Progressive Planning Leader Pat Rosenthal andCommon Wealth Inc. of Youngstown, Ohio

by Pierre Clavel

C om m on Wealth Inc. is a Co m m unity DevelopmentCo rp or a tion (C DC) founded in Youngs town, Ohio,

th at began by supporting w ork er buyouts andcoo p erat ives in the 1980s. Its story is la rgely that of

Executive Director Pat Rosen th al. who turn ed to law

schoo l a nd organizing afte r th ree large stee l mills

closed and decimated You ngst own's economy in 1978.

Co m mon Wealth exe m plifies th e wa y ma ny CDCscha nged in th e 1980s a nd 1990s . CDCs bu ilt a lot of

affo rdable hou sin g, and m any beca me landl ord s,

but rea l es ta te development threatened to d isplaceth e original community developme nt mission ofcrea ting jobs and act ually in vol ving local resident sin im prov ing thei r own ne ig hbo rhoo ds and theirown live s. In contrast, Co m mo n \Vealt h excelled as aCDC fo r its ab ility, over two-a nd-a-hal f decades. to

naviga te its d ilem mas and s u rvive with man y of itsor ig inal goa ls intact.

Rosenthal wa s th e key to p reserv ing the CDC'sm iss ion . She had begun orga nizi ng by helping

incorpo ra te a wo rker-owne d houseclea ning

coop erative. In 1986 Rose nthal and her allies startedth e C DC a long w ith th e Co m mo n vvea lth Revolvi ng

Loa n Fu nd to su ppor t bot h wo rker-ow ned and-m an aged start-ups and the retention an d growth

of exi sting companies. In 1988 Com mo n Wealthin corporated a com m u ni ty la nd trust to rehab houses

in the city ' s Sou th Sid e. wh ile tr ain ing local youth in

construction tra des.

Committed Allies

Rosenthal had co mm itt ed a llies . Law associate andmento r Staughton Lynd had been instrumental in

the You ngstown Ecumen ica l Coa lition' s attempt toachi eve a worke r buyout o f o ne of the m ills, andhe hel ped orga nize Co mmo n Wealth 's effort to

20 PROGRESSIVE PLANNING

support coo pe ra tive ow nership a nd also served o n

its board . Bishop James W. Malon e, as head of th e

Roma n Catholic Diocese of Youngs town . committedmatchi ng funds and suppo rted prop osa ls subm itt ed

to the nati ona l Ca tho lic Campaign for HumanDeve lopme nt (CCHD). including a five-ye ar g rant

that funded Common Wea lth from 1988 to 1993and the loan loss rese rve . Joh n Logue. a political

science professo r at Ken t Sta te, focused on employeeownership and served as a un ify ing board memb er of

Co mmon Wealth from 1986 until his death in 2009.

In 1987 Rosenthal go t the support a nd in volvemen tof two newcomers to th e city. One was Brian Co rbin,who Malone hir ed as the socia l ac tion d irector for

th e d iocese a nd w ho was tasked wi th creati ng jobs.

The o the r was Jim Con verse. a socio log is t who had

worked at se veral unive rs ities and non -p ro fits .

Converse an d Rosenthal. wh o comple mented each

othe r profess ion ally, al so became a couple and

eventua lly married . w hi le a t th e same time p roviding

esse n tia l leadersh ip to th e o rga niz a tion.

Com m on Wealth moved ah ea d through tr ial and

error. Its effort to use th e loan fund to es tablis h

emp loyee-o w ned and -rn an aged bu sine sses

encou nte red o bs ta cles . Th e com munity land trust

fail ed to provide sig nifica nt jobs and training, and

residents were un able to ge ne rate equity or fun cti on

collec tive ly Rosenthal and Co nve rse could not

sus tai n th e em p loyee se lf-ma nagement a nd bu yout

mod el th ey initially en vi sion ed for th e loan fund .

Common Wealth's Housing Achievements

\Vha t Co m mon Wea lt h wa s abl e to do, inc rea s in gly

in th e 19905 , was d evelop affo rdable hou si ng.

Conve rse a nd Ros ent hal took th e lead gene ra ting

hou s in g p ro jects as they ma na ged p ubl ic h eari ngs

an d co nd uc ted o p ening negotia tions for two

projects beg in n ing in 1995 and 1996 in the land

trus t' s Sou th Side ne igh borhood . Later there we re

o the r project opport u n ities in surro u nd ing to wn s

li ke Ca m p be ll. and by 1999 Rose n tha l wa s abl e

to p ro ject ove r 300 units of new ho usin g und er

con structi on or co mp le ted .

