Fred Markus: > There are economies of scale to be achieved in the tension between the
> NRP neighborhoods and the CPED leadership that have apparently not > been explored in any dispassionate way. Chris Johnson: I have to rebut the idea that "economies of scale" is always helpful to neighborhood revitalization or even useful in most government functions. People have come to regard the phrase or idea of "economies of scale" as a pure truth, a pure good: it always applies; it always works. Me: I don't really take issue with the ideas/thoughts that Chris Johnson sets out. But, back to Fred's point, there are some useful questions that have to be asked genuinely and without the heated rhetoric that neighborhoods are 'under siege' and 'under attack.' So, to throw them out for consideration: 1. In an increasingly tight and incredibly competitive arena for public dollars, doesn't it make sense to promote a more 'regional' approach to citizen participation, or at least support for neighborhoods pooling their dollars more regionally for staff, office, and other infrastrucure issues? 2. Given the well-documented paucity of participation by generally disenfranchised groups (tenants, people of color), doesn't it make sense to broaden citizen participation rules to provide citizen participation dollars to, say, a city-wide Latino/a cultural or business group or even a tenant organization? Going hand in hand with economies of scale and encouraging more collaboration, such affinity groups would be charged with increasing citizen participation in neighorhoods and/or districts and would be a direct resource to neighborhoods and others, with whom they could work formally to address concerns often raised by those who feel shut out? 3. Is the 'neighborhood' unit the absolute best citizen participation unit, or are there others (particularly non-geopraphic) in addition to neighborhoods that could work toward increasing citizen participation? Who/What do we lose if we define citizen participation solely by geographic concerns? Just asking. Gregory Luce St. Paul REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
