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Overview of civic engagement and civic problem solving model developed in Eau Claire through Clear Vision
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Eau Claire WI Civic Action Teams
Building the Civic Problem-Solving
Capacity of Community Residents
Mike Huggins, ICMA-CMCity Manager, City of Eau Claire, WI
67,000 residents
Located 90 miles east of Minneapolis
Council Manager form of government since 1949
11 member City Council
Regional business center
Below average per capita income
Lower unemployment
Growing university and hospital sectors
Local Governance Crisis
• Wicked problems
• Lack of political will
• Declining civic problem-solving
“The biggest problem facing Americans is not those issues that bombard us daily….The crisis is that we as a people don’t know how to come together to solve these problems.”
-Frances Moore Lappe and Paul Martin DuBois
Declining Civic Problem-Solving
1. Fragmented institutional decision-making
2. Citizens’ loss of effective problem-solving skills
3. Limited public space opportunities4. Mystique of professional expertise5. Formal citizenship paradigm
Clear Vision Eau Claire
•
• 2007 citizen visioning initiative
• $40,000 jointly funded
• Facilitated by National Civic League
• Partner w/Ctr. for Democracy/Citizenship
• 6 performance goals/125 priority actions
• Civic engagement as core strategy
• Civic organizing framework
Clear Vision Action Report July 2008
Civic Engagement
Individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern:1. Naming and solving
problems2. Discussing and choosing
alternatives3. Making trade-offs
“Effective and enduring civic engagement in the Greater Eau Claire Community will require that citizens learn and practice more effective problem-solving skills, and that community organizations and institutions create more opportunities and public spaces for active citizenship.”
Civic Organizing A framework for
integrating active citizenship into everyday environments to solve public problems and build the broad civic base necessary to govern effectively in a democracy
“. . . democracy as a way of life is controlled by personal faith in personal day-by-day working together with others.”
-John Dewey
Key Characteristics
• Emphasizes conceptual/reflective thinking
• Redefines core civic concepts• Teaches civic problem-solving skills• Creates public spaces• Builds group process skills• Develops public leadership• Restructures mediating institutions
Civic Concepts
• Power• Politics• Public work• Public life• Self interest• Diversity• Mediating institutions
Civic Problem-Solving Skills
• One-on-one interviews• Mapping power and interests• House values meeting• Creating public spaces• Cutting issues• Taking action• Public evaluation
Civic Action Teams
• 10-20 member work groups• Diverse membership• Shared self-interest in issue• Recruited to participate• Chair trained as coach• Action oriented – fixed duration• High-energy participation
2009-2010 Eau Claire Teams
• Jobs for underemployed• Treatment instead of incarceration• Public parks funding• Collaborative education• Community events facilities• Veterans re-entry• Regional transit authority
RTA Civic Action Team
First Meeting Agenda
-Civic context and purpose -Q&A on transit operations -Detailed resource materials -House values meeting -Public evaluation
-
• 19 members from diverse backgrounds
• Convened by City Manager
• Clear Vision umbrella
• Drafting issue white paper
• City staff as trainers
• 2 hour meetings w/food
RTA House Values Meeting
• Facilitated public conversations about personal values and public life
• Round robin responses:1. What values and traditions are important to
you about your mobility?2. What are the trends that may endanger
these values and traditions about mobility?3. What can we do in our community to
strengthen our civic life with respect to mobility?
Ongoing RTA Team Meetings
• One-to-one interviews
• Power mapping
• Public evaluation
One-to-One Interviews
• Purpose is to build public relationships• Schedule interviews• Keep it informal• 20-30 minutes• No note-taking during interview• Ask direct, open-ended questions• 80/20 active listening• Look for interests, passions, connections
Power mapping
• Visual map of political environment– Stakeholders– Connections– Power relationships
• List who has power to influence• Map organizations and individuals • Do 1:1 interviews to identify interests• Map power connections and relationships• Do 1:1 interviews to build public relationships
Public evaluation
• Debrief each meeting - 10 minutes• Assess progress of work• Prevent misunderstanding• Clarify roles and future tasks• One or two word responses• What worked? What didn’t? What could
we do better?• Check areas of group tension
Findings• Action oriented• Inexpensive• Adaptable• Reinforces facilitative role• Builds effective work groups• Creates public space for joint
work• Strengthens community
“American citizenship in its most expansive sense is understood as public work: visible effort on common tasks of importance to the community or nation, involving many different people.”
-Harry Boyte
Additional Information• www.publicachievement.org• Harry Boyte, The Citizen Solution• Harry Boyte, Everyday Politics• Frances Moore Lappe and Paul Martin DuBois, The
Quickening of America• Carmen Sirianni, Investing in Democracy: Engaging
Citizens in Collaborative Governance• Matt Leighninger, The Next Form of Democracy• Contact: Mike Huggins, City Manager, City of Eau Claire,
715-839-4902, [email protected]