DPPA's Civic Activist Award for 2003 Goes to Bill Hardesty By Barb Olsen With a list of civic involvements as long as your arm --- and probably a couple of legs as well! --- DPPA member Bill Hardesty was a natural choice for this year's DPPA Civic Activist Award. Bill accepted the award at a reception in his honor in the Fireside Room at Fitger's on April 11. Bill has been a member and leader of the Duluth Civitan Club --- raising money and supporting programs for the developmentally disabled --- as well as a member of the Courage Center's Advisory Board. He was the founding member of Duluth's first Montessori School Board and a founder of the UMD School of Social Development (now the School of Social Work). In the world of politics, Bill has for 30 years been a familiar face, performing as a DFL party worker and active in local, state, and national campaigns. And Bill was as well a founding member of DPPA; he served as a DPPA board member in 2000 and 2001. Currently, Bill is a member of Friends of the North Shore, People With Disabilities For Change, Comprehensive Plan Planning District 9, Neighborhood Housing Services Board of Directors, CHUM Housing Task Force --- and the list goes on and on! At the reception for Bill, DPPA's newest board member, Marsh Stenersen, spoke about the value to a community of civic activism. DPPA then presented Bill with a certificate of recognition and announced what Bill has chosen as his gift from DPPA: a digital camera to be given in his honor to Neighborhood Housing services, for their use in promoting quality housing for all of Duluth's citizens. Thank you, Bill Hardesty, for all you have done for Duluth! It has been an honor for DPPA to count you as one of our members. DPPA Elects board members and officers By Patty McNulty The Duluth Public-Policy Alliance annual business meeting was held on Saturday March 29, 2003 at the Chester Creek Café. Members were asked to vote on bylaw changes as well as to elect new board members. Marshall Stenersen was elected to a two-year term on the DPPA board. Stenersen moved to Duluth in 1978 from Minneapolis and attended the College of St. Scholastica, where he majored in Behavioral Arts and Sciences. Marsh is currently a staff representative for AFSCME in Duluth. ``Through the years there have been a number of issues around open government and labor,'' he observed, when asked about his interest in DPPA. ``This is true particularly at the board level of various authorities. So, the connection between open government and labor is of considerable interest to me.'' Also elected to two year board terms were Immediate Past President, Barb Olsen, and Terry Brown, who had served as Secretary/Treasurer since the inception of DPPA in 1999. In a regularly scheduled session, the new DPPA board elected officers for the upcoming year. Andrew Slade was elected Treasurer, Jan Karon Secretary, Patty McNulty Vice President and Terry Brown President. ``I'm very interested in any role DPPA can take in developing resources to foster public participation in local government,'' noted Brown. ``I'd like to see a better system of alerting residents about city meetings and gatherings that allow for public input and discussion. It's important for people to be heard.'' Originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, Brown moved to Duluth in 1996. He is an ecosystem analyst at the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI). ``The mission of DPPA is important for Duluth,'' Brown commented at the DPPA Civic Activist Award ceremony. ``I'm pleased to be able to help further that mission. Barb (Olsen) has been a fantastic leader for DPPA I will do my best to follow her example.'' Been to any good meetings lately? By Terry Brown Which comes first, good public-policy or strong public participation? Perhaps they both co-evolve, but a key part of the answer must be the mechanisms used to include all the stakeholders in the process of government. I've attended a lot of meetings in Duluth, as have probably most of the people reading this article. Every so often you strike one that's just plain bad. The circumstances that give rise to those meetings need to be addressed on a case by case basis. In this piece, I want to talk about City meetings in general, how well they work, and perhaps some ways in which they could work better. There are three areas that spring to mind. These issues are probably common to all meetings everywhere. There's no real point in spelling out who did what when, they matter because they affect how people are represented in their community. First up, the 900-pound gorilla in the corner seems to be notification. Two series of meetings on controversial topics that serve as examples are the Lakewalk extension and the Lester Park development proposal. I don't mean to single these issues out, but they're good examples of topics about which people are understandably concerned, and for which they want answers. In both cases people said, in the third or forth meeting on the project, ``this is the first meeting I heard about'', or ``this is the first meeting I heard about in time to attend''. Even more unfortunate was ``I don't know who wrote this neighborhood district plan, but I really like...''. Ouch. There's no way you'll ever ensure that everyone affected by an issue gets the message, and you certainly won't find a single convenient time when everyone can attend. But are enough of the people who need to know finding out? I suspect not, although a more objective answer would take more resources than anyone's likely to have any time soon. Advertising and direct mailing are expensive, and City budgets are always tight. But if people don't know about their opportunities to participate, it doesn't matter how well you run the meeting or how responsive you are to the concerns of those present, the people who weren't there have missed out. And the community has lost the opportunity to get those people's input. So, although it can be a significant part of a meager budget, it seems that getting the word out isn't something that can be skimped on. And perhaps it's also an opportunity for local media to make a contribution. They do of course already contribute to the community in this area with various public service announcements. Can local media and the City establish ongoing, user friendly, ``one stop shop'' sources for listings of irregular (issue specific) and regular meetings that affect the lives of everyone in Duluth? And don't forget the utility bill mailed to everyone's home once a month --- now there's an envelope looking