Professional Documents
Culture Documents
7 JULY 2009
Civic
engagement
Hampton Roads initiative
attempts to breathe life
into local democracy
P
ortsmouth commu- thropy for Active Civic Engagement, James B. Oliver Jr., the retired city
nity activist Terry Danaher or PACE, suggested that many citizens manager of Norfolk and Portsmouth
wanted to learn how citizens turned off to getting involved because and founding chairman of the
can gain a more effective they believed that government did not fledgling Hampton Roads Center
voice in local and regional welcome their interest. for Civic Engagement, or HRCCE,
issues. So, this spring, she at- “Chris Gates gave one of the which organized this spring’s civic-
tended a conference billed as “the first best public messages I ever heard,” engagement summit.
Hampton Roads Civic Engagement Danaher said. “He said that a lot of And connecting people with public
Summit.” people aren’t participating because decision making, as Oliver sees it, is
There, Danaher and about 200 they don’t think anything is ever going the fundamental job of the HRCCE,
other Hampton Roads residents, elect- to happen. They see people putting especially when it comes to major
ed officials, and governmental and together plans that always get put up regional issues, such as transportation.
business leaders heard Christopher T. on the shelf and they say, ‘No, I’m “The mission of the Center,”
Gates, a nationally known advocate not getting involved again.’ Or, if proclaims an HRCCE brochure, “is
of civic engagement, talk about the something did happen, they weren’t to support sustainable deliberative
“need to reinvent the ways we practice informed that the plans were acted democracy in Hampton Roads and
democracy” and the responsibilities upon.” to connect public decision making
of governmental leaders and citizens Never shy about contacting local with civil dialogue and the informed
alike in becoming informed on issues government leaders or fellow citizens, judgment of the region’s citizens.”
and working together to solve local Danaher said the summit motivated Lofty ambitions for an organiza-
and regional problems. her to step up her own activities tion barely a year old, whose leaders
“It was great being in a room even more. She said she will urge frequently remind any listeners that
with a bunch of like-minded people Portsmouth City Council members HRCCE-style civic engagement is still
who want to make a difference, who to become more active and visible in “an experiment.”
want to be involved and make good informing their constituents about “We have the twin problems that
things happen. It was a powerful their work, while she will increase there is no traditional avenues to
feeling,” said Danaher, who owns a her efforts to connect neighbors with do civic engagement in Hampton
small business with her husband, Paul, opportunities for becoming more Roads. You throw that in with today’s
and has served on several community informed on local issues and more society being so incredibly busy and
committees. involved. pretty disconnected from a lot of civic
Danaher grew even more excited If only it were that easy to endeavors. So then how do you get
when she heard Gates dismiss the motivate all citizens and governmental people to sit down and talk and invest
notion that citizens are mostly too leaders. themselves into getting to something
apathetic to get involved in public “What does it take to get people that’s meaningful?” said Oliver, who
issues. Instead, Gates, executive connected in meaningful ways? is currently serving as interim city
director of the Denver-based Philan- That’s a fundamental problem,” says manager of Hampton. “We’re trying
V I R G I N I A TO W N & C I T Y | J uly 2 0 0 9 9
It was great being in a room
with a bunch of like-minded
people who want to make
a difference, who want to
be involved and make good
things happen.
Terry Danaher –
Portsmouth community activist.
to create a safe, neutral place where ability to tap a broad citizen base was Roads, with no dominant city, no
citizens feel invited to the table. And a long-sought holy grail, especially on unified government structure, and we
plenty of people want those conversa- matters that needed approval from the don’t have 10 Fortune 500 companies
tions to occur.” General Assembly or Congress. that anchor the leadership, how do
“Given the nature of Hampton we get solutions to some of the bigger
Beginnings
The nonprofit HRCCE grew
out of the 2007 “Hampton Roads Why traditional models
Regional Structure Project” on
improving the competitiveness of
the region. The study project was
of participation are failing …
sponsored by The Future of Hamp- Christopher T. Gates, executive director of the Philan-
ton Roads, a nonprofit organization thropy for Active Civic Engagement, speaking at the Hampton
that encourages a greater sense of Roads Civic Engagement Summit, cited four major reasons why
regionalism in southeastern Virginia. traditional models of participation have lost their ability to connect
The project was managed by Virginia with citizens:
Beach resident James F. Babcock, vice • The information and technology revolution that has helped
chairman of the futures group. foster partial-truths about their communities’ problems and poten-
“As the country has grown, it’s tial solutions.
become more difficult for people to • A news media that has lost touch with real community life
know their representatives. Mean- while accentuating conflict and encouraging disbelief.
