Can We Talk…In Person?

Mecklenburg County has partnered with The Lee Institute to conduct a pilot program called MeckConnect, the purpose of which is to identify what motivates and what inhibits civic involvement in local government and the community. A key feature of the pilot is holding a series of dialogue sessions to learn why people are involved and engaged in civic matters and why they are not. In addition, the pilot intends to determine how motivating factors may vary among people with different backgrounds and/or socio-economic status.

As part of this process, we want to talk you and others who are involved in online social networking and with other virtual communities. You don’t need any special knowledge to participate. We’re just trying to learn how people use online tools to communicate and interact.

The dialogue sessions are similar to focus groups in format. The 90-minute session will be informal and conversational, and will be coordinated by a trained facilitator. The dialogue session will include a free catered meal for all participants.

Space is limited, so please RSVP by Thursday, May 8. E-mail your name and the session you will attend to meckconnect@mecklenburgcountync.gov

• Session 1, Monday, May 12 from 11:30 am-1:00 pm
• Session 2, Monday, May 12 from 6:30 pm-8:00 pm

The dialogue sessions will be held at the Conference Center at Freedom Park, 2435 Cumberland Ave., Charlotte, NC.

Public input from this pilot will be used by County leaders to develop comprehensive goals and strategies for ongoing community engagement.

Is Voting a Given?

For the past several weeks, we’ve been meeting with Mecklenburg residents to get their input and ideas on some of the questions we’ve posed here and on our companion blog, Mecklenblog (see link at right).  One of the interesting pieces of information from these meetings is that, when asked to list what it takes to be a good citizen, very few people say, “voting.”  Some of us involved in asking these questions have been so surprised at this dynamic that we’ve begun asking follow up questions to find out why they didn’t name voting as essential to being a good citizen.  Some people have said they just thought we’d know that voting was a given…something that everyone should do to be a good citizen. 

Since national, state and local elections are upon us (at least with early voting having started in Mecklenburg County), we’re now wondering whether we should take it that voting is a “given”  –  that everyone knows it is part of being a good citizen – or whether voting is instead often taken for granted as a right and responsibility of being a good citizen.

Just for good measure (and maybe for some interesting reaction), I found in a book a list of some of the behaviors of good citizenship: voting; participating in political parties; obeying laws; paying taxes; civility.  What would you add to or subtract from this list?

 –John McGillicuddy

What can we do?

So the news out of Mecklenburg County government this week is that there is a $63 million gap between projected revenues for next year and the total amount of funding requests being made by County departments, non-profit agencies, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Public Library, CPCC and others.  Pretty challenging stuff at a time when the economy is sluggish, though not affecting Charlotte-Mecklenburg as much as other places in the Country.  But as we continue to explore ideas for involving people more as owners of their community and their local government, this budget gap presents something of an opportunity. 

We’ve learned so far that people are motivated to get involved when they see the possibility of affecting and witnessing change through their participation.  I’m wondering if this $63 million gap and perhaps the size and scope of county government is too daunting, perhaps too unclear in terms of how someone could affect and witness change (seeing how they can help close this gap).  Sure, we hold a public hearing on the county manager’s recommended budget, but this often results mostly in people and organizations who’ve asked for funding to speak on why they need the funds, which is certainly their right. 

I think what I’m asking is: What can the county do to help residents be involved in addressing this gap, or even generally to be more involved in making funding decisions? I’m not necessarily looking for the answers to the funding gap. I’m just wondering what methods would be useful in motivating people to get involved in this matter. 

–John McGillicuddy

The New Role of the Bureaucrat?

As a government bureaucrat, I find Ralph Widener’s comments intriguing.  He writes, “We must rearrange the relationship between citizens and public administrators…Yes governments must be more clearly accountable for their decisions and their actions.  But most of the truly domestic problems we face today cannot be resolved by governments at any level unless citizens themselves are more accountable, responsible, and engaged in helping to solve them.”

Based on this premise, Widener believes that bureaucrats need to discard professional command-and-control roles to assume a new role as collaborator and facilitator among people with a stake in civic matters.  Furthermore, he says this doesn’t mean public administrators should accommodate every interest, but that they should learn to listen for citizen concerns and ideas while scrutinizing every suggestion for its merit. 

Okay, I’m listening:  What can I do…what can Mecklenburg County government do… to help you get engaged in our community and our local government? 

–John McGillicuddy

The Diversity Challenge

Diverse neighborhoods result in less civic engagement.  That’s the claim from a massive study by Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam.  His study found that the greater diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects.  In most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous neighborhoods.

What does this say about diversity?  Perhaps it says diversity isn’t the final solution — the end result we should desire.  Instead, the end result we should desire is having diversity but also being able to manage in a diverse environment.  We can’t only seek diversity, because with diversity comes new challenges we may be less than able to handle without some effort. 

I believe in the value of diversity.  But I also recognize that diversity is something that has to be actively managed.  It seems as though our human tendency is to not easily trust, easily collaborate, easily connect with those who seem different than we are.  Therefore, we have to learn to overcome these tendencies to teach ourselves how to trust, how to connect and how to collaborate with those who seem different.  In the process, we often find we have not only differences but also similarities.  And, we need effective ways to overcome and manage conflicts that sometimes stem from both these differences and similarities.

I’m interested in hearing from you if you live in a diverse neighborhood, and whether you’ve found Putnam’s findings to be true or not…same goes with you if you live in a neighborhood where everyone seems similar, at least in terms of race and ethnicity. 

