Major Themes From First Decatur Strategic Plan Meeting Unveiled
Decatur Metro | June 9, 2010 | 3:09 pmOtis White of Civic Strategies has just finished compiling the thoughts of all 741 citizens who participated in the first session of Decatur’s Strategic Planning meetings and has boiled all your hopes and dreams into five “major” themes and three “additional” themes.
5 Major Themes
- The Diverse Community
- The Involved Community
- The Complete Community
- The Alternative Transportation Community
- The Responsive and Cooperative Community
3 Additional Themes
- The Innovative and Distinctive Community
- The Green Community
- The Active and Healthy Community
I’ve provided his short summary for each of these after the jump. For greater elaboration on the eight themes and to read every single thing that was suggested or mentioned at Session 1, check out White’s full report HERE on DecaturNext.
The 5 Major Themes
The Diverse Community: This is an appreciation of Decatur’s diversity of races, ethnic groups, income levels, ages, family types and sexual orientations. The citizens don’t just acknowledge this diversity; they are drawn to it. In some instances, it was what caused them to move to Decatur in the first place. Looking forward, they worry that economic forces may diminish this diversity, and they want the city to do what it can to prevent that from happening.
The Involved Community: This is another reason citizens give for appreciating Decatur, the feeling of community “ownership.” More than is common among residents of other places, Decaturites are connected to and involved in their neighborhoods, the downtown and other parts of the city. Their hope is that this sense of community can be deepened in the future; their fear is that it might diminish.
The Complete Community: This is still more of an ambition than a reality, although citizens see significant progress in this area. Basically, there are two meanings that citizens give of completeness: First, that the city ought to be as self-contained as possible, with services, goods and entertainment close at hand, if not in walking distance. Second, that it ought to be a place where one could work as well as live and play. In thinking about the future, citizens offered numerous ways Decatur might be made more complete.
The Alternative Transportation Community: In the meetings, citizens were clear that they want to be able to move around Decatur in ways other than driving. Basically, they wanted to be able to walk, ride bikes or take transit as easily as – or maybe more easily than – driving an automobile. They had numerous suggestions for making alternative transportation easier.
The Responsive and Cooperative Community: This is what citizens wanted from the community’s major institutions – principally governments (the city government and school system), but also from its businesses and even religious institutions. In short, they want institutions that listen to the citizens and, where possible, anticipate their desires, and they want institutions that cooperate with one another – again, on behalf of the citizens.
3 Additional Themes
The Innovative and Distinctive Community: Citizens said they wanted a community that looked and worked differently than other places, in design, public art and its attraction for innovative companies.
The Green Community: Again and again, citizens said they wanted more green spaces, but there was also the sentiment that Decatur should also be a leader in reducing its impact on the environment.
The Active and Healthy Community: There were many ideas about active living and aging well. A common thread was that Decatur should be a place where people will stay for a lifetime, including their senior years, and that those years should be active and healthy ones.
Where is the Overtaxed Community?
Agreed!
I didn’t think they could fit another buzzword into this list, but I see they omitted ‘sustainable’!
I guess you can filter through the list and see if there are a comparable number of “taxes are too high” comments to these other major themes.
It’s not as explicit as these other points, but there are echoes of concern over high taxes in the diversity and active community themes. (How can you “stay a lifetime” if you can’t afford your tax payment?)
But it doesn’t look like it’s a “major” concern for the majority of Strategic Plan goers.
Susan and Russ: I know in my group the amount of taxes repeatedly came up. It seemed our main focus was how high the taxes were in regards to affordability to stay in Decatur once one retires and that the diversity was going to be threaten due to people not being able to afford to live in Decatur.
Susan, if you made comments about excessive taxation in your round table group and they’re not reflected in the report, contact your facilitator to double check the notes.
Susan forgot to add a cover page to her TPS report. The group facilitator is freaking out!
perfect.
Interesting to see that twice in the report, “walkable” schools are listed as an asset to the city. Sadly, in fact, CSD is trending away from walkable schools by having fewer elementary schools and using the K-3, 4/5 model. Our elementary school certainly isn’t “walkable” for us. I am sure the non-school community does not realize the impact that the K-3,4/5 model has on the supposed neighborhood school make-up in the city. More K-5s would allow many more students to walk/bike to school everyday.
