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

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• 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, mike.huggins@eauclairewi.gov