Update on Action Team Meetings

Hello NOLA-CPP Supporters and Action Team Volunteers,

On 1 October 2008, two Action Team meetings where held. The first was a lunch meeting with the Scope of Activities Team. This Team is responsible for finding out what range of issues and policies will the CPP focus on.

In a previous meeting the group agreed that the goals of the CPP should be seen in two parts; "Front End Input" and "Back End Evaluation". What this means is that the CPP should make it possible for any resident to be able to be involved in the planning stage of any development or policy that impacts them. As well, we should have the ability to then evaluate the outcomes of those proposed developments or policy changes at the end of the year.

With this in mind the Scope of Activities Team divided the CPP's issues into three braod categories. 1. Land Use and Zoning and 2. City Budgeting. With these two issues the Team felt it was important for residents to have access and input in the planning [Front End] stages of the process.

The third category the Team wanted to give CPP authority on is 3. Program Review. By "Program Review" what the Team means is that residents should have the opportunity to request and participate in reviews of City Departments and public services to ensure that the goals of the program were being delivered as promised. It is an opportunity to measure the quality of the city's public service delivery and/or make comments on improving it.

The Team then set itself the task of looking at other cities CPP programs to get an idea of how they address citizen engagement on these various issues. In addition, the group has planned to set meetings with city attorneys to discuss the legal points of access that residents currently have to city processes, in particular the budget. With that in mind they've also set themselves the goal of meeting with City Council Budget Committee Chair, Cynthia Hedge-Morrell.

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The second meeting of that day was with the Race/Gender and Class Action Team. They begin their conversation with an opening question on how the term, "Citizen" is being used and defined within the CPP.

Questions of who participates, how to increase participation among marginalzied groups, and how are we measuring success were also identified as key issues that the group would like to address.

The Team settled on a working definition of racism that attempted to see its outcomes in our current environment. For the group, the important impacts of racism are conditions of disinterest or neglect for the needs and suffering of others. The Team felt that the impact of modern day racism was less about hating another group or hating someone for the color of their skin. Racism today is perhaps more about the devaluing of the experience and perspective of whole groups of people for reasons that on the surface may appear to have very little to do with race. It is the systematic denial of entry and inclusion to these groups to basic rights of participation by establishing environments antagonistic to their presence.

The Team then set itself the task of reviewing the 2004 Draft Model CPP as the common starting point for all our Teams. Starting by thinking about arguments for why the issues being raised in this team are important to revisions of that draft such as: why should we have a loose definition of citizen? Why should we strive to include group identities? How do we help create constructive conversations that do not alienate individuals who are participating?
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On the 9th October, the Outreach and Inclusiveness Team met and discussed a number of important initiatives. First, at the request of the staff the Team discussed how to reestablish the CPP as a "popular" process and not one confined to participation in the Action Teams.

In November the CPP staff with support from the Outreach Team and a corps of students from Tulane's service learners project will unveil and conduct a city-wide community survey to gage people's feelings and get ideas on the need for more transparency and accountability in city government. The survey will be conducted on the street, at grocery stores and even at polling stations during the November 4th elections.

It will also be an opportunity to widen people's awareness about the CPP and recruit more participants onto Action Teams.

In addition to the survey the Outreach Team discussed the possibility of the CPP hosting a number of Saturday morning community breakfast forums. These forums would allow a larger number of residents to come together to talk about the CPP, ask questions and contribute to the design of the final CPP Model. The first breakfast forum would be held in January with another to follow two months after.

More Team meetings are being scheduled for this month. CPP is moving forward, but not without your efforts. We thank you all for your continued support and committment to making New Orleans a place with city residents and government can work in partnership to improve our city for everyone.

Look for the latest updates in our weekly e-blast, due out every Monday.

Reminder: The CPP-Collaborative Meeting is scheduled for 21st October at 600pm. 3500 Canal Street 2nd floor.