2002 Civic Health Indicators

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CIVIC HEALTH I N D I C A T O R S

Developed with cooperation from the National Civic League

Enhancing community capaci ty

Introduction What are Civic Health Indicators?

Indicators are quantitative measures of the quality of community life. Wellbeing and progress in a community can be measuredby indicators of outcomes in the major elements of the quality of life, such as education, the economy, the natural environment,the social environment, culture and recreation, health, mobility, and public safety. However, no community would reach itspotential for wellbeing without the civic capacity to engage effectively in mutual learning, decision making, and action to main-tain and improve the quality of life in each of these elements.

This process aspect of a community's wellbeing can be measured using civicindicators. The purpose of this project is to develop a set of civic indicatorsto measure the status of and progress toward improving our community'scivic health and the civic infrastructure that makes our community's civiccapacity strong.

The National Civic League (NCL) challenged Jacksonville and NortheastFlorida, through JCCI, to consider these questions:

How can we measure the degree of success of our civic infrastructure?

How well does the civic governance process work in Jacksonville andNortheast Florida?

The charge was to develop a set of "civic indicators" to measure progress inour civic governing processes, as a guide toward improving the civic healthof our community. Jacksonville is one of five communities selected nation-wide by NCL as pilot sites for the establishment of civic indicator projects.

Each pilot project will develop a set of indicators, measure them for three years, and report the results. NCL will analyze theresults and share them widely, encouraging communities throughout the nation to develop projects to measure their own civichealth, emulating the positive practices identified through the pilot experiences.

Jacksonville was selected as a pilot site in part because of JCCI’s extensive experience with community indicators (see the 2002Indicators for Progress document for more information or online at www.jcci.org.) This document does not provide the datafor all of the indicators described. Instead, it provides the data JCCI already had through its Indicators for Progress work, andidentifies additional indicators for which data need to be found.

NCL's conceptual framework for the project is contained in a Civic Index that it created some years ago to guide communityvisioning and strategic planning processes (see page 3). After working with the Civic Index in many communities, NCL becameconvinced that its general, qualitative values needed to be supplemented with specific, quantitative measures of civic health.

Civic indicators measure the quality of our community's life in terms of its collective capacity to process information, involvestakeholders, and make decisions that will positively affect all the other aspects of the quality of life. From this perspective, theconcept of "civic" encompasses collective learning, involvement, and decision making that takes place throughout the communi-ty, both through local government itself and through citizen involvement in publicly involved private organizations such as non-profits, the Chamber of Commerce, United Way, civic groups, neighborhood associations, and others--including JCCI itself.

The Civic Indicators design team was chaired by Joan Carver and met in Spring 2002. Members of the design team included:

A. Wellington Barlow Edward F. R. Hearle Ted StummLois Chepenik Connie Hodges Deborah ThompsonJeff Clements Suzanne Jenkins Deborah WaltersJohn Crofts Susan Siegmund Nina WatersJill Dame Anna Scheu Pat Yack

Staff support was provided by David Swain, from JCCI. Additional assistance was provided by Drew O’Connor, from the NationalCivic League.

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.2

The Civic Health Indicators are presented using the framework of the National Civic League's Civic Index. All of the indicatorsidentified by the design team, even those which were not able to be included in this document, are based on an understandingof how they report aspects of civic health. The indicators, as pieces of a much larger puzzle, describe a much larger picture ofa community working together in new ways, solving problems with a shared vision of the future. That shared vision of the futureof Jacksonville and Northeast Florida leads the indicator set: before the community can determine how well it works together, itneeds to determine if everyone is working on common goals. With a vision in place, the Civic Index describes the followingconcepts of civic health:

Fulfilling new roles for community governance

New roles for citizens (moving beyond a passive role of "customers" of public services toward becoming active, directparticipants, engaged in learning and advocacy to improve the quality of life in their communities)

New roles for local government (moving beyond the traditional role of creator and implementor of the public agenda towarda more collaborative, inclusive role in which individual citizens, private institutions, and nonprofit organizations share inpartnership with local government the functions of determining the public agenda, planning and implementing its provisions, andevaluating progress in the community)