Thi s expansion was possibl e because of Mark IVhipkey.

wh o star ted working for Common Wealth in 1991

and pla yed a major role in planning and pa ckag ing

these projects. Rosentha l descr ibed Whip key'S

functio ns as a d ifferent " laye r" of capacity, one she

and Co nverse could not ha ve p rovide d. T heirs was

represe nta tion, advocacy and political bridge-building .

But it wa s Whipkey who drov e the development team

professionals, pl ans and ap plications so that projects

could go for ward profitabl y. He also managed the

cons tru ctio n so that projects stayed with in budgets and

time lines, mak ing it poss ible rebudget construction

contingencies to cov er develop er fees ins tead of go ing

to cons truction cost ove r ru ns. Eve ntually there we re

nin e projects and severa l hundred un its yie ldi ng a

strea m of d iscret iona ry incom e.

Staying Focused on the Big Picture

O ne key to Common Wealths emergence as a ma jor

pl ay er in Youngstown an d the region in th e 1990s

was that it s leadership never p rojected a narro wness

of conce rn . The ori g inal mission ca me from th e

shared ex pe rience and mem or y of th e fail ed stee l

bu yout atte mpt at th e end of th e 1970s . It was n ev er

just hou sin g. And when it was hou sin g . it wa s a

conce rn w ith how hou sin g sa t within th e struct ure of

bu sin ess in th e community.

In ret rospect, a key m ove was Com mon Wealth's

decis ion to take the lead by inserting itself in

Co mmunity Rein vest ment Act (CRA) hearings. CRA

was the resul t of a 1970s fed era l law requiring banks

to invest in low-incom e co mmunihes if they wanted

to ex pand se rvices o r acqu ire small co mm unity ­

orien ted banks. Many took noti ce when Rosenthal

and Co nve rse, wi th a coa lition of advoca tes ,

que st ioned loca l bank pract ices. As a resul t of a

p rot est file d by the coali tio n, an att em pted ban k

merge r was denied by the Fede ra l Reserve Boa rd

and Conve rse, in part beca use oi his resea rch in to

bank practices, got th e a ttentio n of city and county

po litici ans and pla nners. Com mon ~Vealth soon was

a pl ay er in city effo rts to att ract fed eral an d st ate

hou sing fund s. Beg inn ing in 1988. Co nverse and

Rosenthal p rese nted a po licy pap er th at influ en ced

th e city'S firs t Com p re he ns ive Hou si ng Affordabil ity

Stra tegy (C HAS) d ocumen t, whi ch brou ght funds

in to th e city and provided Com mon Wealth and o the r

non -profits with addition al fundi ng. C ity government

attitud es changed: non-profits became partn ers with

th e cit y in many are as of pol icy.

Common Wealth Goes Regional

With Whip key involved , Common Wea lt h was able

to hire an d contract w ith add itio na l s ta ff to ma ke

projects go for ward. Rosentha l and Con ve rse w ere

th en ab le to go in o ther di rec tion s. Sta r ting in 1995,

but most im portan tly ai te r 1999. they laun ch ed an

effor t a t reg iona l organizing. In 1995, Corbi n made

contact with Mary Gonzales, and even tua lly Greg

Galluzzo, of the Ga maliel Foundat ion , Gamalie l

s uppo rted co mmun ity o rgan izing at the regional

sca le. The logi c, articu lated by Ga maliel adviso r

NO. 184 / SUMMER 2010 21

and Mi n nesota legislator a nd law professor Myron

O rfie ld , was that the prob lems of the inner city

had been exacerbated by the ou t-m igra tion of

middl e-class popula tion s to su b urban and ru ral

parts o f city hinterlands, and that there was a joint

interest in preser vation o f in ne r-city in stitution s

and n eighborhood s. Ga ma lie l challen g ed Co m mo n

lVealth a nd area co ng rega tio ns to raise funds to

em p loy a p rof essional o rga nizer wh o w ould work

with inner-cit y and su bur ba n churches on jo int

so lu tio ns to ci ty probl em s.