while, some people in government • Greater diversity in a wide variety of demographic measures,
don’t like to fool with the public while while civic and business leaders have not kept pace with knowing
others want to poll public opinion on how to interact across perceived differences.
all decisions,” said Babcock, who is • The tendency for power structures to blame citizens as apa-
also a board member of the HRCCE. thetic instead of knowing how to reach out more effectively and
“There’s a certain art now of trying
convince citizens that their voices really matter.
to assemble public opinion and the
Gates advised governmental leaders to develop new ways to
center is trying to bring to Hampton
Roads some of the more sophisticated
gather citizen opinions on community issues. “Most conventional
techniques. Engaging the public more models not only don’t work, but they can make things worse,” he
actively in important issues, that’s said, noting that standard public hearings often are held at times
worthwhile. But it’s not going to be and in places that are inconvenient for most citizens.
easy.” New models of local governance, he said, include using power to
Many of the project’s recom- empower others, mediation of problems and listening to everyone
mendations dealt with the region’s with respect.
economic and governance structures, In May, the Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement, issued a
but organizers also saw a critical 36-page report, The New Laboratories of Democracy: How Local Govern-
need to improve public participation ment is Reinventing Civic Engagement. For more information, visit www.
in decision making to help forge a pacefunders.org.
more unified voice on important … Knepler
region-wide issues. For some, the
V I R G I N I A TO W N & C I T Y | J uly 2 0 0 9 11
{Public administrators} are not
spending any time thinking about
sustainable democracy. They’re trying
to get their work done. And the people
they have reporting to them haven’t
necessarily been trained in public
involvement.
Betsy McBride – president and executive
director, Hampton Roads Center for Civic
Engagement.
by doing something or really engag- held at times and in places that are sampling of 1,997 adults among the
ing in the thinking around doing inconvenient for most citizens. 1.7 million people living in the 16
something that allows them to create New models of local governance, communities that make up Hampton
some positive change. It’s different he said, include using power to em- Roads. The findings showed nearly
than volunteering. It’s just not the power others, mediation of problems 70 percent of citizens said they would
act of helping out. The concept of and listening to everyone with respect. be very interested or somewhat
engagement is really an active verb. The April 4 HRCCE summit also interested in working with others to
It means that you’re really thinking featured the release of three public- find solutions to regional issues.
it through. Different people call it opinion surveys that assessed the So what stops many citizens from
different things. Part of it is thinking “civic capital” of Hampton Roads, getting involved?
strategically about what needs to be which was defined as the “values, Another part of the Batten
done and (determining) what are the skills and infrastructure needed for Surveys attempted to find answers
most pressing issues where can you citizens to work together to define to that question. A series of focused
best make a difference.” and shape the region’s quality of life.” interviews with about four dozen
Gates elaborated about the need The survey work was spearheaded by regional civic leaders and elected of-
for civic engagement in his keynote Quentin Kidd, an associate professor ficials included the twin query: “What
speech at HRCCE’s regional summit of political science in at Christopher do officials misunderstand about
on April 4, held at Old Dominion Newport University and director of engaging the citizens?” and “What
University’s Modeling, Analysis and CNU’s Center for Public Policy. The do citizens misunderstand about civic
Simulation Center in Suffolk. He ad- HRCCE refers to this project as the engagement?”
vised governmental leaders to develop “Batten Surveys” because they were The responses were striking in
new ways to gather citizen opinions funded by Jane P. Batten, a commu- describing the gaps.
on community issues. nity leader and philanthropist whose For example, one appointed of-
“Most conventional models not family holdings include The Virginian- ficial said this about misunderstanding
only don’t work, but they can make Pilot daily newspaper. on the part of many colleagues: “I
things worse,” he said, noting that The largest part of the Batten believe most view civic engagement
standard public hearings often are Surveys was a March 2-9 telephone as a ‘superficial task’ rather than
a fundamental relationship. They making its programs known across “Actually, my generation is starving
also do not grasp what true civic the region. A poll taken at the event for that,” said 22-year-old Lauren
engagement is and what it feels like. showed that 61.7 percent of attendees Perry, a Virginia Beach resident and
‘Hearing’ what someone has to say were white and 78 percent had house- 2009 graduate of Virginia Wesleyan
is far different than engaging them hold incomes of at least $75,000. College who attended the HRCCE
in constructive dialogue in which it Although the HRCCE is not well regional summit and participated in
is clear that each party is seeking an known, its supporters say it holds the focus group. “Most of my age
effective outcome based upon all the great potential to help Hampton group does not feel listened to ... But
views and ideas in the room.” Roads citizens and local officials work we’re an untapped asset.” And, Perry
On the other side of the equa- together more productively to solve adds, “engaged conversations could
tion, an appointed official had this to problems. HRCCE projects on the be addictive.”
