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Citizen Action . . . . . Kim Taylor, Editor

Citizens Participate in Regional Groups

Councils Try Alternatives to Get Public Involved

AS regional councils become more in- volved in action-oriented programs,

there is a greater demand for participa- tion from the public. Community partici- pation means gathering interested citizens to determine their regional concerns, communicating their cares to the policy board, getting the public’s response to alternative proposals, assisting the policy board in developing programs and keep- ing citizens informed about what is being done to meet their needs. The National Association of Regional Councils has reported on the various methods used by the councils to implement citizen partici- pation.

Citizen forums or community councils -large groups of citizens appointed to a forum or several technical committees- have been used in several places. In the St. Louis area (East-West Gateway Co- ordinating Council) six citizens who also serve with 21 others to advise the policy board are appointed by the state and local governments to the council’s board of di- rectors. In the Rochester, New York, area (Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Board) five functional commit- tees made up of private citizens, citizen participation organizations, public officials from agencies responsible for the plan’s functional components assist in policy making and integrating the specialized functions into the comprehensive plan. Regional councils in Denver, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Rock Island, Illinois, use variations of this type of citizen involve- ment.

Another form of citizen participation is

conducting public hearings or community meetings. In Los Angeles (Southern Cal- ifornia Association of Governments) an extensive schedule of meetings has been set up to determine citizen positions on the proposed Southern California Re- gional Aviation Systems Study. The SCAG executive board has appointed a citizen board representing each county and the city to hear testimony and report. Public hearings are being used in Winter Park, Florida, to determine the council’s activities. In Shamokin, Pennsylvania, a public hearing was held to acquaint the citizens with a proposed solid waste dis- posal system.

In regions where participants are busy or cannot attend meetings, questionnaires are used to determine public opinion. In Baltimore a newsletter informs residents of the council’s activities and a postage- paid return card is included to solicit reader response. Oklahoma City sent questionnaires to ascertain opinion about land use and urban development; the re- sults will be used in developing a regional plan. In Madison, Wisconsin, regional planning activities are being set up and the council is testing alternative methods for obtaining citizen information by per- sonal interviews, mail-in questionnaires and group community meetings. They hope to gain a better understanding of citizen concerns and find the most pro- ductive method to tap public opinion.

Citizens Cite Problems in California Project

Citizens are playing an important part in ferreting out problems in Fresno, Cal- ifornia, and recommending solutions for which federal financing will be sought. Fresno has been selected as one of 15 cities to participate in a federally-spon- sored experimental program known as

528 NATIONAL CIVIC REVIEW [November

Planned Variations, an outgrowth of the Model Cities project.

The new program, like Model Cities, seeks to bring change to neighborhoods marked by unemployment and poverty (see the REVIEW, November 1971, page 560). Unlike the Model Cities project, which attempts improvements of complete neighborhoods, Planned Variations con- centrates on problems of the poor regard- less of where they live in the city.

In Fresno (1970 population of 165,972), problems have arisen from increasing urbanization of the agricultural economic base of the city and its environs. The city and county governments have been seek- ing to discourage the growth of new cities in the unincorporated areas, but annex- ation by Fresno has not taken place on a large scale.

The city has been divided into six dis- tricts, with citizens elected from each one to comprise neighborhood councils. Each council member represents 300 per- sons in the district. The councils appoint task forces which will identify problems and recommend solutions. The task forces are composed of a variety of citizens, some from the neighborhood councils, and are assisted by a professional staff of city employees. If the neighborhood councils accept the task forces’ recommendations, federal funding is expected to be sought to implement them.

The entire Planned Variations project in Fresno is a two-year pilot program with $4.9 million a year available in fed- eral funds.

ROSALINE LEVENSON California State University, Chico

Leadership Seminars Aid Local Communities

The Community Leadership Seminar Program (CLSP) helps community leaders in large and small towns deal with their problems. Monthly seminars bring together individuals whose leader- ship motivates and sustains important

government activities and operations ; focuses attention on local issues and crys- tallizes opinion in response to needs ; pro- vides communication among leaders of diverse communities, and challenges local officials to discuss initiatives toward local changes. Federal funding is available to college and university sponsors but pri- vate funds have been used.

