Civic engagement – Public Policy Center

Placemaking in Fall River and New Bedford

September 10, 2014/0 Comments/in Civic engagement, Community Development, Public safety, Student/guest post, Urban environment /by Colleen Dawicki

Mason Thibault and Adam Vieira’s high school internship project during the summer of 2014 was to develop a method to study the quality of places in Fall River and New Bedford. Using the concept of “placemaking,” they designed a measurement tool and conducted fieldwork in both cities to determine how various neighborhoods perform when it comes to aesthetics, walkability, and sociability.

Their full report can be read here: Placemaking in Fall River and New Bedford

High school internship project – Representativeness of elected officials in New Bedford

September 9, 2014/1 Comment/in Civic engagement, Governance and management, Student/guest post /by Colleen Dawicki

Note: This is a summary of work by 2014 high school interns Eleanor Bodington and Emma York, who studied the representativeness of elected officials in Fall River and New Bedford. A second post contains their Fall River-specific findings.

By Eleanor Bodington (Durfee High School Class of 2015) and Emma York (New Bedford High School Class of 2015), edited for length by Urban Initiative staff

Introduction

We compared the attributes of gender, age, race/ethnicity, primary language, educational attainment, annual income, and geographic location for elected officials in New Bedford and Fall River and their respective constituents. We employed the surveying techniques of the U.S. Census to gather information regarding the school committee, city council, and mayor of each metropolis.

Definitions

We define representativeness as the comparability of people in positions of power’s measured attributes and their constituent’s measured attributes.

Why does representativeness matter?

We elect local officials to make decisions for the betterment of the local populace. Yet, if a segment of the population is over or under represented in a city’s elected officials, their consideration in decision-making may be similarly over or under represented, threatening the democratic ideal of equality. Elected officials are more likely to connect to the concerns of constituents with similar attributes. For instance, a City Councilor who lives in a flood-prone precinct is more likely to identify and address a constituent who is concerned that the city is not providing adequate flood relief in her area, than a City Councilor who lives in a higher, less flood-prone precinct. Different councilors possess different attributes and thus appeal to different constituents. Consequently, the greater diversity our elected officials possess, the better we may accommodate the interests of all constituents.

How did we measure representativeness?

We measured representativeness by comparing the gender, age, race/ethnicity, primary language, educational attainment, annual income, and geographic location by ward and precinct of the elected officials of New Bedford and Fall River with that of their constituents. We gathered information regarding constituents through census data and regarding elected officials through a survey that was sent to City Councillors and members of the School Committee in each city.

Study limitations

The accuracy of our assessment was hindered by non-response bias. Despite contacting 18 elected officials from New Bedford and 16 elected officials from Fall River, only 11 and 7 respectively responded, providing an incomplete image of the attributes of the elected political body as a whole.

Findings – New Bedford

Race/ethnicity. New Bedford’s elected officials were surprisingly diverse compared to their constituents, with the glaring exception of the Hispanic population.

Gender. Similar to Fall River, New Bedford’s elected officials significantly under-represent the female population.

Age. New Bedford’s elected officials are older than the general citizenry with 36 percent ages 65 or older (similar to Fall River). Although youth are underrepresented, a non-voting student representative sits on the School Committee, providing some insight into the concerns of this population for older voting members.

Primary language. Similar to Fall River, New Bedford’s elected officials all primarily speak English, underrepresenting the Spanish and Indo-European speaking populations, namely Portuguese and Cape Verdean. Racial and linguistic representation is especially crucial currently because of the large influx of English Language Learners into New Bedford’s Public Schools.

Educational attainment. As expected, New Bedford’s elected officials, like those of Fall River, are better educated than the general populace, with all of New Bedford’s elected officials holding a collegiate degree.

Income. New Bedford’s elected officials, although well representing the middle class, do not reflect proportionately the low-income residents of New Bedford.

