of their home mortgage and home improvement loans, and the CRA requires that banks serve the en- tire community by helping them meet their credit needs. Although recent studies show that some banks redline neighborhoods, many communities are now able to challenge questionable bank practices through the provisions of the CRA.

Challenging a bank through the CRA is difficult, and often unsuccess- ful. Nevertheless, in the last ten years, citizen groups in more than 100 com- munities have convinced banks to ex- tend more credit to low-income and minority neighborhoods. Two such groups are the Reinvestment Alliance in Washington, DC and the Shelby County (TN) Community Reinvest- ment Coalition (SCCRC). The Alli- ance, a coalition of 25, largely c.ommunity-based organizations, be- gan in 1985 when a wide range of groups came together to discuss how to challenge the lack of bank invest- ment in low-income Washington neigh- borhoods. Their first victory won a commitment for $10 million in loans

over a five year period, and an increas- ing interest in other projects by sever- al banks.

SCCRC began in August 1986 with seven community-based organizations. It has since grown to include more than 30 Memphis area groups. It won its first challenge when Leader Federal Bank agreed to assign a special loan officer to oversee service for low in- come people and to publish the avail- ability of loans in low-income commu- nities. SCCRC has also won an agree- ment with First Tennessee National Bank that the bank will provide the Shelby County Revolving Home Loan Fund with $500,000, as well as pledg- ing %2,000,000 from its own revolving loan pool.

Contact: The Center for Community Change, 1000 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20007; (202) 342-0519.

“Fight and Switch” Campaign

Some 75 million American con- sumers now hold credit cards. Concern over the high interest rates being charged for most of these cards prompted six national consumer or- ganizations to launch the “Fight and Switch” campaign. The campaign en- courages people holding credit cards to protest high interest rates by switching to lower rate cards. State and local con- sumer groups across the nation have been able to generate significant me- dia coverage, popular support, and government interest.

Prodded by the Michigan Citizens

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Lobby, Michigan has published an “Honor roll” of state banks with rela- tively low rates, and a “Dishonor roll” of state banks with high rates. These efforts have had extensive media and citizen response. Several banks on the “Honor roll” have also reported a rise in applications for their credit cards.

The Idaho Consumer Affairs, Inc., a coalition of consumer groups, creat- ed such a stir that 105 Idaho credit un- ions have joined its “Fight and Switch” campaign. Many of the campaign ef- forts by consumer groups in North Carolina and California have concen- trated on supporting bills in their state legislatures to put a cap on credit card interest rates.

Contact: Consumer Federation of Ameri- ca, 1424 16th St, N.W., Washington, DC 20036: (202) 387-6121.

“Motor Voter” Laws In 1984, 53 percent of eligible voters

in this country did not vote. State laws and practices that make voter registra- tion difficult often contribute to the low turnout at elections. To overcome such barriers, “Motor Voter” laws al- low for voters to register at the same time they apply for a driver’s license. These laws have already been enacted in Michigan, Arizona, and Colorado (Arizona and Colorado through bal- lot initiatives by citizen groups).

The IRC has also received a $15,000 grant to educate citizens in California, Oregon, Washington, and possibly Massachusetts, about “Motor Voter” programs. The IRC will also fund

groups in these states to begin or ex- pand their own programs to inform the public about “Motor Voter.’’

ContzyInitiative Resource Center (IRC), Box 65023, Washington, DC 20035; (202) 387-8030.

Citizens Take on the Army and Win!

For the first time ever, the US. Army has agreed to pay to clean up a com- munity’s water supply that had been polluted by a nearby weapons facility. The reason: Citizen action. For years the residents of Commerce City, Colorado, and other Adams County communities had problems with their water. Unusually high rates of cancer and other illnesses were reported. De- termined to act against the pollution, a group of residents formed the Citizens Against Contamination (CAC) in 1985.

With the help of an already estab- lished Denver area umbrella organiza- tion, the Metropolitan Organization of People (MOP), area residents began by finding out what exactly was in the water supply, and what its dangers were. The two groups organized a ser- ies of public meetings to discuss the evidence, and find out who was responsible for the pollution. The Ar- my’s Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a weapons facility, became a main sus- pect. The group’s findings were presented to the news media.

Residents organized a meeting with EPA, and the agency agreed to close the two most contaminated wells, and

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to begin investigating the source of the pollution. CAC and MOP had also been in contact with Colorado’s sena- tors and representatives to get them to pressure the Army and EPA.

Shortly after this, a local health offi- cial put out a memo that advised Adams county residents to boil their water or drink bottled water. At this point more than 1,000 people attend- ed a meeting where the Army was asked to provide bottled water to the residents. The Army representative present agreed to do so; in addition, he admitted for the first time that the Arsenal was a source of the pollution and agreed to set up a temporary filtra- tion system to clean up the contami- nated water.

Continued pressure by residents con- vinced the Army to provide a perma- nent carbon filtration system worth over $6 million. CAC’s next project is to get the Army to clean up the Arsenal itself.

oversee planning for toxic accidents. So far all but ten have done so. But many environmentalists fear that states have failed to include the citizen involve- ment necessary for the law’s success- ful implementation. For example, New York’s Governor Mario Cuomo serves on his state’s commission (an option permitted under the law). In Washing- ton state, three state officials comprise the commission. By contrast, Loui- siana’s state commission was changed after environmentalists, labor and other public interest groups protested the original all-official composition. As a result, eight new positions were created on the commission, including four for labor and three for environ- mental and citizen groups.

These state commissions will be responsible for appointing and over- seeing local boards which will develop the actual emergency response plans. Thus, the commissions hold a great deal of influence over how the rest of the program is carried out.

Superfund’s Citizen Participation

As part of the five-year reauthori- zation of the toxic waste cleanup act (“Superfund”), communities are per- mitted to obtain information from in- dustry about toxins released into the environment and are to be involved in establishing emergency response sys- tems to potentially hazardous accidents.

By April, 1987, governors across the nation were to have appointed state emergency response commissions to

Involving Parents in School Dropout Prevention

A special project has been designed by the National Committee for Citizens in Education (NCCE) and the Baltimore City Public Schools to in- crease parent involvement in dropout prevention at one of the city’s middle schools. Project developers determined that low-income, minority parents in the Harlem Park school district need assistance in a number of areas, includ-

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ing help with homework, and discus- sion and counseling of teen problems. These services and others will be offered to small groups and individu- al parents. In addition, a full-time par- ent coordinator, a resident of the area, will work out of a neighborhood center to encourage parent participation and distribute a parent newsletter and other information.

The goals of the Harlem Park project are to improve the confidence and competence of parents to in- fluence school success, to enlist par-

ents in the battle against dropping out, and to reduce the loss of children be- tween middle school and high school by 25 percent. Those involved with im- plementing the project maintain that parent, involvement must be central to any successful dropout prevention program.

NCCE operates a National Center for Parents in Dropout Prevention. For more information contact: NCCE, 10840 Little Patuxent Parkway, Suite 301, Columbia, MD 21044; (301) 997-9300.