526 NATIONAL CIVIC REVIEW [October

Citizen Action , Kim Taylor, Editor

Councils ProDosed I

by Citizens League Community Groups Aid in Citizen Participation

T H E Citizens League (Minneapolis) published in 1970 a report, Sub-rcrbs

in the City, suggesting that citizens play an important role in community affairs and decisions. Since that time the issue has been hotly debated and expanded to determine how best to use citizen re- sources in government. According to the league’s newsletter, citizens no longer question their right to participate, but how to make a neighborhood voice heard effectively in more centralized govern- ment policy decisions. The league’s 1970 report suggested the formation of com- munity councils within the larger cities for meaningful citizen participation.

Some basic guidelines were also sug- gested which would aid each locality to tailor the council to its particular needs. These recommendations were:

1) Councilmen should be elected on a one man, one vote principle and should represent geographic areas, not specific interest groups, so that

2) The scope of interests, activities and influence should reflect several areas of social, economic and political orientations and needs.

The first recommendation was adopted this summer in the Minneapolis Model Neighborhood Policy and Planning Com- mittee election. The committee elected 80 percent of its councilmen on the basis of geographic representation. The remain- ing officials are selected from specialized interest groups and community factions. This increase in geographic representation from 55 percent was announced after the

league recommendations were explained to the model neighborhood officials.

The influence of the recommendations has also spread farther than Minneapolis. The U. S. Department of Transportation’s bureau of public roads is considering the league’s report. Formal public hearings are inadequate for determining public re- sponse to proposed roadways, and the bureau has tackled the problem of involv- ing citizens in transportation planning. The Citizens League sent representatives to Washington to aid in devising ways to involve local committees in transportation plans which have national significance.

School officials are also taking heed of the new recommendations for community councils. The representation of school boards has been reexamined recently to determine whether at-large or district boards are more representative of com- munities’ interests.

Citizen Group Halts Industrial Project

A small group of citizens in Glynn County, Georgia, rose in opposition against the Army Corps of Engineers and two large industrial firms to prevent the demise of their prized Marshes of Glynn. And they won. As reported in Georgia Coztnty Government the firms wanted a new channel opened to their shipping docks. The Corps checked with the land- owners involved, the county commission and the port authority. Although they did obtain the necessary official sanctions before contracting with a private firm to do the dredging, they had not consulted with any conservation or wildlife agency.

The Georgia Game and Fish Cnmmis- sion and the Georgia Water Quality Con- trol Board discovered that the mud drawn from the bottom and deposited at sea

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level was being eroded into the nearby waters. The silt which was staining the water was polluting it with the high levels of pesticides and mercury contamination trapped in most area creek and river bottoms. The dredged material was poisoning both the air and water.

Thoroughly alarmed by the spread of the toxic matter and the alteration of the area, citizens solicited aid from state govern- ment agencies and eventually Governor Jimmy Carter for emergency help. Fast action was needed as 20 acres had already been dredged. Conservation experts were consulted and the Army Corps was re- quested to stop work until the full en- vironmental effects could be weighed against the business needs.

After checking with Game and Fish Commission officials and the Water Quality Control Board, it has been deter- mined that this dredging project threat- ens another important Georgia industry -shrimp fishermen depend on the area’s shallow and relatively unpolluted waters.

The governor reportedly will authorize resumption of dredging when the Corps and the manufacturers present a plan to dispose safely of the mud. Until that time the industrial improvement project must give way to the demands of the citizens to preserve the shrimp industry, natural resources and the wildlife habitat of the Marshes of Glynn.

Project AWARE to Improve Youth-Police Relations

This fall the Boys’ Club of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department will spon- sor Project AWARE in an attempt to reduce juvenile delinquency and improve young peoples’ relations with the police. Team recruitment and training was begun

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last month, and this phase of the project will continue for a year. Boys from high- delinquency areas and the regular members (more than 5,000) of the Boys’ Club will participate. The activities will range from arts and crafts and athletics to citizenship education and field trips to community agencies. Off-duty police officers will act as coaches, class instructors and leaders. Special counseling services will also be available. Other patrolmen will act as program aides in their off-duty hours.

AWARE was begun after a pilot proj- ect last summer showed that developing friendship and trust between the two usually hostile groups was a successful deterrent to juvenile crime. The project is attempting to reduce the high rates of delinquency that exist in some areas of Phoenix with corrective rather than punitive contacts. The police and many assisting service groups in the city will try to coordinate all area resources to remove the youth from the unhealthy environment of delinquency.

Volunteere Register Voters A massive drive by volunteers from the

League of Women Voters, the New York City Central Labor Council, the First Vote Committee and the Citizens Regis- tration Committee has swelled the New York City voter lists, according to board of elections officials. During the summer the volunteers set up temporary registra- tion booths on street corners, and at rock concerts, beaches and at shopping areas throughout the city and the metropolitan area. The board reports that more than half of the eligible 18-21-year-olds were registered in the five boroughs. In addi- tion to these 210,OOO new young voters, more than 40,OOO adults registered for the first time.