for something more interesting to deliver. A second, less obvious but perhaps more avoidable, meeting pitfall is the weight given to the status-quo when a new vision is being sought. In a series of meetings run by a facilitator where the stakeholders may include both the public and the staff of the City department involved, the presence of the latter may inadvertently reduce the input of the former. This sounds counter intuitive, but there's a tendency for people who've been fulfilling a role for a long time to counter suggestions from the general public with positions like ``that's too expensive,'' ``you can't do it that way because,'' ``that's not what most people want,'' etc. These responses tend to be defensive, and understandably so, there's nothing more irritating than being told how to do your own job. In many cases, of course, these responses will be correct, although they could be delivered more constructively. In other cases, however, these responses can make it very hard to get ``out of the box'' idea wise. A simple solution is to hold distinctly separate meetings for the public and city personnel. These are cases where significant change may be involved and the City staff in question are quite legitimately also considered stakeholders in the process. With separate meetings the public will be able to fully spell out their ideas without premature dismissal from another stakeholder group. The facilitators should be able to help them clarify their goals and explain those to the other stakeholders so that real and sometimes innovative alternatives can receive due consideration. Finally, City and other governmental entities should be honest about how much input they're really looking for on a project. If they're going to accept suggestions and make changes, that's great. But if their processes don't really include public input, they should say so. Many governmental entities are directed by elected officials, and although it's good policy for them to keep the public informed, it's the elected officials the public must really rely on to set the direction for their community. It's essential that agencies that are required to accept and consider public input do so. It's great when those that aren't decide to do so. But when one just pays lip service to public input because it's the thing to do, people become frustrated and the situation is worse than it would have been after a purely informational meeting. Oddly enough, some even turn this on its head and appear to be uninterested in public input but then make changes to accommodate it --- the right result in the end, but a process more acrimonious than it needs to be. This last point is related to the issue of how early the public is involved in any initiative or proposed development. This isn't a meeting issue exactly, but it's a big factor in public acceptance and participatory democracy. Go to meetings, let people know what you think, don't let anyone say no one's interested. Speak to the issues, and tell the organizers what you liked and what you didn't like about the way the meeting was run --- if you do it in a positive way, everyone's better off. Barb Olsen ends three-year editing spree After over three years of editing Common Sense, Barb Olsen has handed over the reins. As a skilled professional writer, Barb's work will be hard to match. Thank you for all your fine work, Barb. Common Sense is now being assembled collectively by the DPPA Board. Articles or suggestions for articles are always welcome. Send them to DuluthPPA@yahoo.com or DPPA, PO Box 404, Duluth MN 55801. City Web Browsing - Join a Commission, or two. There's a bunch of vacancies on City Commissions: Building Appeal Board (1 vacancy), Commission on Disabilities (6), Community Development Committee (2), Duluth Airport Authority (International and Sky Harbor) (1), Duluth Housing Commission (1), Duluth Public Arts Commission (6), Duluth State Convention Center Administrative Board (2), Duluth Transit Authority (DTA) (2), Environmental Advisory Council (3), Heritage Preservation Commission (3), Library Board (2), Parking Commission (3), Parks & Recreation Commission (3), Sister City Commission (2), Technical Design Advisory Committee (3). Application forms are available from City Hall and can be picked up from the back of the Council Chambers. Or download it from the City web page (below). Future Planning Commission agenda's aren't on line, but their meeting schedule is ``...the second Tuesday of every month at 9 AM, Council Chambers, City Hall, and if necessary the fourth Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. For further information, contact Jim Mohn at 218-723-3328, or by e-mail at jmohn@ci.duluth.mn.us.'' If you have trouble remembering the City web site address (www.ci.duluth.mn.us), just remember www.duluthplan.com, then click on the ``Home'' button at top left. Calendar of Upcoming Events In addition to Council meetings on approximately every second Monday, there are Agenda sessions at 4:45 p.m. the Thursday before the Council meeting (5/8, 5/22, 6/5, 6/19, 7/10, 7/24, 8/7), and Committee of the Whole meetings at 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. on some non-Council Mondays (5/19, 6/2, 6/16, 7/7, 7/21, 8/4, 8/18). These meetings are also in the Council Chambers. Check the City website (www.ci.duluth.mn.us/city/council/schedule.html) or call the City Clerk, Jeff Cox, (723-3711) for details. April 2003 Mon 28 7:00 pm City Council meeting May 2003 Tue 06 8:00 am DPPA board meeting, Sir Ben's Restaurant Mon 12 7:00 pm City Council meeting Tue 27 7:00 pm City Council meeting June 2003 Mon 02 Committee of the Whole - Citizens Advisory Committee for Comprehensive Planning Tue 03 8:00 am DPPA board meeting, Sir Ben's Mon 09 7:00 pm City Council meeting Mon 23 7:00 pm City Council meeting July 2003 Tue 01 8:00 am DPPA board meeting, Sir Ben's 2003 Candidate filing for Duluth elections opens. Mon 14 7:00 pm City Council meeting Tue 15 Candidate filing for Duluth elections closes. Mon 28 7:00 pm City Council meeting August 2003 Tue 05 8:00 am DPPA board meeting, Sir Ben's Mon 11 7:00 pm City Council meeting Tue 19 Deadline for voter preregistration for Duluth primaries. Mon 25 7:00 pm City Council meeting September 2003 Tue 09 City Council and Mayoral election primaries. October 2003 Tue 14 Deadline for voter preregistration for Duluth general election. November 2003 Tue 04 City Council and Mayoral general election. These articles are retained on the web for historical interest and do not necessarily reflect the views or goals of DPPA today.