Multi-jurisdictional
intentional regional communities are, in all cases, “Greater Communities” where
“community motive” is at work at a more than a local scale. This newsletter
provides a scan of regional community, cooperation and collaboration activity
as reported in news media and blogs.
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Top 10 Stories
…
The Milwaukee and Gary mayors had their eye on regional
issues—and hope for a new economy based on a Chicago-centered megalopolis,
linked by state of the art transportation, that can compete with the Silicon
Valley on tech development and the East and West Coasts on tourism.
“I think it’s time that
we as a region promote America’s ‘Fresh Coast,’ said Milwaukee Mayor Tom
Barrett. “We have allowed outsiders to define us as the Rust Belt.”
Milwaukee officials have
been touting “Fresh Coast” as a fresh alternative to “ Rust Belt” or the more
common watery moniker “Third Coast,” and while neither Chicago nor Gary have
embraced that term, officials from both cities have expressed interest in
collaboration.
“The need is so great in
our respective communities because we’ve been devastated by the recession and
many aspects of our local economy,” said Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson.
… The Metropolitan Planning Council organized today’s
mayoral gathering, titled “The Cities That Work,” on the heels of a review of
regional cooperation that MPC President Barrett described as “blistering.”
The review,
conducted by the international Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development, found that governments in “the
Chicago Tri-State Metropolitan Area” could do much more to coordinate
transportation, innovation, workforce training and sustainable development.
And the smaller cities are eager to respond.
“We want partners,” said Milwaukee Mayor Barrett. “We’d
love to have Gary as a partner, we’d love to have Chicago as a partner.”
But 29 minutes into the 30-minute meeting final word
came that Emanuel, who had been expected to join the meeting in progress, would
not be able to make it.
When voters go to the polls…they will have the
opportunity to invest in our roads, bridges and transit systems, strengthen our
economy and create a better quality of life for everyone in metropolitan
Atlanta. We must tackle our transportation issues now and vote “yes” to make a
difference in the lives of citizens across the metropolitan region. We must ask
ourselves: Do we really just want to get by with a transportation system that
becomes more outdated and congested every day? Or do we want our family members
and friends to spend less time in traffic and more time together?
The leaders of cities such as Dallas, Tampa, Charlotte
and Orlando use our traffic problems and our perceived inability to work
together to solve them as a tool to dissuade potential businesses and
industries from moving here. The metropolitan Atlanta region has lost more than
200,000 jobs between 2007 and today, with more than 80,000 jobs in the
construction industry alone. If we don’t address this issue right now, we’re
going to pay an even greater cost in the future for our failure to act in terms
of the jobs we lose and the negative impact on our quality of life. We cannot
let naysayers who do not offer other viable solutions prevent us from creating
real transportation options that we can implement right away.
For months, 21 elected officials put aside partisan
politics to develop a $6.14 billion transportation project list that reflects
the needs and wants of local leaders representing the 10-county metropolitan
area. …
TVA's top economic developer said Thursday that
regionalism will provide the Chattanooga area more product to sell to business
prospects.
"That's the key. If you've got product, you've got
something to sell," said John Bradley, TVA's senior vice president for
economic development, who took part in a panel discussion on regionalism.
Charles Wood, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce's
vice president of economic development, told Chattanooga Rotarians that his
biggest fear is that the region sits on its past success.
"My biggest concern is complacency -- that as a
community we get fat and happy," he said.
Wood said the area needs to continue to focus on growth.
He cited efforts to fashion a 40-year growth plan that are getting under way
for the 16-county area around Chattanooga covering Tennessee, Georgia and
Alabama.
Georgia State Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, said the
plan has to be "all-inclusive" so it benefits everyone in the region.
…
… the Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted 8-7
against providing $4 million in regional transit funds to cover the $9 million
cost to SF Muni to provide free service for youth for 22 months. All of San
Francisco’s representatives backed the proposal, which failed due to opposition
from suburban-oriented East Bay members. The vote mirrors votes by other
regional transit agencies like BART, where San Francisco interests are
routinely outvoted by the East Bay’s pro-parking lot majority. Many bemoan the
Bay Area’s many independent transit agencies, but regional bodies have poorly
served public transit. And from Free Muni to once vaunted “regional” plans to
end homelessness, such entities diminish San Francisco’s clout and weaken
progressive agendas.
…
Regional
“Solutions” to Homelessness
It's not just in transit where regional bodies do not
work.
When homelessness became a major Bay Area problem in the
1980’s, there soon was an insistence that a “regional” solution was necessary.
The goal was to encourage all Bay Area cities to provide housing, shelter or
services, rather than imposing a disproportionate burden on Berkeley, San
Francisco and other more progressive cities.