High school internship project – Representativeness of elected officials in Fall River

September 9, 2014/1 Comment/in Civic engagement, Governance and management, Student/guest post /by Colleen Dawicki

Note: This is a summary of work by 2014 high school interns Eleanor Bodington and Emma York, who studied the representativeness of elected officials in Fall River and New Bedford. A second post contains their New Bedford-specific findings.

By Eleanor Bodington (Durfee High School Class of 2015) and Emma York (New Bedford High School Class of 2015), edited for length by Urban Initiative staff

Introduction

We compared the attributes of gender, age, race/ethnicity, primary language, educational attainment, annual income, and geographic location for elected officials in New Bedford and Fall River and their respective constituents. We employed the surveying techniques of the U.S. Census to gather information regarding the school committee, city council, and mayor of each metropolis.

Definitions

We define representativeness as the comparability of people in positions of power’s measured attributes and their constituent’s measured attributes.

Why does representativeness matter?

We elect local officials to make decisions for the betterment of the local populace. Yet, if a segment of the population is over or under represented in a city’s elected officials, their consideration in decision-making may be similarly over or under represented, threatening the democratic ideal of equality. Elected officials are more likely to connect to the concerns of constituents with similar attributes. For instance, a City Councilor who lives in a flood-prone precinct is more likely to identify and address a constituent who is concerned that the city is not providing adequate flood relief in her area, than a City Councilor who lives in a higher, less flood-prone precinct. Different councilors possess different attributes and thus appeal to different constituents. Consequently, the greater diversity our elected officials possess, the better we may accommodate the interests of all constituents.

How did we measure representativeness?

We measured representativeness by comparing the gender, age, race/ethnicity, primary language, educational attainment, annual income, and geographic location by ward and precinct of the elected officials of New Bedford and Fall River with that of their constituents. We gathered information regarding constituents through census data and regarding elected officials through a survey that was sent to City Councillors and members of the School Committee in each city.

Study limitations

The accuracy of our assessment was hindered by non-response bias. Despite contacting 18 elected officials from New Bedford and 16 elected officials from Fall River, only 11 and 7 respectively responded, providing an incomplete image of the attributes of the elected political body as a whole.

Findings – Fall River

Race/ethnicity. The entirety of Fall River’s elected officials identify as white, underrepresenting the Hispanic, Asian, and African American segments of the city’s population.

Gender. The disparity in gender between constituents and representatives was most evident, with a local populace with slightly more females than males, but a population of elected officials a whopping 86% male and only 14% female.

Age. Senior citizens and youth are underrepresented in Fall River’s elected officials.

Primary language. All of Fall River’s elected officials primarily speak English, under-representing the area’s large population speaking other Indo-European languages.

Educational attainment. As expected, Fall River’s elected officials are immensely further educated than the general populace, with 71% holding a graduate degree compared to less than 5 percent of the citizenry.

Annual income. Fall River’s elected officials are wealthier than their constituents, with all officials falling within a $50,000 and $100,000 annual income. No elected officials fell into the less than $50,000 bracket, despite the fact that the majority of Fall River’s citizenry make less than $50,000.

I clicked, New Bedford fixed

December 27, 2013/1 Comment/in Civic engagement, Governance and management /by Colleen Dawicki

Earlier this month, I wrote this post about my experience using Commonwealth Connect, a relatively new app affiliated with the website seeclickfix.org that allows citizens to report issues like potholes and graffiti directly to city officials in participating communities (including Fall River and New Bedford).

At the time of my post, Fall River residents were using this tool like it was going out of style, while New Bedford had yet to embrace the platform. Fortunately that appears to be changing thanks to a recent press conference where New Bedford officials promoted the use of the app/website in conjunction with its ‘Graffiti-free NB’ program. Since the event only focused on the role of this tool in helping the city identify and remove graffiti, it’s no surprise that the bulk of reports–and city acknowledgements and responses–focus on this problem alone.

This explains the relative success of my use of Commonwealth Connect earlier this month. While the faded crosswalks I reported have gone unacknowledged, the city responded promptly to the three instances of graffiti I documented. Not only were those reports acknowledged, but they were also closed–that is, fixed–on December 19.

