19731 NEWS IN REVIEW 99

Citizen Action . . Kim Taylor, Editor

Metro Fund Studies Region

Detroit Group Focuses on Citizenship Concepts

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following excerpts are taken from Regional Citizenship, pre- pared by Donn Shelton for the Metro- politan Fund, Inc., 211 West Fort Street, Detroit 48226, 1972.

SIMPLISTICALLY, a regional citizen is an individual . . . who works in a

different community than that in which he lives, who shops in still another commu- nity, finds his recreation and culture in other communities, often sends his child to a school district embracing several communities, shops in a variety of differ- ent communities, perhaps worships in a city other than his own. H e is by defini- tion a “regional citizen” because he de- pends on many communities in the region for his daily service, his daily needs, his daily activities.

Does he see himself as a regional citizen?

Not likely. The strong tendency is to view oneself a5 a “citizen” of the nation, of the state, and of the city or township. It is a t those levels the individual may apply his pressureby voice or by vote- on the mechanism of government. Lacking a voice or a vote in a particular govern- mental operation, he rejects citizenship at that level. If he is unable, for instance, to vote for the mayor of the city in which he works but does not live, he considers him- self a visitor to that city, rather than a citizen of it.

In the narrow definition of “citizen,” he may be right.

In today’s realities, however, such a narrow definition widely misses the point.

A more realistic definition of citizenship would identify as a citizen of a given po- litical entity any individual exposed to the legal, political, economic or service output of that governmental jurisdiction, how- ever frequently or infrequently.

When a citizen travels from his resident county into another county, for example, he becomes a citizen of that second county while he enjoys-and demands-equal and adequate protection from the law enforce- ment agencies of that county, adequate road service from that county, free and equal use of county recreational facilities. He does not, in the process, differentiate himself from the taxpaying citizen of that county while he is driving on its roads, playing in its parks, or shopping in its commercial areas. H e wants to be treated the same as that citizen, and might even sue, if he is not.

Yet, he will subjectively see himself as a citizen of only his own county, if asked.

Some legal justification for a broader interpretation of citizenship would seem to exist in the recent judicial decisions strik- ing down residency requirements for the payment of welfare. The courts have gen- erally held that citizenship was deemed to begin the moment an individual moved into a new political jurisdiction.

Looking at citizenship from the other direction, there is also little doubt that the governmental jurisdiction considers the individual to be a “citizen” of that juris- diction by his mere presence. H e is sub- ject, for instance, to the traffic laws of the community, regardless of residency. The applicable law enforcement agencies do not waive the laws for visitors, therefore, they consider such individuals to be “citi- zens,’’ at least for the duration of time in which those individuals are subject to the community laws. . . .

I t must be made clear that the sense of regional citizenship being described is in

100 NATIONAL CIVIC REVIEW [February

addition to any individual’s local commu- nity citizenship . , , .

This report points out that the concept of the metropolitan region has become a matter of realiw, in terms of planning, of problem identification and of problem solving. We must recognize . . . that the individuals who live in an identifiable metropolitan region are members of an identifiable regional constituency, reflect- ing the multi-community existence of the individual citizen within that metropolitan region. . . .

Therefore, one important manifestation of regional citizenship will find the indi- vidual reacting within his own community as a regional advocate, making known his regional concerns to his locally elected officials, making certain that the important items on the regional agenda are also items for consideration on his various local govimments’ agendas.

To be certain, the process of regional problem :solving can, and should, see the general objectives established at the re- gional level, with flexibility of implemen- tation left to the local level. . . ,

All too often, matters of regional con- cern draw only negative reaction when placed on the local agenda. The “anti” forces are vocal, while the pro-regional advocates rarely surface when an individ- ual regional problem or solution is dis- cussed in the local community. Therein lies a most critical need for regional citi- zenship, an active, positive advocacy role in the local community.

Inherent in the seeking of that sense of regional advocacy is the prerequisite of a system of regional information gathering and knowledge exchange. The foundation of democracy is the interested and knowl- edgeable citizen, just as the basis for a process of democratic regional citizenship must be citizens who are regionably knowledgeable. . . .

The presence of a regional sub-constitu- ency within his total constituency is an important consideration for the local

elected official, also. All too often, the regionally-oriented local official has bitten the dust a t election time because he de- voted a significant portion of his public time to regional concerns, leaving himself vulnerable in a following election. That vulnerability occurs, usually, in one of two ways: he simply doesn’t have time to tend to his local constituency and/or his support of regional causes becomes an issue itself in the election. In either case, the official needs to know who his regional constituents are, in order to identify with them on regional issues in his local com- munity, and in order to turn to them for needed support a t election time.

Citizens Plan Seattle Transit

Ways should be developed for policy- makers, planners and others in public service to utilize such powerful facilities as computers, and to relate their use to the public. A general program should create opportunities for citizens to dis- cuss problems with technicians and to express facets of problems they wish con- sidered. The technicians, explaining the process to citizens, utilize computers to simulate the specified conditions, and to- gether they discuss the results. If this broad general approach is followed, many instances that have resulted in the past in rejection and/or confrontation can be turned to a process of growth and mutual understanding.

An example of this approach w a s re- cently carried out in Seattle. A consulting firm (Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Menden- hall) was retained to determine the shape of a badly needed mass transit system. Previous attempts in 1968 and 1970 to develop a system had been turned down resoundingly by the voters because the cost was too high in terms of the benefits they perceived.

