Neighborhood Associations: An Untapped Powerhouse For Action?

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Neighborhood Associations An Untapped
Powerhouse For Action?

• Robert S. Ogilvie Ph.D.
• Sacramento, CA
• 1.23.2008

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The power of neighborhood associations

• Positives
• They can mobilize great numbers of people
• They can tap energy ideas

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The power of neighborhood associations

• Negatives
• They can be exclusive antidemocratic
• They can divide the community

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Sorting out the different types of neighborhood
organizations

• Community organizations
• vs.
• Community-serving organizations

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What is a community organization?

• A community organization is one that is rooted in
  a location and is "'of, for and by' the
  communities they serve."

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What is a community serving organization

• A community-serving organization is not rooted in
  a place and is "run by credentialed
  professionals, . . . pursuing agendas set by
  constituencies other than those being served" or
  other than those who are doing the serving.

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The benefits of working with community
organizations

• Community organizations provide opportunities for
  their members to participate, to build skills and
  become more effective citizens.
• Community organizations allow neighborhood voices
  and concerns to be heard.

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Not all community organizations are alike.

• Some work for a public benefit. (Mutual Public
  Benefit Organizations)
• Some work for the benefit of their members only
  and often at the publics expense. (Private
  Interest Organizations)

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Public/Mutual Benefit Organizations

• Examples include cooperatives (food and
  otherwise), most neighborhood organizations, and
  many environmental organizations.

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Private Interest Organizations

• Included within this growing category are
  homeowners associations.
• These are the organizations most likely to be
  NIMBYS.

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• Working successfully with community organizations
  takes effort!!!!
• I call this work social architecture.

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How to be a social architect

• Build a strong structure for the organization.
• Build a supportive context.
• Change the political/ normative environment.
• Build the functional capacity of the
  organizations.

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Building the structure

• There are two levels to this work
• organizational
• individual

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Building organizational structure at the
individual level

• The two most important issues at this level are
  as follows
• Recruiting and retaining a broad base of
  participants
• Developing effective leadership

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Building organizational structure at the
organizational level

• The three important issues to deal with at this
  level are
• Inclusionary membership rules
• Dispersed responsibility
• Developing the skills of the members

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Building a supportive context

• Community organizations will be more successful
  if they exist within a supportive context.

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Building a supportive context

• There are 2 elements to this work
• Getting public sector employees, funders and
  others to treat the community organizations as
  partners and to support them.
• Providing necessary technical assistance to the
  community organizations so that they can do their
  work.

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Changing the political/normative environment

• To be effective and to continue to recruit and
  retain members, community organizations need to
  exist in an environment that supports their
  ability to do important work.

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Changing the political/normative environment

• Two major elements of this work
• Creating deliberative partnerships between
  neighborhood associations and civic and funding
  partners
• Listening to and acting on community input

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What is a deliberative partnership?

• In a deliberative partnership, partners are
  willing to let their opinions and actions be
  affected by the discussions that take place.

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The importance of listening to the community and
acting on their input

• All partners need to be willing to abide by and
  act on the directions given by the partnership.
  

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The political consequences of ignoring
deliberation

• If the City or the funders is not willing to act
  according to the deliberations of the
  collaborative partnerships, then the
  collaborations wont last long, and they will
  alienate those who were recruited into
  participation.

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The political consequences of ignoring
deliberation

• My hypothesis is that neighborhood associations
  can become NIMBYs in a defensive reaction to
  powerlessness.

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Building the functional capacity of community
organizations

• There are 2 major aspects of this work
• Developing the capacity of community
  organizations to deliver services and run
  facilities
• Developing the capacity of civic and funding
  organizations to work with and support community
  organizations

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Changing the mindset of civic employees and
funders

• City, county and state employees need to be
  taught how to work with and support community
  partners.
• Working with community partners should be seen as
  part of the job description.

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Working together is the key to success