In my group the lack of walking to school came up. Many parents were not happy with having to take their child across Decatur to go to school.
Also from the report re: diversity: “But citizens were concerned that now or in the future the city’s diversity may be threatened as it becomes more affluent.”
This is a very peculiar form of nonsense. Affluence and diversity are not only related concepts, but are mutually exclusive! So much for affluence being a good thing. It’s simply not good to have too many affluent people. Thus, the City should “do what it can” to prevent too much affluence. The Great Recession is a start, what with 10% unemployment and all. still, we have too many rich people. So what is the city doing to make people poorer? Surely it can do more, lest this dreaded affluence run wild. And if it can’t, then at the very least, city leaders can make sure that not too many affluent people move into the city, because Decatur has enough of those affluent people already. I mean, they are all the same. Not diverse at all.
Surely, if all considerations are appropriately balanced, the city will attain the goal of being all-around awesome, yet not attract too much attention. For if the city is widely known for its awesomeness, then too many people might want to move here, thus driving up property values. And we can’t have much of that, now, can we?
Dude…do you write for The Onion? That was sweet.
“This is a very peculiar form of nonsense” = my new favorite quote. Thanks DEM!
I don’t see the word “festival” anywhere. Surely that was an inadvertent omission.
I like the part about “anticipating our desires”. Are we all Kings? Yea, a needy bunch are we. To asuage the guilt let’s tell a focus group that we want economic diversity, maybe the cake eaters will anticipate our desires too.
I found this process discouraging.
The members of my group want EVERYTHING – more bike trails , better recreation facilities, more city owned green spaced, expanded school buildings so no kids in trailers and spots for everyone in PK. They want a vibrant downtown with lots of unique shops and restaurants . They want to give tax incentives to draw more small start up businesses and encourage new affordable housing. . They want more publicly funded arts, more and better festivals. They want a diverse community with additional tax relief for seniors.
They don’t want any more large houses or condos, no chain restaurants or big box stores (unless it is Whole Foods or Traders Joe’s) . They don’t want anyone driving cars in the center of the city. No cuts to CSD programs. Absolutely no annexation.
IMO these people are either clueless or in denial about how the city would pay for all the things they want.
Every time I brought up taxes and funding , I got dirty looks. Not polite to bring up reality in the midst of the dreamers I guess.
This round table format didn’t invite discussion about economic realities. It was much more geared to drawing up a no strings attached / blank check wish list for Decatur’s future. it is a good exercise to express the hopes and dreams but I believe there should have been a part of the discussion outline dedicated to financial realities as well.
I agree with you Fifi that some folks out there probably don’t think very long and hard about how to make these dreams a reality. And I always get a little nervous when everyone is agreeing with everyone else at these meetings.
But as you said, it’s good for the powers-that-be to hear the hopes and dreams of residents, regardless of how pie-in-the-sky it is. And yes, when this wish-list is coupled with concerns in the next breath about economic diversity, it can get a bit “are you listening to yourself right now?” unless that person has solutions that allow for both.
Now, if purse-strings really were a huge concern for a large majority of residents, these meetings would probably have a slightly different tone. So, for better or worse, that says something about the current demographics of the city.
Regardless, don’t dismay. We’ll discuss the budget 10 times before we do another Strategic Planning session!
At least it says something about the demographics of those who chose to participate in the round table discussions.
I wonder how many groups did have people like me who spoke up about finances but ended up the odd person out. A couple of my comments made it to the board but they weren’t the ones circled at the end to indicate a major point/concern.
Indeed. The responses of the Strat Planning reflects only those who chose to attend meetings to give direction to the city. I should have qualified that.
That said, the Citizen Survey showed that over 50% of respondents were willing to have their taxes raised in order to maintain the same level of service in the city. So…sure there are lots of folks out there concerned about having the highest taxes in the state, but all the evidence I’m seeing these days is showing that those people are now the minority.
Does anyone have evidence that shows otherwise?
Hey DM,
I don’t have any evidence to the contrary, but future-oriented / hypothetical “willingness to pay” research is right up there with the Travel Channel’s “top 10 beaches” research in terms of its validity.
DM=OWNED
It’s fun to be the naysayer – but if you’re the person in the driver’s seat, and not just an arm-chair critic, I’m curious how you go about making decisions if you can’t ask future-oriented questions.
Is it better to govern by listening to whomever argues loudest?