New roles for nonprofits (moving beyond traditional role of providing specific services funded through discreet public andprivate sources toward a more collaborative approach for meeting community needs that includes direct citizen involvement andpartnerships with government, business, and other institutions in the community)

New roles for business (moving beyond traditional community roles of lobbying in favor of business interests to governmentand selective philanthropy and involvement with nonprofit organizations toward a more collaborative approach to communityinvolvement that includes direct participation and partnering with citizens, government, and nonprofit organizations, as well asresource sharing to help improve the community)

Working together as a community

Bridging our diversity (understanding and celebrating the broad diversity of people and interests in the community, improvingand maintaining open, inclusive intergroup relations, and providing, when needed, effective means for conflict resolution)

Reaching consensus (establishing and maintaining a atmosphere conducive to consensus building in the community, as well asan open and effective process designed to achieve mutual learning, dialogue, and agreement on community issues andimprovement)

Sharing information (establishing and maintaining an open and effective community process, including an effective publicmedia function, to obtain, interpret, and share information that helps to understand current events, define issues, identifyalternative solutions, and measure progress)

Crossing jurisdictional lines (maintaining a focus on the community as a dynamic organism of people, build environment, andnatural environment, whose geographic boundaries transcend formal political jurisdictions and tend to shift over time, and inwhich issues have relevance and impact at differing levels, including neighborhoods, towns, cities, and regions)

Strengthening our community's ability to solve problems

Educating our citizens to meet community challenges (providing adequate civics curriculum in the schools, as well asopportunities for the public to remain informed on key community issues and on how they can participate in improving thecommunity)

Building leadership in the community (establishing and maintaining a process that identifies, mentors, and develops diverseand capable generations of future community leaders, and which supports and encourages current community leaders to fulfilltheir trusteeship responsibilities effectively)

Ensuring that we learn from our experiences (establishing and maintaining a community capacity to document, remember,and learn from the lessons of past civic and community experience, including the use of evaluations of community-improvementefforts and measures of community progress and public-service performance)

Civic Health Indicators 3

4 Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sharing a Vision for the Community 5

New Roles for Community Governance 6

Working Together as a Community 11

Strengthening Our Community’s Ability to Solve Problems 14

About JCCI 18

5Civic Health Indicators

SHARING A VISION FOR THE COMMUNITYThe civic health of the Jacksonville community is enhanced to the extent that citizensshare civic pride, identity, and a vision for the community.

Citizens share a strong sense of civic pride in and identity with their community.

One indicator that could measure this shared civic pride, identity, and vision would be the percentage of people surveyed whoreport having a sense of pride and identity with their community. At this time, no survey asking this type of question is availablein Northeast Florida.

Citizens share a consensus on and buy into a generalized vision of a community that isvibrant in its quality of life and robust in its civic health.

The percentage of the vote by which candidates are elected or propositions are approved could measure how well thecommunity reaches consensus on significant community issues.


NEW ROLES FOR COMMUNITY GOVERNANCEThe civic health of the Jacksonville community is enhanced to the extent that citizenshelp make community decisions, all major institutions are involved in communityimprovement, and individuals and businesses give generously to the community.

Voter turnout is high.

One of the first steps in civic participation is registering to vote. In Duval County, 77.3 percent of the population 18 and olderwere registered to vote in 2001. The trend line for this indicator has been gradually increasing since 1993, when only 60.5percent were registerd to vote. In the last 20 years, the highest recorded rate of voter registration was 79.3 percent, in 1997.

Another indicator of civic involvement is the percentage of registered voters who actually vote in scheduled elections. While noscheduled general election occurred in 2001, 68.8 percent of registered voters voted in the 2000 presidential election.

In 2000, 69.9 percent of the people 18 and older in Florida wereregistered to vote. Nationally, 69.5 percent were registered to vote inNovember 2000. In 2000, registered voters by county in Northeast Floridawere:

Baker 76.7%Clay 85.8%Duval 74.0%Nassau 81.5%St. Johns 94.6%

Nationally, voter turnout was 67.5 percent in the same year, and 68.1percent in Florida. By county, registered voter turnout in 2000 was:

Baker 67.2%Clay 66.5%Duval 68.8%Nassau 72.2%St. Johns 68.5%

Voter registration

Voter turnout

Civic Health Indicators 7

NEW ROLES FOR COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE

Citizens feel that they have a voice in community decision making and have the opportunityto be involved in the community's civic affairs and activities.

