Org. Structure Notes

9 March 2009

I. District Neighborhood Councils

a. Boundaries: by planning district or other form?
1. Issue of funding will ultimately determine make up of District Councils. Can’t have too many, can’t have too few that would be cumbersome for District staff.
2. Staffing limits may not be the best criteria. Having staff assigned to specific geographic areas is good but we shouldn’t be creating a new layer. Do we need a regular gathering of people at the planning district level, can we allow for smaller units to address more regular needs and bring people together at planning level for specific issues and needs?
3. By not organizing around planning districts we may build inequity into the system. Due to the spatial concentration of poverty vs. high income areas; advanced education vs. lower education attainment etc. It is important to go forward with a clearly defined structure and not leave it to neighborhoods to develop that structure. By leaving it to neighborhoods it leaves it too vulnerable to political manipulation and control.
4. Decisions concerning the immediate geography should go through the neighborhood association and be delivered through the appropriate District Neighborhood Council.
5. Don’t discount NA’s that see themselves to be the “last word”. How will we get “hardheaded” NA’s to play when they’ve already been so successful in the past?
6. When thinking about boundaries we have to be mindful of the fact that while planning districts might work best for land and zoning issues, other districts may allow for more rational organization for other issues identified by the scope of activities.
7. Where is the actual authorization to create the structure coming from? NA’s that have strong ties to council persons may not see a benefit of joining a District Council.
8. The group began to coalesce around the idea of forming the District Councils geographically around existing planning districts.
9. If we are going to have to revolve around planning districts, a group of neighborhoods should have the option to choose themselves which district they prefer to be a part of if they cross boundaries.

II. Standards
1. Would like to see more emphasis on inequalities and building equity into the system. There may be some communities of interest that even in the best case scenarios will not be integrated into neighborhoods.
2. The standards and guidelines are established to build equity into the system.
3. Groups that don’t adequately represent the entire neighborhood are not NA’s but a community of interest group.
4. ORDA is developing a neighborhood assistance program to help neighborhoods take on physical neighborhood projects, funded by matching grants including in-kind services. To develop sustainable neighborhood groups, that are representative and not just a power block at the neighborhood level.