By 1998 Rosenthal and Convers e had become

informal as sociates of Gama lie l, earning invitati ons

to conferences and o rganize r retreat s. Com mo n

Wealth work ed with local clergy and lay lead ers

to fo rm ACTION (Alli ance for Co ng rega tio nal

Tra nsforma tio n Influencing O u r Neig hbo rhoods)

and rai sed fu nds to hire a n o rg an izer. Th is help ed

ad va nce the ca use of a regronal ap proac h to

community development. Com mo n Weal th provid ed

of fice s pac e a nd served as fis ca l agent. ACT IO N

o rg a nized tw enty Youngstow n and su burba n

ch u rc he s around iss u es of cr ime an d co rru ptio n,

e d u cation an d a g roce ry s to re reopening. Common

Wealth th en worked wi th Father Ed Noga of St.

Patrick ' s C hu rch and ACTIO N to raise fun ds to hire

r....ly ron Orfie ld for a cr itica l s tud y and tw o day-trips

to Young st own that sp u rred su bu rban churches to

s u p po rt furth er d iscussion of th ese regr onal conce rns.

Rosen tha l lat er charac terized th e in teraction as

" ins p iring." O rfie ld had organized a n institute to do

analyses of regi onal finances an d problems, and th e

coa lit ion rai sed $~O.OOO more to fund an analysis and

report on regi onal dynamics impact in g Youngsto w n.

This w as p resented at a meeting a t You ngs town Sta te

U nivcrsitv in O cto be r 2001 and covered by news

med ia In m ore th an a dozen articles and rep orts.

Fo rm al arran gements for reg ional coo pera tio n

w ere lim it ed as some of th e a rea chu rches p ulled

ou t o t th e regi on al coalit io n d ue to im pa tien ce

w ith th e " me tro-equ ity" foc us fa vored bv Com mon

Wea lt h . The coali tion was weaken ed , bu t th e co re

o f co m mu n ities a nd o rga n izers was s u bstantia l

a nd Common Wealth had new a llies. Rose ntha l

a nd Con ve rse ha d bee n ene rg ize d, and the re we re

s ta te wide results. Ga m alie l s ponso red a n O hio

22 PROGRESSIVE PLANNING

Metro -Eq uity Task Force in 2006, and th er e was th e

crea tion of Grea ter O hio, listing offices in Colu m bus ,

Cinci nnati, Clev eland and You ng stown, wi th

Con verse as Ma hon ing Valley Direc to r.

Succession Crisis

By 2006-07 Rosenthal and Conve rse had de cisions to

make about th e future of Co m mon Wealth. They were

facing, o r thought the y we re faci ng . th e beg innings

of the effects of ag e. Both were now ove r 60. Th ey

had health problems in 2003, were fee ling fragil e and

wondering how to conti nue . At the end of 2005 th ey

so ug ht a gran t for $25,000 from the sta te th at would

pr ovid e ad m inis tr a tive funding to free up so me time .

The s ta te grant required them to en act a success ion

plan . Thi s m ight have been routine, bu t so me

Co m mo n Weal th board mem ber s sa w it as a chance

to change d irection . As Rosenthal thought lat er,

th ey would ha ve a rgued th at "affo rd able ho us ing is

wha t go t us to w he re we are, so let' s ma ke tha t our

co re mission ." Corbin had ho pe d for an infusion

of new ene rgy to expa nd the fina nce role Whi p key

represented . m ovin g Com mon Wealth to a new level

with new cap aciti es to finance bu siness s ta rt -ups

as we ll as hou sing . But Rosentha l and Converse

br idl ed a t w hat th ey sa w as a res tri ction of Com mon

Wealth' s m ission and so ug ht board re-a ffirma tion

of the broad er goal s of th e organ izatio n. They

p revai led . By the end of 2007 Wh ipkey had resigned

and Corb in. wh o had ad voca ted th e housing foc us .

left th e boa rd . Rosenthal, cha ra cte ristica lly, mended

fences. Whip key ag reed to co ntinue as a co ns u ltan t

and Co rbin wa s appointed to th e Com mon Wealth

Revo lving Loa n Fu nd board. Elena Colrn enares ­

Wh ipkey moved into th e posit ion of manager of

housing d evelopment and assets.