One way to measure whether people feel like they have a voice in community decision making is to ask them. The percentageof people surveyed who feel that they have a meaningful voice in community decision making would be useful to know, if thatsurvey question existed.

Data do exist to answer whether people feel that they have influence over local government decision making. American PublicDialogue conducts an annual survey for JCCI’s Indicators for Progress document. In this survey, they ask: Our governmentalsystem values citizen input and involvement. As a citizen of Jacksonville and Duval County, how would you describe your ability toinfluence local-government decision making? Would you say that you have great influence, moderate influence, a little influence, or noinfluence at all?

In 2002, 35 percent of those surveyed felt that they had "moderate influence" or "great influence" over local-governmentdecision making.

Another indicator could be the percentage of people who feel that they have ample opportunity to be involved in thecommunity's civic affairs and activities. Currently, no data exists to answer this question.

Can you influence local government?

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

NEW ROLES FOR COMMUNITY GOVERNANCEIn practice, the voice of citizens is influential in community decision making, and citizensare broadly involved and deeply invested as direct participants in the community's civicaffairs and activities.

One indicator of public involvement would be the number of citizens attending public meetings, such as Citizen’s PlanningAdvisory Councils (CPACs), City Council meetings, School Board meetings, and the like. Another could be the percentage ofpeople who report having participated locally in a political campaign A third indicator might be the number of citizen initiativeson the local ballot.

Other indicators of citizen involvement could measure the rate of volunteerism in the community.

The same survey then asks: If you volunteered during the past year, about how many total hours do you think you have volunteered,on average, per week (1-3, 4-7, 8-10, 11-15, more than 15)? In 2002, 21 percent of those volunteering said that they gave morethan seven hours per week. The average dollar value of volunteering seven hours per week for a full year would be $5,605,according to Independent Sector. From their 1999 survey, the national volunteer workforce represented the equivalent of over9 million full-time employees at a value of $225 billion.

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From the 2002 JCCI survey conducted by American Public Dialogue, 67percent of those surveyed reported volunteering time in the community.The question asked: Some people in our community are contributingtheir time to causes they consider worthwhile. In the past year have yougiven your time, without pay, to any charitable, civic, religious, or othervolunteer organization?

This rate of volunteerism exceeds the national average. In a 1999 nation-al survey by Independent Sector, 56 percent of adults reported havingvolunteered in their community in the previous year.

Do you volunteer?

Do you volunteer over 7 hours/week?

NEW ROLES FOR COMMUNITY GOVERNANCENeighborhood organizations are strongly organized in all areas of the community and areactively involved in the community's civic affairs and activities.

Measurements could include the percentage of identifiable neighborhoods having a functioning neighborhood association, thepercentage of neighborhood associations that meet regularly, and the percentage of neighborhood associations that disseminate anewsletter regularly.

Candidates for elective office are well qualified to serve, and their election campaigns areconducted vigorously and fairly around important community issues.

Measuring the quality of political candidates is an admittedly difficult task. However, some information could show the degree towhich choice in candidates exists in the local community, and the level at which local candidates provide information to the citizensas part of their campaigns. Indicators might include the percentage of elective offices on each election ballot for which multiplecandidates run, the percentage of local elective offices for which more than one party runs at least one candidate in an election, thenumber of issue forums or candidate debates held during an election campaign that are open to the public and/or broadcast in themedia, and the number of public speaking engagements held during political campaigns by candidates for local elective office.

The media actively and effectively facilitate citizen dialogue about and engagement in issuesleading to community improvement.

Ways to measure this aspect of civic health include identifying both the extent of media coverage of local issues and the percentageof time/print space dedicated to community concerns. These indicators might include the volume of broadcast- and print-mediacoverage of local/regional civic and community issues, the number of media websites offering interactive opportunities for dialogueon civic and community issues, the number of public-affairs forums/talk shows presented by the media to foster dialogue on civicand community issues, or the number of editorials presented by local TV, other electronic media, and print media, reportedseparately. For an added dimension of information, an indicator might measure the percentage of media editorials devoted tolocal/regional civic and community issues, reported separately for TV, other electronic media, and print media.