Before posting this follow-up, I took a walk to verify that the graffiti had been removed. Here’s what one instance looked like at the time of my report (left), and then on 12/20 (right):

Pretty good, right? Now, here’s hoping those crosswalks are acknowledged and addressed once the temperatures warm up enough for road painting. After all, graffiti is a nuisance, but unpainted crosswalks threaten public safety, discourage walkability…okay, I’ll stop. Until then, keep it up, New Bedford, and keep on keeping on, Fall River!

Using Commonwealth Connect to See, Click, Fix

December 3, 2013/0 Comments/in Civic engagement, Governance and management, Innovation, Public safety /by Colleen Dawicki

Last month, I posted about how Gateway Cities–Fall River and New Bedford in particular–are using the Commonwealth Connect app (to varying levels of efficacy) to notify city officials of issues like graffiti, potholes, and broken streetlights through the platform SeeClickFix. The gist of that post was to reflect on the fact that our neighboring cities have taken very different approaches to launching and using this handy tool. The gist of this post is to do my small part to inform blog readers about the workings of Commonwealth Connect and to encourage you to join me in using it! Here goes:

Why use it?

Reporting an issue with the app (or via SeeClickFix.org) is much better than ranting to someone else about that ever-growing pothole, and you’re even awarded “civic points” for doing so. This means instant gratification, plus the good vibes associated with civic engagement.

Getting started

Smartphone users are best served by the app, Commonwealth Connect. [This was developed by the team behind the City of Boston’s Citizens Connect application and has been made available to 40 Massachusetts municipalities through the state’s Community Innovation Challenge Grant program.]

Once the app has been installed on your phone, you can register as a user or choose to report issues anonymously.

If you prefer to use the website instead, navigate to seeclickfix.org and either choose to register or click the ‘report an issue’ button to start fixing.

Reporting an issue

As a frequent walker and sometimes runner, nothing grinds my gears more than missing or faded crosswalks. In addition to their role in promoting pedestrian safety, I think of well-maintained crosswalks as an indicator of a city’s attentiveness to infrastructural and quality of life issues in general.

For the purposes of this post, I headed into my New Bedford neighborhood to find an example (shooting fish in a barrel would be comparatively challenging). First, I found an exemplar:

I recognize that all of that yellow paint is probably expensive to maintain, but a pedestrian can dream, right?

Just a few blocks from that, I found a much different scenario at an already chaotic intersection (where Allen Street, Orchard Street, and Dartmouth Street converge). Conveniently, a fellow was crossing the street when I approached, so I quickly opened up the app and clicked the ‘Report’ button. There’s a great option for taking and adding a photo, which is geotagged to pinpoint your current location. So that’s what I did:

Then I typed in a quick description of the issue:

Once I hit ‘Submit,’ I was done! Civic duty fulfilled. Civic points won. Rank of ‘civic crusader’ earned. Crosswalk fixed? Time to wait and see…

What’s next

A few parties have been automatically notified of my reported issue. Now, the ball is in the city’s court to respond by acknowledging the issue (letting the reporter and others know that it’s on the city’s radar) or, hopefully, fixing (and thus closing) the issue. New Bedford has not fixed an issue yet, but Fall River has. Here’s what it looks like when that happens:

I’ll be sure to write a follow-up post if and when one of my issues is addressed. Until then, I look forward to competing for civic points with my fellow New Bedfordians.

Residents of Gateway Cities “see, click, fix” their communties

November 5, 2013/1 Comment/in Civic engagement, Governance and management /by Colleen Dawicki

In 2008, New Haven residents were given a new tool for empowerment: instead of calling 3-1-1 or trying to track down the right person in city hall, they could start alerting the city to problems with just an internet connection and the website “See, Click, Fix.” This site gave the irritated and the vigilant an easy option for voicing problems and concerns as well as a means of holding the city accountable for addressing them (cities that subscribe to the site can signal to users the points at which issues are acknowledged and fixed).