Hmmm… good point, DM.
I would say with research relating to future services/expenditure, avoid willingness to pay research altogether – it is just too unrealistic and will almost always give the go-ahead for spending. I would probably instead look at take-up rates, service provision, complaints, etc. in cities and locales that have already adopted the services at issue.
Never be a leader in municipal services, ha ha… (think municipal wi-fi)
How can one strive for more affordable housing yet not build more condos? Condos are affordable housing in Decatur.
I, too, talked to my fellow group members (I almost called them groupies) about the disconnect between everything we say we want in one breath and then saying that we want to keep the City affordable. I wasn’t interested in spending time making up an unrealistic wish-list, I wanted to talk about realistic, achievable goals — and I think we did a pretty good job of coming up with some innovative ideas that are actually do-able.
I question the importance of having every single child in Decatur live just steps away from an elementary school. We live in a city that is 4-square miles, how far from the closest school is any child? How close does the student have to be to?
With talk about the costs of re-doing the Public Works and Rec buildings, I’m already nervous about my next tax bill. I don’t know exactly what the tipping point will be, but some tax $$$ amount is going to make me think about moving; I think that would be by choice, but for others it will be out of necessity, and that’s sad.
Whether or not it’s important for kids to be able to walk to school, this city cannot tout its “neighborhood schools” because we no longer have neighborhood schools. Currently there are only 3 K-3 schools in Decatur, which means kids live as much as 2 miles (across major streets/intersections and railroads) from their elementary school. So it’s erroneous to include “walkability” for schools in this report.
Just because not every kid can easily walk to school doesn’t mean the schools are entirely unwalkable, does it?
Well, there is a difference between CSD circa pre-2004, when ALL the elementary schools were walkable for EVERYONE, and CSD since 2004, when some of the schools are walkable for SOME kids. To me, there’s a big difference there, and many in our community who do not have their fingers on the pulse of CSD may think we still have the walkable neighborhood schools of earlier in the decade. To me, it is false for the city to market or brag about neighborhood schools.
Is distance the only factor that makes a walkable school?
If walkability is such an important topic, I’d say that reopening Westchester is a terrible idea. That school isn’t walkable to any K-5 child, except maybe those that live in the neighborhood behind it.
A Ponce Heights parent would probably be more willing to walk the extra distance to Clairemont than walk more than 20 feet down Scott Boulevard with a kid in tow.
Except that it was the first Safe Routes to School site for Decatur (a pilot or something?), and most parents walked to Westchester everyday. Karass, details! It’s not my neighborhood school so I wasn’t around there for it, but apparently there were crossing guards and kids walked there everyday.
Westchester certainly was walkable. If it wasn’t, we didn’t know any better since no bus ride was ever offered! Folks on the ~ 15 streets that are on the west side of Scott didn’t have to leave any slow, residential streets but could walk on cute paths that cut through the woods around what’s now called Hidden Cove Park and then ended up on the playground in back of the school. For those who lived east of Scott, e.g. Garden, Lamont, Coventry, Nelson Ferry, Woodlawn, Fairfield, Clarion, Pinetree, there were crosswalks and pedestrian signals at the lights either Coventry or Clairemont. I think there was a crossing guard at Clairemont and Scott, not Coventry and Scott, but not sure. The bus riders were families who lived further away on the west side, south of Ponce but north of the RR tracks, e.g. Gateway Homes and the Lenox Hill (Adair/Drexel etc) area.
No question that having schools on the Southside that had only 90 kids in them or were segregated or were low-performing had to be addressed. But the solution was based on unreliable enrollment projections that led to one school too many being closed.
Well, there is a difference between CSD circa pre-2004, when ALL the elementary schools were walkable for EVERYONE, and CSD since 2004, when some of the schools are walkable for SOME kids.
The schools were walkable, but also extremely racially segregated and the disparity between the good performing schools and the underperforming schools were weak. Given that history, I don't think that being able to walk to school is as important.
I meant to say the disparity was great … not weak!?!
I agree that that it was extremely important to end our segregated schools, We have all benefited from this realignment, although many do not see the benefit. I wish I am wrong, but the calls for more neighborhood schools, historically mask racial fears.
I live less than 1/4 mile from Westchester which my daughter attended, but across Scott Blvd. It was NOT walkable — cars FLY down Scott, the sidewalk is very narrow with no guardrail — if my daughter had tripped, or a car had swerved even a little bit, it could have been tragic.