Moving into Food Deserts

By 2008 an alt ernative di rec tio n was charted aroun d a

conste llation o f in itia tives focu sed on foo d , incl ud ing

product ion , processi ng and ma rke ting. As Comm on

Wealth wor ked w ith inner ci ty ch urc hes in 1997, the

problems associ a ted with the loss of s upermar ke t

service as the ci ty popu la tion and income d ecl ined

and ne igh borhood s beca me what acti vists la te r

called " food deserts" beca me vis ib le. Com mon

Wealth had fou nd new ene rgy in 20 03 and 2004 by

helping to s tar t and ma nage a farm er s marke t in

its ne ighb orhood ; Con ve rse had s ta rted markets

in o ther com mu nities. La te r. the o rga niz ation wa s

insp ired to expand by th e wo rk of Milwaukee

a ct iv is t and MacArthu r Fellow Will Alle n, who

was doing innovativ e work in food p roducti on

and coope rati ve ma rketing, and fo und enth us ias tic

su p po rt in Youngstown a nd in the reg ion , w here

new food p roduct ion technol ogies were ap pearing .

Thus th e organizin g m issi on th at Com m on

Wea lth began w it h ha d ne w life. Whipkey 'S

la rge -scal e h ou sing deve lop me nt init iati ve s now

provid ed a cash flow to suppo rt at lea st some of

th is organizi ng work, an d the p ros p ec t of ne w

g ra nts seemed p rom is ing. At least one C DC had

avo ided th e narrow ing of mission tha t m any in the

movemen t feared .

Lessons Learned

What can we learn fro m the experie nce s of

Ros entha l an d Co m m on Wea lth?

Firs t of aIL Commo n Wealt h' s evo lu tion un fold ed

ove r a re la t ively long time. It took twenty-

nine years from Rose ntha l' s s ta rt in 1981 to th e

prese nt- the majority of Rosent ha l's working life .

In pa rt this was beca use sh e worked ca refully,

ge tting buy -in a nd mai nta ini ng mutual resp ect

insid e a nd ou ts ide the org an iz a tio n .

Was Rosenthal a " p rog ress iv e pl an ner ?"

Perhaps not a " p la nne r." Her trai n in g w as law,

a nd before that s he ha d wo rke d a s a ment al

h ealt h p rofes sional. H er ent ra nce to la w school

w as m ot ivat ed by a d es ire to gel pas t o ne -o n-

one co un seli ng to sys te m ic so lu t io ns to soci a l

p rob lem s. Ly n d was as go od as it ge ts as a

me ntor in that rega rd . When asked if she " had

a plan" guiding Co m mon Wealth ' s cou rse , she

irn rned ia tel v d e ni ed it. It wa s all " sea t o f the

pan ts ," s he s a id . I a m not con vi nced . For one

th ing, it wa s not Rosenthal alone . Conve rse wa s

he r in tellec tual and politica l pa rt ner, a nd tog e ther

they added lip . It wa s Co nverse w ho brough t

in the la nd t ru st mode l. and w ho e labo ra ted th e

food program as a reg ion al system, connecti ng

produce rs, wholesalers , ma rketers and con sumers.

Conv ers e con nected Com m o n Wealth to nationa l

networks in this emerging cent ral conce rn of the

co m m u ni ty d evelopmen t movement. Partne rs

wi th these co mplem en tary s kills a nd inst inct s

are com mon in successf u l p lan ning opera tio ns .

Typica lly the p lann in g di rec tor han d les the

" politics" wh ile the s ta ff provid es th e first cu t, no t

the de fi ni t ive initia tive s.

I t h ink Rosenthal had an inte rna l gyrosco pe th at

a llo wed her to see the road in fro n t of he r a nd led

he r to collect ive so lu tions to socia l issues rather

tha n individ ua lis tic ones. The re we re certain ly

red istribu ti ve the mes in all of Com mo n Wealth's

projects . There was sad ness w hen South Side

res id ents we re un ab le to s tick with the land trust

mod el. Above all th e d ecis ion to mobilize the

Com m o n Wealt h board aro und a broader prog ram,

eventua lly expressed in th e foo d initiatives, reflected

tha i ten dencv,

Pierre Gavel is a professor of city and re>: iol/al plallt/illg

at Cornell Ulliversity and is tireIIl/tllar ll!Act iv is ts

in C ity Hall. [ortucomiug. f rom Com el/ UI/ipersity

Press, September 2010. Tlr is story is tire result of recent

interviews by the author ill YOl/lIKstOWII.

NO. 184 I SUMMER 2010 23