Eventually, SCF reached Boston through its Office of New Urban Mechanics, which (among other things) develops apps to help citizens improve the city’s quality of life. They built Commonwealth Connect, an app that has allowed more than 50 Massachusetts municipalities and their citizens to begin seeing, clicking, and fixing through the web and through their smart phones.

But as with many interventions in the Commonwealth’s Gateway Cities, implementation appears to have varied widely across participating communities.

According to this SCF infographic, the most active Commonwealth Connect users are in Boston, Chelsea, Fall River, Lowell, Malden, Needham, Northhampton, Randolph, and Woburn. They’re complaining the most about things like potholes, trash, trees, and graffiti.

[Source: http://blog.seeclickfix.com/2013/10/some-data-with-your-monday-morning.htm]

Notably, our neighbors in Fall River are among the most active among not just Massachusetts user communities, but also among communities using SCF nationwide. According to the SCF-calculated list of top-performing cities, Fall River ranks 58 out of 112. This rank is based on the fact that there are a combined 453 users, watch areas, reports, and comments in that city (which yields an “activity score”), as well as the responsiveness of city officials (based on an algorithm that yields a “results score” of 119). Comparatively, nearby Taunton has an activity score of 175 and a results score of 131, while Boston’s scores are 304 and 71, respectively.

Where is our other neighbor, New Bedford, in this mix? Not even on the top performers list, it turns out, with just 9 issues reported in 2013. The city has only begun acknowledging issues in August; out of those 9 current issues, just 5 have gotten a city response–and none are fixed. Instead, the city response is, “Thank you for reporting this <issue>. It will be filled as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, Fall River is already at the point where issues are closed, and responses include things like, “John st. [pothole] has been patched. Thank you!” And in some cases, the response isn’t a complete fix, but a realistic portrayal of how things work: “The funding by the state has exceeded for this year. Foote St. is on our list and will be repaired next spring. Thank you!” It may not be the answer the citizen-reporter wanted, but it’s probably more appreciated than a non-response.

As we often wonder when it comes to the Gateway Cities to our immediate east and west, what’s with this difference in two otherwise similar places? The local newspapers offer one idea. According to a June article in New Bedford’s Standard-Times, a city spokesperson said that the city would make an announcement when the Commonwealth Connect app is ready to be used. No announcement has followed, despite the app having been ready and usable (for citizens, at least) since early summer.

Fall River officials proceeded much more boldly, as evidenced by a Herald News article from that very same week. Mayor Flanagan proclaimed, “Instead of city hall being open from 9 (a.m.) to 5 (p.m.), we are open seven days a week, 24 hours a day,” and it appears his city’s residents wasted no time taking advantage.

We look forward to continuing to track the progress of Commonwealth Connect’s implementation in Fall River and New Bedford, and we hope blog readers will help spread the word that this tool is ready and waiting for citizens to fix their communities.

Workshop: Robert’s Rules of Order

August 19, 2013/0 Comments/in Civic engagement, Event /by Colleen Dawicki

Watching or participating in a meeting of a governing body–City Council, School Committee, or even a nonprofit board of directors–can sometimes feel like you’re at a fancy dinner and you don’t know what fork to use. The language these meeting employ are a bit like etiquette rules: developed to keep everyone on the same page, but inaccessible and intimidating when you’re new to “seconds” and “motions.” Robert’s Rules of Order, which gave us this lexicon, are essential knowledge for the civic-minded. So we were particularly pleased to learn that our friends at UMass Law will be offering a free workshop on Robert’s Rules next month! Here are the details:

WHAT: Robert’s Rules of Order workshop, hosted by UMass Law’s Theta Delta Phi Law Fraternity

WHEN: Wednesday, October 2, 4:30-6p

WHERE: UMass School of Law, 333 Faunce Corner Road, Dartmouth, MA

COST: Free (book available for purchase); register at this link

*Fun fact: Robert’s Rules of Order were written in response to an unruly meeting in New Bedford.