The third time around the Puget Sound Governmental Conference felt it essential

1973 J NEWS IN

to develop a high level of voter under- standing before the day of balloting if mass transit in Seattle was to be sal- vaged. The third transportation study therefore was to include a major citizen participation segment, which amounted to 20 percent of the total budget and which used at least that much of the total effort.

Small groups of people worked with technicians. Discussions produced ideas for the technicians to take to their offices for trial runs to determine their potential effect. These effects were then taken back to the same groups at a subsequent meet- ing and fully discussed by all participants.

In this fashion citizens participated in the design process including routes, sched- ules and shelters, with their ideas being submitted to the technical arm not for screening out, but for incorporating to test their results. Utilizing the approach of meetings set up around small tables of four to eight active, discussing partici- pants, the citizen was not lectured to but became involved with the solution and did not have his views barricaded by the pre- sumption that “a computer” was going to do all the thinking for him.

It is impossible to determine accurately what effect the citizen program had on the outcome, but the voters did approve, by a 58 percent majority, the $!X-million transit program, even though it added 3 percent to the sales tax level.

This method of developing a commu- nications system with, instead of a plan for, the citizens affected by an activity had great merit in this case. Any pro- posed operation that will need the under- standing of the citizens for implementation can use this approach. The public is de- manding more a participating role in programs, and especially those that are presumed to be action oriented. Citizens expect to throw ideas into the develop- ment of policies and do not expect them to be arbitrarily scrapped without reason.

As evidenced in Seattle the day of the public hearing is limited. A combination

REVIEW 101

of workshops with responsible officials and periodic public hearings explaining progress to a large group of interested citizens may have merit, but the public hearing without workshop backup has many pitfalls, most of which have been demonstrated by rejection of programs.

R. EVAN KENNEDY Vice President

Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall

Schenectady Coalition Plans Housing

Since 1968 Schenectady, New York, has recognized the need for low-income housing. At that time HUD awarded a 200-unit reservation and in 1969 the city received approval to begin a neighbor- hood development program in residential areas. Though the city council indicated by resolution its awareness of the hous- ing shortage and its desire to alleviate it, each development program submitted to them was opposed by residents and defeated.

In June 1970 a group was formed to support the city council resolution. Repre- senting 30 existing organizations, Coali- tion for Community Concerns found that city-wide plans would be much better than the single-project approach. When more housing proposals were suggested in 1971 the coalition met with the city council and recommended that a Mayor’s Task Force on Housing be appointed and receive staff assistance from the city planner.

A seven-member group was appointed to develop a city-wide plan. Though all members had a desire to serve the com- munity none of them knew what actual housing needs were, nor what federal programs were available. With the aid of the planner the citizens analyzed vari- ous data and previous studies. They formed a plan for comprehensive resi- dential development on housing sites scat- tered throughout the city, with particular

102 NATIONAL CIVIC REVIEW [February

care to respect neighborhood character- istics, and placed homes to fit the existing community structure.

After meeting with community groups the task force turned the plan over to the city council which passed it unani- mously. Afterwards it went to the city planning commission where public hear- ings were held as required by law. Al- ready 500 of the proposed 1,400 housing units are under construction with ap- proval granted on 250 more.

Citizens Attend Hearings on Vancouver Budget

The Vancouver, Washington, annual budget hearings were usually held in December, just before the budget was adopted. Citizen comments and sugges- tions could not be given much attention. To allow greater citizen participation in budgeting, the city council and mayor held meetings last summer. Turnout at those three was much greater than at the usual December one.

There was no formal agenda so citi- zens were encouraged to make their own suggestions about priorities and activities. While the audience talked the mayor and councilmen listened. As a result, accord- ing to Wrstern City Magazine, six prob- lem areas emerged which will be recom- mended to the council for priority action. The total program cost less than $500, with the major expenses being newspaper ads and handbill distribution.

Based on this success the city manager is recornrnending that the program be expanded to 12 meetings at elementary schools, reducing the geographic areas in- volved. It was also suggested that meet- ings be held in April to avoid interfering with vacation schedules.

Citizens Union Endorsements Score High at Polls

The Citizens Union of New York City, as part of its voter information program,

published five directories of candidates running in each borough in November. In addition to the local legislative and judicial candidates, Citizens Union listed, with recommendations, the four referenda that appeared on the New York ballot. It is reported that all but one of the 24 legislative candidates rated highly qualified won on election day, and candi- dates preferred won 78 percent of the races.

Citizens Union is a nonpartisan organi- zation and supports candidates on their merits alone. The endorsements and bio- graphical data appear in the annual voter’s directory and are distributed in New York prior to the election.

TAXATION AND FINANCE (Continued from page 98)

subclasses by agencies which participated in the programs and with a crosswalk showing the funds financing the costs. Other outputs from such a system would include: fund entity basis, government- wide staterncnts for functions and pro- grams, resource flow statements, income and expense statements by fund, state- ments of funded and unfunded costs and preparation of current expense and capital budgets.

The unified concept proposes that an ac- counting system and its underlying classi- fication can be sorted and grouped into many different combinations if the ac- counts and grouping instructions are well structured on EDP equipment. Reports covering legal fund accounting, the audi- tor’s annual report, reports to manage- ment decision-making and planning eval- uations and reports to the operating agencies for their day-to-day needs are easily produced from such a system. The unified system is based on the manage- ment of total resources, the total inflow and total outflow. The budget receipts and and expenditures for all funds should have the same review analysis and ac- counting regardless of type.