Community institutions, such as higher education, faith-based, and nonprofit organizations, areactively and deeply involved in civic affairs and efforts to improve the community as a whole.

Building civic capacity requires all institutions to take a stronger role in improving civic health. Indicators that measure how well thecommunity is embracing these new roles could include the number of community institutions sponsoring election debates and/orpublic issue forums, the total number of 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations electing to be governed by the public-advocacyregulations Section 501(h) of the IRS Code (which cover public lobbying efforts.) Besides examining the direct actions ofcommunity institutions, indicators might measure other ways in which these organizations are involved in the community in non-traditional roles. For example, an indicator could measure the percentage of staff and faculty affiliated with higher-educationinstitutions who are actively involved in community-service activities, or the number of institutions that actively encourage their staffto be involved.

The design team asked JCCI to examine itself, and determine the percentage of JCCI study-committee members whose occupationor major affiliation is with a faith-based organization, a higher-education institution, or a nonprofit organization. This would meas-ure the extent to which these institutions are involved in volunteering at JCCI and being involved in its ongoing public dialogue andcommunity consensus-building activities.


NEW ROLES FOR COMMUNITY GOVERNANCECompanies doing business in the community are actively involved and invested in thecommunity, even if corporate headquarters are located elsewhere. Businesses are sensitiveto the need for, and play active roles in, philanthropy that benefits the community.

Businesses are an important part of the civic fabric of a community. This set of indicators attempts to identify the degree to whichlocal companies are actively involved in improving the community.

Indicators could include the percentage of business employees of companies that actively encourage them to be involved incommunity-service-activities who actually are so involved, the percentage of companies operating in the community that activelyinvest in local/regional civic and community improvement, or the total value of corporate investment in local/regional civic andcommunity improvement. Others measures might include the level of funding by local lending institutions under the federalCommunity Reinvestment Act, the percentage of United Way giving that comes from corporations (rather than individualsworking in the corporations), or the number of corporations with corporate foundations that contribute in the community.

Community philanthropy grows along with the community and its needs and aspirationsfor improvement.

Strong communities have a spirit of giving that provides many of the resources needed to address community problems.Indicators suggested include the total value of philanthropy to nonprofit organizations, the value of the assets of the CommunityFoundation as a percentage of "community assessed value," and the number of local private or family foundations that contributein the community.

Campaign totals were:

United Way of Northeast Florida $17,015,153Combined Federal Campaign $ 2,197,534United Way of St. Johns County $ 822,615Twogether for Life $ 429,746FSECC $ 201,862


Charitable philanthropyIn 2001, Northeast Florida residents gave $20.67 million in charitablephilanthropy to the following five federated charitable fundraising efforts inNortheast Florida: United Way of Northeast Florida, United Way of St.Johns County, Twogether for Life, Combined Federal Campaign, and FloridaState Employees Charitable Campaign (FSECC).

WORKING TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITYThe civic health of the Jacksonville community is enhanced to the extent that citizensand organizations bridge diversity, reach consensus, share information, and are willingto cross jurisdictional lines to work together for a better community.

Majority and minority members of the community work together harmoniously andeffectively to address issues that affect particular groups as well as the entire community.

Racism impedes the ability of a community to work together. Half of all Jacksonville residents thought racism was a localproblem when asked in a 2002 JCCI survey: In your opinion during the last year, do you feel that racism is a problem inJacksonville? This same survey, conducted by American Public Dialogue, found that 45 percent of white respondents perceivedracism to be a local problem, compared to 67 percent of people of color surveyed. These findings are consistent with a 2000Jacksonville University poll, which found that 63 percent of white people thought the state of race relations in Duval County was“excellent” or “good”, compared to 19 percent of black respondents.

Community institutions are broadly inclusive and diverse in their governance, membership,and activities, both within each institution and in their collaborations and partnering.

The design team suggested that the degree to which the demographics of board and clientele in organizations serving thecommunity broadly reflect the demographics of the entire population would be an important measure of diversity andinclusiveness.

