Planning for Stronger Local Democracy
Charleston University
Charleston, WV
August 31, 2012
The Deliberative Democracy Consortium
Agenda
Introductions and goals Best practices in engagement – and
why they aren’t enough Lunch Movie Building blocks for local democracy What are your building blocks? Next steps for WV network
Opening questions
What has led you to practice and promote public engagement in your community?
Why is this work important? What do you hope to learn today?
What do you want to learn?
How this fits in democratic system – especially with the feeling that ‘you elected us to decide’
Weed out the weak ones – resources, people, etc. How to get more people involved and active –
overcome apathy How to use carrots, not cattle prods Convince more people that engagement is important –
elected officials in particular Give people who want to make change a voice Overcome divisions and fractures in the community
Slides available at:www.slideshare.net/mattleighninger
Guides:http://bit.ly/M1pvMp
http://bit.ly/iwjgqn
The context:
How have citizens* changed?
More educated More skeptical – different attitudes
toward authority Have less time to spare Use the Internet to learn and connect
* “citizens” = residents, people
The context:
Families with young children
Have the most at stake in community success
Parents have even more motivation to engage, but even less time, than average resident
Want opportunities to engage in community, not just politics
Successful recent public engagement tactics
Proactive about recruitment Bringing diverse perspectives together Sharing experiences Giving people chance to make up their own
minds (deliberative) Different levels of action: volunteers, teams,
organizations, policy decisions Increasing use of online tools
Successful tactic: Proactive recruitment
Map community networks;
Involve leaders of those networks;
Hold a kickoff meeting;
Follow up, follow up, follow up.
Successful tactic: Small-group processes
No more than 12 people per group;
Facilitator who is impartial (doesn’t give opinions);
Start with people describing their experiences, end with action planning.
Successful tactic: Framing an issue
Provide an agenda or guide that:
Begins by asking people to talk about why they care about this issue or question
Gives them the information they need, in ways they can absorb and use it
Lays out several options or views (including ones you don’t agree with)
Ends with questions that get people to plan what they want to do (not just what they want you to do)
Successful tactic: Many levels of action
Successful tactic: Online tools
Complement face-to-face communication, don’t replace it
Particularly good for:o Providing background informationo Data gathering by citizenso Generating and ranking ideaso Helping people visualize optionso Maintaining connections over time
Digital divides (plural)
Overall, Internet access growing “Access” – to Internet, to government – has
never been enough Different people use different hardware Different people go to different places on the
Internet Communities just as complex online as off –
recruitment must be proactive
In other (fewer) words, the key success factors are:
Diverse critical mass Structured Deliberative Action-oriented Online and F2F
“Decatur Next” Decatur, Georgia
Large-scale planning efforts in 2000, 2010
Initial Organizer: city government and a local nonprofit (Common Focus)
Issues: schools, race, growth
450 participants in 2000, 680 in 2010 (city of 17,000)
“Decatur Roundtables” Decatur, Georgia
Outcomes: Decatur Neighborhood Alliance Promotion of tax abatement plan for seniors,
other anti-displacement efforts Less tension between different groups New model for land use decisions Extensive citizen input into city’s strategic plan
“Community Chat” Southwest Delray Beach, FL
Outcomes: Parent support group Youth basketball team Expansion of “Delray Divas” youth group Westside Neighborhood Presidents’ Council Citizen input to street redevelopment plan “Maintaining the Village” effort to rehab
housing New deregulated public
school - the “Village Academy”
“What To Do About the Flu?”Georgia, Nebraska, Massachusetts, Oregon
• Took place in 2005
• Centers for Disease Control, Study Circles Resource Center, Keystone Center
• Issue: pandemic influenza
• 500 participants
“What To Do About the Flu?”Georgia, Nebraska, Massachusetts, Oregon
Outcomes:
• Input used in Bush Administration’s pandemic preparedness plan
• Local planning to prepare for pandemic
“Horizons” Rural communities in seven
Northwestern states
Initiated by Northwest Area Foundation 284 towns, with poverty rates between
10% and 78% Issues: poverty reduction and economic
development 3,000+ participants
“Horizons” Rural communities in seven
Northwestern states
Outcomes listed in recent evaluation: “Community gardens and farmer’s markets, parks, trails (one with a $1.2 million grant), and recreational opportunities, community and community resource centers, scholarships for low income children and families for daycare, after school programming and recreation, including Boys and Girls’ clubs, car repair and home maintenance programs, and in (at least) five communities, the establishment of community foundations.”