To be honest, I’m just tired of hearing that we need more schools. We are a 4 sq-mile city and we have 3 elementary schools and 1 4th-5th academy. That’s all we can afford. The schools are still very high achieving, the classes are not too large,there are lots of extras — that has to be enough. If people want more, I think they need to check out private schools.
Well, it’s too late and too many children for that thought. There’s a brand new school being built at Fifth Avenue no matter what and then there will be four, not three, elementary schools and a 4/5 Academy. The question on the table now is what to do with the continued sporadic boluses of excess of children that may even occur after Fifth Avenue is built because it doesn’t have much room for anything but the 4/5 population we have now. I’m not personally opposed to trailers but they sure do cause a lot of hubbub and reduce play and athletic space. Does Central Office, which is not located centrally, tee hee, really need a playground, blacktop for basketball and 2 rusty hoops without nets, gym, stage, cafeteria (minus the equipment), and hardly used classrooms? Only a few of the staff look tall enough to play much basketball. Why aren’t those spaces shared with the tax-paying community more? If it’s security and confidentiality and other good administrative reasons, then that space is not well-suited to a Central Office. That’s tax-payer funded space–why aren’t the facilities used more for the community? If not for students, what about seniors or civic organizations or after-school programs or camps?
We walk all the time along Scott Blvd, both north and south of Coventry, and don’t find it so scarey. I guess having lived in Los Angeles and New York City gives you a different perspective. The only problem is one homeowner that doesn’t always keep their kudzu and other weeds off of the sidewalk and the state DOT could care less. But the City usually handles it if asked.
Wow, scanning the supposed problems section is one of the most fascinating things I’ve read since The Wind-up Bird Chronicles. Thus, I have a few questions:
• who thinks Decatur would be better off with a Gap or Chico’s?
• what exactly makes Beacon HIll historic?
• how can the city encourage diversity in regards to parental involvement in city school planning? (offer first time visitors a Decatur tote bag.)
• why would the city want to make the square less popular to visitors so residents don’t have to wait in long lines at restaurants? (Amazing quote, ‘Decatur visitors choke out residents at restaurants? Guess what, they also throw their quarters into the local economy.)
• do DeVry students really get into fights on the square? so many so that some want to remove the school altogether? ((WOW))(This person must have been sitting by one of those impish ‘retain cultural diversity’ folks.)
• can you really buy a dime bag on the square between 3 and 4PM? who knew?
• how exactly are out-of-towners disrespectful at festivals? how can one tell who’s who? is there some kind of secret hand gesture you guys are telling me?
• printer toner is an everyday commodity? and the city should do more to make it available? huh?
• how do you put green space ON a bus?
• someone’s worried that Decatur is becoming too expensive and conservative people live in expensive places, so we’re doomed? wha?
• who wants to market Decatur as ‘Anti-Cobb county’?
Excuse me while my head explodes.
I am frankly stunned that 714 people could come up with so many different yet utterly lame complaints. The list seems to go on forever with bad ideas and whining about the smallest issues. It gives one a sense of what fifi mentioned above.
I love the Wind-Up Bird Chronicles!
One sentence in your post made me do a long pause: ‘what exactly makes Beacon Hill historic?’ Hopefully this reply does not offend you, however, I was a little upset because as a long time resident and African American, I am proud of the City of Decatur and all the contributions ‘everyone’ has made towards the city, including African Americans.
In Decatur from the turn of the century until the early 1970’s, it was where the majority of the African American population lived. A lot of the African American history in Decatur has disappeared and this is one part of the city that reminds everyone of the contributions that the African American population has brought to the city.
Some streets no longer exist and a lot of the residents have died. The remaining residents and children remember how the downtown area looked then, the growth, and how the treatment towards African Americans has changed.
See short list of facts below:
* Allen Wilson Terrace Public housing project, constructed in 1941, was named for the first African American school principal in Decatur, Dr. Allen Wilson.
* Previous site of the Allen Wilson Terrace Apartments housing project had been known as “The Bottom.” The Bottom served as a central area of community activity and commerce.
* Beacon Hill Community was home to Henry Oliver, business owner and resident who was honored in 1902 with a local street named for him, name was changed to Commerce Drive and his name was given to a meeting room in the new Decatur Conference Center.