say about citizen perceptions: “The drawing boards include a year-long se-
most common misunderstanding is ries of citizen-outreach efforts to help
their sense that civic engagement is Virginia Beach better understand the Building credibility
showing up at a meeting and express-
ing their own opinions about an issue
transportation issues of its residents,
establishment of a regional “citizens’ and consensus
– and then expecting their opinion academy” to help area residents learn The HRCCE’s status as an inde-
to ‘win the day.’ If it does not, they about regional agencies and issues pendent, nonprofit organization will
will contend that their opinions were and develop skills related to civic be one of the keys to its ability to help
ignored. The appreciation of hearing engagement, and a civic-engagement resolve issues, according to Oliver.
multiple opinions, discussing options, initiative aimed at young people. “One of the things we’ve done so
evaluating options and then reaching A recent focus group of Hampton far is not gone to cities for funding.
a preferred outcome is increasingly Roads young leaders, ages 17 to 22, Part of that is to deliberately try to
being lost.” suggested that local governments are build a safe place for citizens but with
The summit also gave evidence missing opportunities to reach out to competence and capacity to do stuff,”
that the HRCCE also was feeling teens and young adults on important he said. “That’s a big constraint we’ve
its way in reaching out, especially in issues, even on the regional level. put on ourselves, but we’re doing that
V I R G I N I A TO W N & C I T Y | J uly 2 0 0 9 13
Most conventional models
(of gathering citizen
opinions) not only
don’t work, but they can
make things worse.
Christopher T. Gates – nationally known
advocate of civic engagement.
because we don’t want to look like amount of resources. We also are The HRCCE also is available to
government. We don’t want to ask in a real critical point in this region’s build consensus among governmental
citizens to come to us and then have history. We need to come together leaders. In February, the center
them get all suspicious that we might to have regional positions on lots of facilitated a retreat for the Hampton
be getting some funding from cities, so different items so we could present Roads Transportation Planning Or-
therefore we can’t be trusted. That’s a an united front to others outside the ganization, or HRTPO, a public body
pretty tough challenge.” region.” whose board is made up mostly of
So far, much of the center’s
funding – $175,000 for three years –
elected officials from across southeast- localities ... For the good of each of believe that this is their region ... and
ern Virginia. The agency has come your jurisdictions and for the region, that they should appreciate that they
under criticism over the years by those this is very important work.” have resources outside of their city’s
who say it has not provided a strong, HRTPO Executive Director boundaries,” Farmer said.
united front needed to solve regional Dwight Farmer was pleased with the The long-range payoff, Farmer
transportation problems. work and said one of the reasons the said, will be when citizens from across
Part of the problem, critics say, is HRCCE was selected to facilitate the Hampton Roads speak with a more
that most board members felt caught retreat was because it was a “home- united voice in helping the region win
in a paradox of whose interests must grown” organization with leaders funding from the General Assembly
take priority – the city or county who know and care about Hampton and Congress for major projects. “I
they represent – or the regional body Roads. think that state-and federal-elected of-
responsible for broad transportation “It was the first time we’ve had ficials really need do be hearing more
planning. facilitated retreat in 31 years I’ve been of those messages from citizens, that
In his opening remarks at the there,” he said. “It allowed us to have this region has this problem that needs
retreat, Oliver challenged HRTPO discussions we probably would not to get solved,” he said.
board members to think more have had.” The HRCCE also will be working
deeply about their role with a regional Since February, several board to bring citizens and government of-
agency. “This room is full of local members have referred back to the ficials together within a local munici-
elected officials who are not thwarted retreat to “remind themselves” that pality. The transportation visioning
or intimidated by excuses in building they can continue to improve their project in Virginia Beach will be its
your cities and counties ... “Isn’t it abilities to work together for the good first. The effort, heralded by Virginia
time we succeed in transportation in of the entire region, Farmer said. Beach Mayor Will Sessoms in a May
Hampton Roads the same way we Farmer said he’s also excited about 15 speech about his first 100 days
have in our entrepreneurial locali- the HRCCE’s potential to educate in office, will take about a year and
ties and agencies?” he said. “This is and involve more citizens in issues include a wide range of stakehold-
clearly collaborative work that goes facing the region. ers, including commuters, bicyclists,
beyond the boundary lines of your “We need to get people to truly senior citizens, people with disabilities,
V I R G I N I A TO W N & C I T Y | J uly 2 0 0 9 15
We need to get people to
truly believe that this is their
region ... and that they should
appreciate that they have
resources outside of their city’s
boundaries.
Dwight Farmer – Hampton Roads
Transportation Planning Organization
executive director.