Successes, limitations of engagement so far
Successes: Making policy decisions, planningCatalyzing citizen actionBuilding trustFostering new leadership
Challenges: Time-consuming (especially recruitment)Unsustainable (usually not intended to be)Meets goals of ‘engagers,’ not ‘engaged’Doesn’t change the institutionsLimited impact on equityTrust, relationships fade over time
Hmm. What do you think of this?
1. Does this match your experiences with public engagement? Why or why not?
2. What would you add?
What do you need to know about your community?
1. How effective are your engagement efforts – who participates? Are officials happy with how they work? Are citizens happy?
2. How effective are the grassroots groups – do they get things done? Do people participate?
3. Are there segments of the community that have typically not been involved?
1. Sustain the benefits2. Allow the ‘engaged’ to set the agenda3. Better address inequities 4. Increase community attachment and
economic growth5. Increase residents’ sense of legitimacy and
“public happiness”
Why plan for more sustainable kinds of engagement?
Social media is a critical tool for new forms of engagement
More sustained Larger, more diverse numbers of
people Easier for ‘engagers’ – recruitment
doesn’t have to start from scratch More open to ideas from the
‘engaged’
“Sometimes you need a meeting that is also a party. Sometimes you need a party
that is also a meeting.”
─ Gloria Rubio-Cortès, National Civic League
Community engagement planners should
consider some key building blocks::
“Portsmouth Listens” Portsmouth, NH
Ongoing process since 2000 Several hundred participants each time Addressed a number of major policy
decisions: bullying in schools, school redistricting, city’s master plan, balancing city budget, whether to build new middle school
Jane Addams School for Democracy West Side of St. Paul, MN
Community center that has hosted “neighborhood learning circles” every month since 1998
Involves recent Hmong, Latino, Somali immigrants
Young people involved in circles and other activities
Cultural exchanges - food, crafts, storytelling
Has resulted in new projects, initiatives, festivals, and a change in INS policy
Participatory Budgeting in Brazilian cities
Commitment from gov’t to adopt budget;
Wide range of ways to be involved;
A carnival atmosphere;
Started small, now huge – 60,000+ people
“Kuna Alliance for a Cohesive Community Team” Kuna, ID
Recurring input-gathering process, used on all major decisions
Organized by Kuna Alliance for a Cohesive Team (Kuna ACT), in collaboration with local government
Issues include: school funding, downtown development, planning and growth
500 participants annually (city of 6,000)
“Kuna Alliance for a Cohesive Community Team” Kuna, ID
Outcomes: New comprehensive plan Passage of school bond issue
Improvements made to downtown
New strategy to market community as hub for “Birds of Prey” area
“Democracy needs a place to sit down” Communities need places that are:
1. Permanent 2. Not just “open,” but actively
welcoming3. Centered on citizen needs and
priorities4. Powerful 5. Political, social, and cultural
“Democracy is good for your health”
─ Roger Bernier, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Questions for discussion
1. Does your community already have some building blocks in place?
2. Are there other building blocks that might be useful?
3. If you were to begin creating a long-term plan for your community, who would you work with?
4. What do you need to help you get started?
What do you want to learn?
How this fits in democratic system – especially with the feeling that ‘you elected us to decide’
Weed out the weak ones – resources, people, etc. How to get more people involved and active –
overcome apathy How to use carrots, not cattle prods Convince more people that engagement is important –
elected officials in particular Give people who want to make change a voice Overcome divisions and fractures in the community
Resources
• www.participedia.net• www.deliberative-democracy.net• www.soulofthecommunity.org • www.everydaydemocracy.org• www.publicagenda.org• www.kettering.org• On Facebook: “Deliberative Democracy
Consortium” group page• The Next Form of Democracy
Resources (continued)
• On YouTube: the DDC channel
• Using Online Tools to Engage – and Be Engaged by – the Public at http://bit.ly/iwjgqn
• Planning for Stronger Local Democracy at bit.ly/rWeHaU – and other resources at www.nlc.org
Slides available at:www.slideshare.net/mattleighninger
Guides:http://bit.ly/M1pvMp
http://bit.ly/iwjgqn
Next steps in West Virginia
If you could do one thing to strengthen democratic participation in WV, what would it be?Participatory Budgeting on use of CDBG funds in HuntingtonRedo the way we do public comment periodsPB on departmental budgets‘Kids meeting’ as part of commission meetingsRepeat Jamie Oliver project in other counties
Next steps in West Virginia
What do you need help with?Trainings for volunteers on things like how to engage young people in the communitySequel to this workshop, with teams from communities Help dealing with past community conflicts (social, political, racial, etc.) Revitalize committees – how to identify and recruit people who can jump in and help leadSuccess stories from other similar towns Help with grantwriting, fundraisingWebinars
www.wvciviclife.org www.wvhub.org www.participatorybudgeting.orgwww.e-democracy.org