* Streets of the Beacon Hill community housed many families and as of 1901, African families owned property in Decatur.
* Decatur streets were name after prominent African America families of Decatur: Chewning Way, Jackson Way, Oliver Street, and Brooks Court.
* In 1902, Dr. Allen Wilson, a Presbyterian Minister and educator, started, along with his wife, the first public school to teach African American Children.
* Trinity High School was built in 1955 but the school closed in 1967 to comply with school integration and African American students were move to Decatur High.
* Ebster Park was named after J.H. Ebster, Deacon Ebster’s son and a fallen war veteran.
* Few noted former residents of Beacon Hill are: Federal Judge Clarence Cooper, Commander Fredrick Espy, Elizabeth Wilson Decatur’s first African American city commissioner and mayor, Seattle Seahawk football players David Sims, and Cleveland Brown football player Clarence Scott.
* Longtime Educator Dorothy Bailey Dixon, completed high school at 15 years old and college at 19 years old, was excused from jury duty in Decatur because she had taught the judge, the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant.
* In 1909, Dr. Ross S. Douthard became the first African American practicing physician in Decatur and his office was located on the corner of Atlanta Avenue and Marshall Street.
Wow, Square– that was a great little mini-history lesson, and I think you for it. Other than the Beacon Hill question (which I’m sure wasn’t merely tongue-in-cheek for wchad), I agree with just about every sentiment Writerchad expressed. Reading over the report, I suddenly felt a lot of sympathy for the City government– they must’ve looked at the “wish lists” and thought there’d be no point in even starting!
I won’t speak for Chad, but I’m gonna guess he just means from a purely visual standpoint, there isn’t much all that much in terms of historic structures left in the Beacon Hill neighborhood.
Obviously there’s the old Beacon Hill elementary building, which houses the police station, but other than that, there isn’t much. And when Allen Wilson is all torn down and replaced, there will be even less.
Heck, as you pointed out Square, the old streets aren’t even there anymore thanks to urban renewal.
To know anything about Beacon Hill’s history at this point, one has to hear or read about it. So it’s not surprising that few newcomers know of Beacon Hill’s importance. Just my two-cents.
Oh, and BTW, this is something that needs to be rectified…
* Beacon Hill Community was home to Henry Oliver, business owner and resident who was honored in 1902 with a local street named for him, name was changed to Commerce Drive and his name was given to a meeting room in the new Decatur Conference Center.
The untold part of this story is that originally when they renamed the street, the Decatur City Commission promised an Oliver statue in exchange for the street name. To me, a name at the Conference Center is a sad substitute for that.
I heard rumblings a year or so back that Commissioner Cunningham is looking to get at least part of Commerce (between Trinity and Howard) changed back to Oliver Street, but haven’t heard anything since. That would be a good step in the right direction.
We can’t bring the old neighborhood back, but at least we can give the man his street back.
To echo Cuba, many many thanks for the quick education on Beacon Hill. And while that question was in a litany including some tongue-in-cheek, until I read your comment I honestly did not know the history behind the area. At 7 years as a resident, I am admittedly a newcomer. I have searched for information on Beacon Hill online, to little avail. So, again, thanks for the insights. If you could point me in the direction of even more history, I’d eat it up. As DM noted, when I think of Beacon Hill I only think of the police station and community theater.
Yes, that’s something we should be able to find on the Decatur website! Thanks for the history!
I completely understand. This blog and the strategic sessions are what make this city great and provides a chance for new residents and old residents to learn and grow.
The research info was provided a couple of years ago during a Black History month program. The city is currently working on a plan to preserve the Beacon Hills Community.
I totally agree, more information should be available on the city’s website and hopefully this will take place soon. Plus, we must remember . . . Decatur is were it’s greater!
Thank you, Square 101, I enjoyed reading that, especially the story about Ms. Dixon.
Several people in my group knew that one could score a dime bag on the square between 3 and 5. They were very specific about it and I don’t think they were the consumers. I was not personally aware of this activity before that revelation.
Did they mention the precise location and necessary code word or hand signal? You know, just so we know what to look out for…
The informants did not offer any more precise location (than “on the Square”) or information related to how one might recognize the relevant parties. But, “the Square” isn’t a very large area, is it? And “between 3 and 4 pm” is pretty precise. Perhaps a bit of reconnaissance is in order? Too late for today, of course.