Community leaders are broadly representative of the diversity of the community'spopulation and interests, and this diversity is specifically exhibited among the candidatesoffering themselves for appointive and elective office.

Two ways to measure this characteristic of a civically-healthy community could be the degree to which the demographics ofcommunitywide public office holders (elected and appointed) and nonprofit board members reflect the demographics of the totalpopulation, and the degree to which the demographics of candidates for public-office positions (elected and appointed) reflectthe demographics of the total population. Measuring the diversity of community leadership would be an important way todiscover if all people in the community are included in community decision making or if barriers exist to people working together.


Is racism a problem?

WORKING TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITYMembers of the community are able to reach consensus on often contentious issues andmake decisions toward community improvement, without the expectation of having toachieve unanimity on the issue before deciding and acting.

The ability to reach decisions together is as important for civic health as the ability to come together to address community issues.A potential measure of the community’s ability to reach consensus on important decision is the number of court cases filedcontesting major public decisions after they are made.

Community institutions understand the importance of cooperation and mutual support andpractice both through effective collaboration and partnering.

While this is also an important dimension of civic health, as of yet no indicators have been identified for this characteristic.

The media are sensitive to the need for, and play active roles in, presenting diverseviewpoints and in-depth information on community issues and civic affairs, includinggovernment and community decision making.

The concept of “public journalism,” where local media feel a responsibility to the community, not only to present breaking head-lines but also to engage the community in discussion and ensure all voices are heard, conveys the importance of the media as afactor in improving the civic health of a community. Measure of this characteristic include the number of contrasting responsesto editorials broadcast and printed by local media, as well as the number of indepth TV specials and newspaper series coveringissues of local importance.

The community has a recognized and credible "neutral-convener" capacity, whichconsistently and effectively brings together diverse citizens and institutions from throughoutthe community and across jurisdictional lines to engage in:

facilitated public dialogue and information sharing;mutual learning, consensus building, and advocacy for community improvement; andcollaborative planning and action among community institutions.

This is the mission and function of JCCI. Across America, communities which have an organization in place to act as a neutralconvener are stronger in their civic health than communities that do not. Measuring this characteristic requires not only discussingthe existence and name of the neutral-convener entity or entities, but also measuring the number of people participating inactivities sponsored by the neutral-convener entity or entities and the number of volunteer hours devoted by participants toactivities sponsored by the neutral-convener entity or entities.


WORKING TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITYThe community has a comprehensive "information-clearinghouse" capacity, through whichdata and other information relevant to the community's quality-of-life and civic interests arereadily accessible to all citizens and institutions in user-friendly form.

Just as with the “neutral-convener” characteristic, the existence and name of the information-clearinghouse entity or entitiesprovides the most accurate measure of the capacity of a community to share information needed for community decisionmaking.

Effective region-level organizations address civic and community issues at the regional level,and local-level organizations reach out across jurisdictional lines to cooperate andcollaborate in ways that enhance civic health and regionwide community improvement.

The 2000 JCCI study, Improving Regional Cooperation, found that:

Measuring the characteristic would require identifying the number of region-level organizations and the number of local-levelpublic and nonprofit organizations actively involved in regional cooperation.


The pressures of rapid population and economic growth in the First Coast create issues that must beaddressed regionally. traditional local-government boundaries are too small to address these issuesefficiently and effectively. Many of these issues are interrelated and cannot be resolved in isolationfrom one another.

STRENGTHENING OUR COMMUNITY’SABILITY TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

The civic health of the Jacksonville community is enhanced to the extent that citizensand institutions educate our citizens to meet community challenges, buildcommunity leadership, and ensure that we learn from our experiences.

The community's electorate is well educated on community issues and civic affairs,including government and community decision making.

Thomas Jefferson once said, "I know no safe depositary of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if wethink them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them,but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power ." This quote is oftensummarized as “A democratic society depends on an informed and educated citizenry.” With that in mind, measuring the degreeto which local citizens are well educated about local issues can be difficult.

Several indicators provide important information to discuss this aspect of civic health. In an annual survey for JCCI, AmericanPublic Dialogue asked: Can you name two members of the Jacksonville City Council? In 2002, only 36 percent of those surveyedcould give even the last name of two City Council members. (Jacksonville has 19 City Council members, 14 representingspecific districts and five elected at-large. But you knew that, right?)