Such a program was begun in Phila- delphia 10 years ago, according to Man- agement Information Service. It was pro- posed by the Fels Center of Government a t the University of Pennsylvania and the Greater Philadelphia Movement to strengthen community life. The two groups obtained funds from the Samuel S. Fels Fund to provide a forum where those with qualifications to analyze urban problems could meet with members of business and civic communities likely to assume leadership positions.

The Fels Center sponsors the program and prepares the necessary background information. Seminars are held monthly during the school year after a preliminary workshop where members get acquainted and recommend solutions to major prob- lems. Members of past seminars have formed an alumni group which meets regularly to continue the dialogue they began in the CLSP.

A Portland, Maine, CLSP sponsored by Westbrook Junior College included topics on citizen participation, economic growth, taxation, law enforcement, inter- governmental relations, social services and waste disposal.

Pretrial Service Agencies in New York, Des Moinee

The Alliance for a Safer New York, a coalition of 62 New York City civic, re- ligious, labor, business and criminal jus- tice groups, has been urging that money allocated to reform the criminal justice system be used to improve services and programs, and not for capital construc- tion. Although the city’s jails are over-

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crowded (some are a t more than 150 percent capacity), the group feels that new buildings should not be constructed until community treatment programs and pretrial intervention programs are funded.

As a result of the alliance’s campaign, Mayor John V. Lindsay recently an- nounced the creation of a pretrial service agency in Brooklyn. When it begins op- eration in 1973 the agency will meet with those arrested on felony or misdemeanor charges to discuss their personal, com- munity and criminal backgrounds. This information will be presented to the ar- raigning judge to aid in setting release conditions. In cases where the defendant is not released the agency will seek bail reevaluation within 72 hours. Once the defendant has been released the agency will supervise the conditions set by the court, provide assistance to those request- ing supportive services, and follow up those who fail to appear in court.

In Des Moines a similar pretrial inter- vention program was initiated as a model by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency which trained 10 people to serve as the agency. They were respon- sible for people accused of crime but placed in release-on-recognizance pro- grams. The staff supervised and got them jobs, training and housing. Though they were high-risk cases none failed to appear for trial and less than 5 percent have been involved in new offenses (none of those was serious). The jails were relieved of overcrowding and the cost of the project was less than jail maintenance and cus- tody. The project was so successful that it has become a permanent operation of the district court.

With the LWVs The League of Women Voters mu-

cation Fund (1730 M Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. 20036) has recently published three new pamphlets.

Anatomy of a Hearing (15 pages, 35

cents) discusses the elements of a public hearing and provides essential information for anyone trying to learn an official po- sition, or obtain new facts, or planning to participate. Since many governmental agencies and boards hold hearings, effec- tive participation can influence public de- cisions. This book considers the motiva- tions behind an agency’s decision to hold the hearing, the rules employed to pub- licize it, who testifies and how a good witness can make the most of the oppor- tunity to let officials hear his position. For those attending but not testifying the LWV has developed some guidelines to evaluate the proceedings and ask perti- nent questions.

The second publication is Shaping the Metropolis (35 pages, 60 cents). This highlights a Chicago conference to train league members engaged in the Metro- politan Project who would be surveying and reporting on models and structure of urban government in their communities. The Metropolitan Project is a three-year exploration of ways to improve govern- ment and increase citizen participation. The project mobilized 27 metropolitan area leagues to study their communities, especially techniques of decentralization and regionalism, and gauge citizen inter- est in modernizing their government.

The third, The Politics of Change: Goals, Conflict, and Power in the Com- munity (15 pages, 35 cents), is designed to help citizens understand community forces, identify goals and needs, and lead an alliance for change.

To determine what changes are possible and wanted, reformers should analyze organizations, communications and the economy of their community to draw up a general program. Citizens should then survey important groups to decide which needs present problems. The practical problem of selecting an issue and waging a campaign will be easier with back- ground information and knowledge of who will and won’t support the cause.