I have to admit that when I read “Beacon Hill” in writerchad’s post, I wondered that Chad might not be aware of what makes Boston’s Beacon Hill historic. I’ve lived here 12 years and have biked or walked every street in Decatur. I was peripherally aware of the history outlined by Square101 but it still wasn’t the first thing that came to mind. There is always more to discover and thank you, Square101 for being among the contributors to this blog. I always learn something.
So, should we task the city with expanding the Decatur 101 program to include a thorough history lesson? Or maybe someone would like to personally initiate a historic walking tour?
It would be quite difficult to even do a walking tour of Beacon Hill because none of the old streets are there save the border streets of Trinity/McDonough/Howard and Commerce formerly Oliver (which cut through). That huge chunk of property in between those roads included many streets with small shotgun shacks. One article I read on renewal said that when the bulldozers came in some houses only had to be pushed over and they would fall apart.
I believe the city has a booklet that was produced by a GSU student with historic info about Beacon Hill. It’s not in written has a history per se, but does include dozens of bullets, like the ones produced by Square101.
In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Square’s bullets are straight out of that document.
I think it could still be done, though. Visual aids, a historian and perhaps a great story teller may be required. I was in Ireland several years ago and went to visit a historic site. To me, it looked like a field with a couple lumps. With the benefit of a guide, I could visualize much more and better appreciate the historic significance of the site.
My favorite quote, “the influx of new residents from outside is leading to a change in the small-town feel, culture.”
Been here 11 years, so I don’t know if that makes me an evil outsider bent on destroying the culture of Decatur, or if I’m an insider looking on in dismay as the new residents take over and turn my town into hell on earth.
Apparently you’re length of residency is far less offensive than your political views. Thought of your type when I read this, ‘Worried that we will lose all the liberal, creative residents if the community becomes too expensive. Conservative people live in expensive places.”
Progressives can be so unprogressive.
That’s my second favorite quote. My third is two bullet points above that; “I want to live in a house with a yard. Affordable means $500 a month.”
P.S. A point about the word “conservative.” Just because one is a Republican, that is not an indicator that they are conservative. The same as not all Democrats would label themselves as “liberal.”
So you’re telling me I can’t stereotype Republicans as conservative? Does that mean I can’t describe water as wet anymore, too?
I’m not telling you anything of the sort. Stereotype all you want; I can’t stop you, nor would I want to. I was just clarifying a point.
“Conservative people live in expensive places.” Like San Francisco. Oh, wait . . .
And liberals like to live in inexpensive places like Mississippi.
Each person has a right to their viewpoints but to all of those that are complaining about what the 714 people came up with where were you in all of this? We gave our time over 4 evenings to try to help City of Decatur move forward in a positive manner. Myself along with the 713 people that showed up were the ones trying and making an effort to help our community.
I can assure you that many posters here were amongst that 714. I wish there’d been a secret signal or sumpin’
I too served on the Strategic Plan Committee and i can tell you that HIGH TAXES was a topic in each of the three sessions i attended. We discussed it at length the first session and went on and on about how we are taxing the diversity (singles, retirees, etc) right out of the city. Everyone had a story to tell about people leaving, moving or being angry about the high taxes. In the first meeting report there was something about not raising taxes, but they did not mention anything about lowering them or not raising them for a LONG time. Not sure if the city is not including negative comments or what?
I think the comments are clouded in less negative language such as “keep the city affordable” when it is only afforadable for a certain sector now! There were many comments regarding the prevention of Decatur becoming a Mini-Buckhead.
I just wish the city would go ahead and admit the taxes are ridiculous and the SPC talked about that in length.
Every comment in that report was included exactly as it was written on the page by the facilitator. No comments have been omitted and no comments have been edited. The raw comments are listed in the report and are located on the website.
Decatur has always been at war with Eastasia.
“Can I have some Gin with some cloves….please!”
I agree that there are a number of items on the wish lists that are contradictory but the point of this effort was to get people together sharing what they valued about the community and what they hope for the community. The process doesn’t end here. The challenging work begins this fall as we talk together about all of these ideas, carefully consider the trade offs that come with making these types of decisions, find ways to come to concensus about the future of the community and the specific steps needed to move us forward. What I have found the most rewarding is hearing the passion folks have for this special place and their willingness to give up their time to participate in the process. Decatur has a long history of community involvement and it’s nice to see that trait is still alive and well.