Can you name two on the City Council?The same survey also asks: People generally obtain local governmentnews from television, radio, newspapers, the Internet, or from other people.How often do you keep up with news from any source about City Council,the Mayor, the School Board, or other local-government bodies? Would yousay frequently, sometimes, seldom, or never? In 2002, 56 percent ofrespondents said that they kept up with local government news “frequent-ly.”

Do you keep up with local news?

From local Nielsen ratings, we can determine the percentage of peoplewatching local television news programs. In 2001, local early-eveningnews shows were broadcast at 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. on stations WJXTChannel 4, WTLV Channel 12/WJXX Channel 25 (same program on bothchannels), and WTEV Channel 47. During the “February sweeps,” 30.1percent of all households watched local early-evening news programs.

The Jacksonville/Northeast Florida television market is defined to includeClay, Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns Counties. In February 2001, theJacksonville Metro Area contained 417,500 households, 412,320 of whichhad TVs.

However, citizens are informed about local government news in other waysbesides television. In a 2001 poll conducted by Marshall Marketing, 38percent of respondents in Northeast Florida said that a daily newspaper wastheir primary source of news about local government. 36 percent said TVwas their primary source. Another indicator could be the percentage ofhouseholds subscribing to major community-related publications, such asthe Florida Times-Union or the Florida Star.

People watching local news on TV


The community offers an effective process and multiple opportunities for leadershipdevelopment and support that produce and nurture a steady stream of qualified,committed, and diverse community leaders to guide the community's present and future.

Indicators that measure leaderhip development in the community might include the number of programs offering leadership-development opportunities to existing or emerging community leaders, as well as the number of people participating inleadership-development programs. Included in this indicator would be their demographic distribution.

Existing community leaders actively perform the ongoing role of mentoring emergingleaders and of enlisting them into civic service for the benefit of the community.

Personal mentoring can be highly effective in preparing emerging leaders to serve the community. This characteristic could bemeasured by determining the percentage of community leaders, perhaps through survey, who report mentoring emergingleaders.

Many military personnel who have served here retire to the community and becomeinvolved as active citizens and leaders in the community's civic affairs.

Northeast Florida has a strong military presence. The community’s civic health is improved when those who have served here,return here. This could be measured through the number of retired military people actively involved in community volunteeractivities.

Large proportions of young people from the community choose to remain in or return to thecommunity to live their adult lives and to become involved in civic affairs.

How well does the community do at keeping its young people? Measures might include the percentage of local high-schoolalumni with local addresses, the percentage of local high-school-leader alumni with local addresses, the percentage of YouthLeadership Jacksonville alumni with local addresses, or the percentage of JCCI Forward members who grew up locally.


Jacksonville Community Council Inc.


Community leaders, including both public officials and leaders in private organizations, arevisible, accessible, and responsive to citizens and to issues of community wellbeing.

This characteristic of a healthy community tries to measure the quality of local leadership. Some indicators could include thenumber of elected officials who sponsor public forums on community or neighborhood issues, or the percentage of top local lead-ers in major corporations who are active members on nonprofit boards in the community.

Other indicators could ask people to rate the perceived quality of local leadership. In 2002, 57 percent of people surveyed byAmerican Public Dialogue rated the quality of Jacksonville city-government elected leadership "good" or "excellent.” In the samesurvey, 28 percent rated the quality of Duval County School Board elected leadership "good" or "excellent."

The media are sensitive to the need for, and play active roles in, informing and educatingcitizens on community issues and civic affairs, including government and communitydecision making.

Page 12 discusses the importance of public journalism. The role of the media is important not only in educating citizens throughproviding all sides of important community issues, but also in informing local government and community decision making.

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City government leadership School Board leadership


The community offers an education system that prepares young people for effective citizeninvolvement in civic affairs and that actively involves citizens and community institutions inthe schools.

Civic education, like all education, starts young. One measure would be the number of civic clubs in schools. Anotherindicator could be the number of schools with community-service requirements for students. Oportunities also exist to track thenumber of schools with a required civics curriculum, the number of business or nonprofit partnerships in schools, and the num-ber of adult mentors working with students in schools.