–John McGillicuddy

Are We Connecting?

I’ve spent most of my adult life working in the field of communications.  Not communications like routers and switches and cables.  I’m talking about writing and speaking and working in and with the news media. 

One of the great things about being involved in this field is that no matter how knowledgeable, proficient and experienced I have become, there is still something else to learn and experience.  Right now, I am learning and experiencing what it means to blog.  This is all new to me. As a result, I have little direction on how to do this and how to make this meaningful and useful to people.

Still, I’m hoping that someone is reading this and that it makes a connection.  Because that’s what communicating is all about – making a connection.

Yesterday, I heard Malcolm Gladwell speak about people connecting with each other.  Gladwell is the author of “The Tipping Point” and “Blink.”  He was offering advice to 1,400 people gathered to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Foundation for the Carolinas.  Among his four points of advice was that to build a successful community, we need to find people he calls “connectors.”  Connectors are those rare individuals whose social circles intersect far beyond those of the rest of us mere mortals.  Gladwell says these are the people with social power – those who can influence many diverse people simply because they are connected in so many different ways.

I am not a connector.  In fact, some people might call me something of a recluse because my social circles include family, work, my soccer buddies (that’s another story for another time), and, well, that’s about it.  But as I’ve thought about this blog and what it might teach me, I have to wonder if this new technology, this new way of communicating is an important tool that creates more connectors – and therefore more ways for people to connect.

So here I sit, typing away in this somewhat anonymous way of communicating, wondering if I’m connecting?  Only you can answer that question.

–John McGillicuddy

What’s a Good Citizen?

My friends at The Lee Institute are conducting a study about civic involvement.  Recently they held a focus group with people active in a book club at Independence Regional Library.  Among the things they wanted to find out was how people define being a “good member” of the community…what behaviors demonstrate being a good citizen.

The responses fascinate me. First, they said, you have to be at aware of what’s going on in your community.  Community for most of these folks was their neighborhood, so one of the main factors is that you have to be at home to know what’s going on in your neighborhood.  In addition, being a good member of the community (your neighborhood), means you need to watch out for your neighbors and keep in touch with them.  Even though we may live in a large, urban setting, it’s important to maintain a small-town mentality, someone said.  This means trying to connect with people individually, so you know them and they know you.  There were lots of other responses, but these seemed to me to be the overall theme. 

What really amazed me was that for these folks being a good member of the community was virtually the same as being a good neighbor.  No one said being a good member of the community meant being an active voter.  No one said being a good citizen means being active in local government advisory committees or participating public hearings.  No one said working on a political campaign.  No one said donating time or money to local causes.  This last one was especially surprising since many of the people in the focus group had spoken earlier about their personal involvement in various civic activities such as volunteering in schools, non-profit organizations and more.  Most of them talked about learning from their parents the value and importance of giving to their community through volunteering, and identified ways they had been and still are involved.  But none of these folks made the connection between their own volunteer work and being a good citizen.

Do we really know anymore what it means to be a good citizen, a good member of the community?  Are we still teaching this in our homes, schools, places of worship?  Your thoughts?

 –John McGillicuddy

Is It About Hope?

Is it a safe premise that people become engaged in their community because hope is alive in them?  Is it the hope — the belief – that they can make a difference by being involved?  Perhaps the path to greater civic engagement is to ensure people see some glimmer, some chance that they can affect change. 

If this premise were true, then finding a way to build citizen involvement really means finding a way to build hope in people.  Or at least removing barriers that inhibit or stifle hope.

Still, maybe it’s less about hope and more about opportunities.  The National Conference on Citizenship’s 2007 report on the status of America’s civic health says 43 percent of us would be more involved in our community if there were more opportunities.  And 67 percent of Americans say community service is important.  This suggests there is an unfulfilled desire to be more involved but there is a lack of opportunities to so.  Does this mean it’s more about access than hope? 

Interestingly enough, the Conference report also indicates that the greatest gap in civic participation is between the most and least educated people.  Simply put, civic participation increases based on the level of education.  So, perhaps the key barrier to more civic engagement is education.  Would bolstering education achievements automatically lead to improved civic health?

All this tells me that there are no easy answers, but we’re probably not short on ideas.  What motivates you to be involved in your community or your local government?

–John McGillicuddy

I’m to Blame

I admit it. I’m to blame.  At least partially.  Seven years ago, Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones asked me to build and enhance our organization’s culture of customer service excellence. Taking a page from private business, we re-branded our relationship with Mecklenburg residents. We became the best local government service provider and you – Mecklenburg residents — became consumers of government services.  And it worked.  Service quality improved greatly and so did customer satisfaction. 

The unintended consequence of this success is that we neglected the equally if not more important role of residents as the owners of their government (and owners of their community).  It’s a different twist on: “We are the government and we’re here to help you.”

Perhaps it’s time for local government – for me in my role with Mecklenburg County – to reshape our relationship with residents.  Yes, we want to maintain excellent customer service and meet our customer satisfaction goals.  But we also want – actually we need – Mecklenburg residents to own their community and own their local government.  We need to redefine our relationship and roles so that residents are more than just a consumer of government services.  We need each resident to see themselves as an owner of their local government and their community.  And each resident is a partner with every other resident in that ownership.

Again, I admit I’m to blame for where we are.  They say acceptance is the first step to recovery.

Your thoughts?

–John McGillicuddy, Mecklenburg County General Manager