Grants to combat childhood obesity

August 29, 2012/0 Comments/in Civic engagement, Grants & Technical Assistance, Public Health /by Colleen Dawicki

In Massachusetts, 16.3 percent of children are obese. In New Bedford and Fall River, that rate is even higher: 19.2 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively. Want to do something about it? Apply for this grant!

“Youth Service America and UnitedHealthcare are inviting schools and other community-based nonprofit organizations to “step into service” by applying for UnitedHealth HEROES grants.

Grants of up to $1,000 are available for youth-led service-learning projects that aim to combat childhood obesity through walking, running, or hiking. Project proposals must include an activity element where young people can count their steps, as well as a service component that provides direct service, enables advocacy on behalf of a cause, or features youth philanthropy.

Service-learning projects are projects that engage young people in performing meaningful service to the community as they gain new knowledge about the issue they are addressing (childhood obesity), and acquire important college, career, and workforce readiness skills in the process.

Each UnitedHealth HEROES project will begin on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service (January 21, 2013) and end on Global Youth Service Day (April 26-28, 2013).

Youth Service America will hold webinars to help applicants through the application process and answer questions. The first webinar will be held September 13, 2012.

Visit the YSA Web site for complete program guidelines, webinar details, and information on 2012 grantee projects. Applications will be accepted online beginning September 4, 2012.”

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Can music save your mortal city?

May 31, 2012/0 Comments/in Civic engagement, Innovation /by Colleen Dawicki

“I could be anywhere, but I’m right here…”

In this song, “right here” refers to the happening city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. What’s that? You don’t think Fort Wayne is happening? Neither do the list-makers: as The Atlantic Cities points out, Fort Wayne’s superlatives have included being among the country’s “dumbest” and “fattest.” But some young people are setting out to change that image, and they’ve put together a pretty compelling case for having pride in Fort Wayne, if not visiting/staying/relocating there:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=42aXYD3p_ZI]

This technique isn’t new. At the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s recent conference on ‘Building Resilient Cities’ earlier this month, I learned about a similar effort in Grand Rapids, Michigan, another declining city in the heartland that is remaking itself by branding its vibrancy. Whether or not that was the intention, their lip-dub to ‘American Pie’ broadcasts a “creative class” vibe and a sincerity–not to mention dedication–that’s hard not to appreciate. While I may have chosen a different song, my first impression of Grand Rapidians (?) is a positive one:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI]

It’s also worth noting that this effort, which engaged some 5,000 residents and more or less shut down the city, was actually a response to Newsweek calling Grand Rapids a dying city. With choreographed pyrotechnics, tumbling, interchangeable troubadours, and even a helicopter flight, the city looks very much alive. Maybe this is something for Lawrence, MA–recently dubbed “city of the damned” by Boston Magazine–to consider trying out as they work to battle ever-worsening perceptions.

NB budgeting process to become more transparent

May 18, 2012/0 Comments/in Civic engagement, Governance and management /by Colleen Dawicki

Less than a month after guest blogger Chris Nunes wrote about the need for a more accessible, digestible budget for the City of New Bedford, Mayor Jon Mitchell announces plans to address that very issue. While we’d love to think that this blog had something to do with it, the move is part of a broader strategy to bring New Bedford into the 21st century through hardware and software updates that are long overdue (as evidenced by the fact that the current system requires accurate entry of letters and numbers, something that harkens back to the era of MS-DOS and Carmen Sandiego). “Overdue” as in, the last system was adopted in 1989. Read more about upgrades in this Standard Times article.

These upgrades represent an important step in moving the city toward the adoption of CitiStat, a performance measurement platform Mayor Mitchell discussed frequently during his campaign. And speaking of CitiStat, the Collins Center at UMass Boston is hosting a day-long conference on Thursday, May 24 on the topic of data-driven municipal performance measurement for CitiStat users and non-users alike. Read more about that event here, and be sure to tell all your friends in local government!