The community offers youth-development programs that provide meaningful opportunitiesto learn about and to practice civic involvement.

Indicators might include the number of youth-development programs available, as well as the number of participants in youth-development programs.

The community values, respects, and preserves its historical heritage and resources in waysthat enhance civic pride and health, as well as providing valuable perspective to guide thecommunity as it creates its future.

A learning community respects its past as it plans for the future. A tangible indicator of this respect is the number of designatedhistorical buildings and other landmarks. Other measures include the number of historic-preservation organizationscommunitywide and in specific neighborhoods. One last direct indicator would be the number of designated historic buildingsdemolished.

The community's civic processes benefit the future by consciously learning from the past.

Lastly, a strong community that addresses and solves problems learns from the past. Measuring this aspect of civic health isproblematic. The design team suggested measuring the existence of a formal evaluation process in local government that isapplied to all major public-policy initiatives and projects.


ABOUT JCCIBoard of Directors

David M. Foster, PresidentJohn Cobb, President-Elect

Paula B. Weatherby, SecretaryMichael Boylan, Treasurer

Ron AutreyOliver Barakat

A. Wellington BarlowWilliam H. Bishop III, AIA

Mary BorgJoy Burgess

Charles A. ClarksonGary Corbitt

John Daigle, Jr.Jack Diamond

Edward J. Eng, P.E.Allan T. GeigerEric HolshouserHarriet HoweHelen Jackson

Wally LeeGuy Marlow

William Mason IIIEdgar Mathis

John RutherfordSusan McCranie Siegmund

Mary Ellen SmithBob Snell

Glenda WashingtonGerald W. Weedon

Executive DirectorLois Chepenik

Past PresidentsJ.J. Daniel

Jack H. ChambersYank D. Coble, Jr.Robert D. Davis

George W. CorrickHoward R. Greenstein

Jacquelyn D. BatesDavid M. Hicks

James C. RinamanKenneth W. EilermannJ. Shepard Bryan, Jr.

Juliette Woodruff MasonLucy D. Hadi

Charles P. Hayes, Jr.Steve Pajcic

Tracey I. Arpen, Jr.Guy Marvin III

Luther Quarles IIIW.O. BirchfieldMichael J. Korn

William E. ScheuAfesa Adams

William D. BrintonSherry BurnsSue K. ButtsEdgar Mathis

JCCI StaffLois ChepenikExecutive Director

Ben Warner Associate Director

Planning StaffClanzenetta BrownLaura LaneCheryl MurphyJennifer ParsonsMichelle Simkulet

Support StaffEarlene HostutlerTabatha JoynerChandra MitchellLashun Stephens

Jacksonville Community Council Inc. (JCCI) was created in 1975 withthe goal of improving the quality of life in Jacksonville throughinformed citizen participation in public affairs. JCCI is a nonprofit,nonpartisan, broad-based civic organization. It involves citizens incommunity issues through open dialogue, impartial research,consensus building, and leadership development.

Each year, JCCI produces an annual report on the quality of life inJacksonville. It also selects two issues for in-depth community study.Diverse study committees meet weekly for about six months, gaininga thorough understanding of the problem and reaching consensus onkey findings as well as recommended solutions. Following completionof the study and publication of a report, an implementation task forceof citizens takes the report to the community and seeks to place theissues on the community agenda. The goal is to seek furtherdeliberation, increased public awareness, and finally, action byappropriate officials.

In addition to its annual studies and the Indicators for Progress report,JCCI plans and coordinates human services for United Way of NortheastFlorida and the Human Services Council (HSC), a coalition of the localfunders of human services. JCCI also facilitates JCCI Forward, an ini-tiative of emerging leaders to pave the way for greater progress underthe next generation of local leadership. Upon request, JCCI provides avariety of planning, research, consulation and facilitation services undercontract.

JCCI receives funding from United Way of Northeast Florida, the Cityof Jacksonville, the Duval County Public Schools, corporations, andindividual members. JCCI membership is open to all citizens interest-ed in building a better community.

More information about JCCI and its projects is available atwww.jcci.org.

Documents

2002 Civic Health Indicators