Foundations threw money at this “regional solution”
goal, which always had one insurmountable obstacle: there was no regional
entity that could compel Walnut Creek, Daly City or San Rafael to do its fair
share. …
Progressives need less regional government, not more. I
expect San Francisco’s youth activists to eventually turn the tide on free
MUNI, but as long as we have regional bodies prioritizing pork barrel projects
like the BART connector over improving public transit within cities, such
entities should be recognized as obstacles to social justice. …
As the worst drought since
2002 shines a spotlight on the water challenges facing the Colorado River
Basin, a group of leading advocacy organizations is launching a new campaign to
urge the region’s urban communities to do their part to put the Basin on a
sustainable path. Launching this week, the campaign is asking communities from
Colorado to Utah to Nevada to Arizona to take the “90 by 20” pledge and commit
to using water in smarter, more efficient ways.
Specifically, the 90 by 20
campaign is calling on communities in the region to commit to achieving
residential water usage rates of 90 gallons per capita per day (GPCD) by 2020.
… this is a level within reach for nearly every major water utility in the
region. …
… Western Resource Advocates.
“If we’re going to restore balance to the region’s water resources, everyone
needs to work together and reach for a common goal. …” Gallons Per Capita Per
Day is a common water usage metric used by utilities.…
The Community Foundation of
Lorain County has committed $120,000 to a regional economic development plan.
The Fund for Our Economic
Future will receive the money over a three-year period.
It is the third contribution
from the foundation to the Cleveland-based fund, which has a mission to promote
programs that increase jobs, elevate incomes and reduce poverty across northern
Ohio, according to futurefundneo.org.
The regional fund has paid for
projects that spur economic development and help local governments operate more
efficiently, said…communications officer for the Lorain County Foundation.
“Our board of directors feels
very strongly that this is an opportunity for Lorain County to play a part in a
regional economic development initiative,” she said.
The Community Foundation of
Lorain County has been involved with the regional effort since its inception
and foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Frederick is vice
chairman of the Fund for Our Economic Future, …
The Regional Center for Animal
Control and Protection saw its intake of animals go down by 7,000 this past
fiscal year compared to the last, the facility's advisory board found out this
afternoon.
Some board members speculated
that could be a sign that the economy may be improving; a positive indication
that more people are holding onto their pets.
Others wondered if it's a sign
more people are simply scared to drop off their animals at the regional center
for fear of what might happen to them.
The regional center paid the
Roanoke Valley SPCA's veterinarian more than $16,000 last fiscal year for
treatment of sick or injured animals…four times over the $4,000 allotted
budget.
Staff reported to the board
there was significant improvement in the facility's "live release
rate," up 20 percent for dogs and 18 percent for cats compared to the last
fiscal year.
There's also a new liasion
between upset pound volunteers, staff at the regional center, and the four
localities using it. …
Central Virginians with differing abilities are going to
work, whipping up gourmet meals in a new catering business at Region Ten
Community Service Board. The agency provides services to people dealing with
mental health, intellectual disability, and substance abuse.
Paul Baden is finding his recipe for success through
kitchen therapy at Region Ten. He's training to become a chef. …
Baden is one of six employees in the new catering
service program called Decidedly Delicious. It was established by seed money
from Region Ten's Power of Ten fundraising efforts.
… Baden has a new ambition to take the skills he learned
in the catering kitchen to study culinary arts at Piedmont Virginia Community
College. …
A grant from the Dave Matthews Band's Bama Works Fund is
allowing Region Ten to buy a food truck to take their catering services on the
road. That truck should arrive in the next few weeks.
As Spain seems to have wiped anyone else away from
eurozone crisis-related headlines, we have published a new briefing looking at
how the Spanish crisis could evolve in the near future – focusing our attention
on the role of the regions and potential bailout scenarios.
…we have repeatedly stressed the risks involved in
Madrid being unable to rein in spending at the regional level (see here and
here, for instance). In our new briefing, we argue that, at the end of the day,
the regions alone will not make or break Spain financially (more likely, it
will be the banking sector, a risk which we also highlighted at length). In
fact, if they continue to rely on the central government for funding, this
could increase Spain's financing needs for this year by an extra €20bn - not
pocket change, but still around only 2% of the country's GDP.
…we believe regional problems combined with banking
sector issues and other pressures could ultimately push Spain into a
fully-fledged bailout. …
Ten Central African countries…initiative that will help
them set up national forest monitoring systems and strengthen cooperation among
nations in the region, …
The initiative targets the forests of Africa’s Congo
Basin…one of the world’s largest primary rainforests, …region’s forests also
support the livelihoods of some 60 million people.
…initiative…will help protect these forests from direct
threats such as land-use change and unsustainable logging and mining, and will
provide up-to-date and accurate information on the current state of forests
that will help countries manage and prevent forest degradation activities.
…Central Africa Forests Commission (COMIFAC)…UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO)… collaboration with the Brazilian National
Institute for Space Research (INPE).
“Learning from Brazil, the national forest monitoring
system is the key element to pave the road for substantive international support
to protect forests and promote sustainable forest management”…
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