Thanks Lyn. As a participant in the round tables, I thought it was a fun experience which allowed us to imagine the “what ifs” of our community. Yes, there were some unrealistic expectations and thoughts, but we were allowed to put everything on the table, including the “wouldn’t trade it for the world,” to the can’t figure out how to live here much longer with the taxes …” in all, the real challenge will be in the coming years as we distill all these “wants” into what is really tangible and realistic. It may not be as much as we dreamed, but I believe it will be some of what we dreamed .. and the best part is, I know I was a part of that process!
It was interesting to learn in our Decatur Black History lesson above that the City Commission owes the community a statute to commemorate Henry Oliver. Now I have the perfect place to install it, a large traffic circle on the West Ponce de Leon entranceway to downtown!
I agree that there was a lot of talk about high taxes, a lot of wish-list-without-funding ideas, and a lot of suggestions that hopefully won’t ultimately turn into action items (like the unfenced wildelife reserve stocked with coyotes in downtown idea). And that the people in my groups (I facilitated one and participated in another) who raised the reality check didn’t always get the best reception. (The reality check people, by the way, appearred to be the ONLY people who had read the city budget proposal). Interestingly, the people who didn’t like the reality check people didn’t seem to stick around for the last session that talked about “what can an individual do to bring about change?” bit. (READ what can be done that doesn’t involve raising taxes for additional city staff…)
But on the whole, it was good and it was interesting. I applaud the city for bothering to do it. The fact is, many ideas can be implemented through personal initiative versus city staff and that was part of the point of the exercise. If you are someone who cares about DOING something versus TALKING about something, you’ll probably be in a very powerful minority. Go for it. See you at the next city commission meeting.
Everyone–those who participated and those who did not–will be happier in the long run if they/we remember what this whole Round Table exercise is and what it isn’t. Not judging, just saying…
– Even considering that not all 700+ individuals who showed up initially were able or willing to stick it out through all three sessions, that is still an impressive level of participation in a community this size.
– Those who did participate can in no way be considered a representative sample of Decatur’s citizenry. The self-selected sample was overwhelmingly white (as of 2007 Decatur was 73% white) and, I’d be willing to bet real money of my own, the vast majority are financially comfortable.
– The sessions were facilitated by volunteers. Not to take anything away from those folks–their commitment and generosity with their time and energy made the whole thing possible–still, they brought wildly varied levels of expertise to the process. With regard to both facilitating the discussions and documenting the comments, we have to live with substantial inconsistency from group to group and week to week.
– The sessions were not recorded, so the facilitators were in a sense “working without a net.” However, every page from every flip chart was typed up by the facilitator and submitted to the City along with the original flip chart pages, which will be archived. Much depended on each facilitator’s ability to capture the essence of their discussion sessions using bullet points. As noted above, that ability varied a lot. Another prominent aspect of the process, however, was encouraging participants to “keep the scribing honest” by reviewing and commenting on what was being documented during and following each session. I believe the City has also provided a channel for individuals to offer input online.
-This process was designed and executed as systematically and consistently as possible, but it is not a survey and was never meant to replace one. It was a giant brainstorming exercise, intended to gather raw material for the next step in the strategic planning process. Assigning emphasis or prevalence to any particular comment or viewpoint has been and will continue to be subjective. Any individual who feels that a discussion in which they participated has not been accurately represented should speak up. At the same time, everybody should remember that summaries and interpretations are based on detailed review of each set of notes followed by a higher-altitude scan of hundreds of discussions.
– The inherent methodological limitations notwithstanding, the Round Table process winds up serving as a community-building exercise regardless of subsequent planning outcomes. Relatively few municipalities see fit to invest in it to the degree that Decatur does. In addition to the expense, it can be a big, fat nuisance for city staffers to invite that degree of input from individual citizens. To me, the whole thing says that our city government’s overall guiding principles include a keen awareness that they work for us.
Agree that this is a worthwhile exercise–it’s as much about the participants learning about Decatur and their neighbors as it is about giving input. For example, my group had some old-timers who remembered a very different era of city government when citizen input was ignored and people even lost their homes to development they didn’t want. It made me glad that we live in a Decatur where voices are heard even if everyone can’t be pleased all the time.