Re-Energizing Democracy Recommendations--2016-PVPC-Funders Network1 | N o r t h a m p t o n M A R e -E n e r g i z i n g D e m o c r a c y
Re -Energizing Democracy
Recommendations
funded by: Funder's Network for Smart Growth & Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
facilitated by: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
on behalf of: Department of Planning & Sustainability, City of Northampton
staff team: Ashley Eaton, Emma Febo, Catherine Ratté, Dillon Sussman
in collaboration w/: Casa Latina, Human Rights Commission, Northampton Housing Authority, Verdant
Multicultural Media, Healthy Hampshire, City of Northampton Department of Planning &
Sustainability
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Contents
Context .......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Background/Process ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Research .................................................................................................................................................... 7
Capacity Building for Emerging Leaders ................................................................................................... 7
Priority Recommendations for Action .......................................................................................................... 9
Pathways to Power ................................................................................................................................. 10
Themes .................................................................................................................................................... 11
Barriers To Participation ......................................................................................................................... 12
Lack of Knowledge/Time ..................................................................................................................... 12
Logistics ............................................................................................................................................... 12
Lack of Trust/Faith in Government ..................................................................................................... 12
How? ....................................................................................................................................................... 12
Resident Engagement -Phase 1 .............................................................................................................. 13
Summary of Tasks: .............................................................................................................................. 13
Public Forum # 1: ................................................................................................................................ 15
Survey Results: .................................................................................................................................... 15
Focus Group at Casa Latina: ................................................................................................................ 17
Door to Door Outreach: ...................................................................................................................... 18
Drop-in Meetings at Northampton Housing Authority’s Seven Communities: ....................................... 18
Collaboration with the Human Rights Commission: .......................................................................... 21
Main St. Design Workshop: ................................................................................................................. 21
Public Forum #2: ................................................................................................................................. 21
Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee: ..................................................................................... 22
Wiki-mapping Application: .................................................................................................................. 22
Main St. Demonstration Day: .............................................................................................................. 23
Public Forum #2: ................................................................................................................................. 23
Resident Engagement -Phase 2 .............................................................................................................. 25
Public Meetings: .................................................................................................................................. 25
Survey .................................................................................................................................................. 26
Barriers to participation: ..................................................................................................................... 27
Participation ........................................................................................................................................ 29
Summary of Accomplishments ............................................................................................................... 33
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Context
The City of Northampton is interested in and committed to achieving a more equitable reality for its
residents. The City, in the development of and planning for four major projects, Walk/Bike
Northampton, Climate Adaptation Plan, Sustainable Northampton Comprehensive Plan 2018 update,
and ValleyBike Share wanted to explore how to do an even better job of engaging and empowering its
residents.
The City is committed to sustainability, and is one of the top ranked sustainable communities in North
America in the STAR Communities rating of community sustainability. Sustainability requires a focus
on:
Economy (creating opportunities for all)
Environment (addressing intergenerational equity)
Equity (addressing social equity and intragenerational equity)
What do we mean by equity?
Equity addresses the effects of power imbalances and the social, economic, and political
differences that generate disparate outcomes for people in arenas like health, education, and
employment. Equity recognizes that different people have different barriers to living healthy,
fulfilled lives. In order to allow people to get the same outcome, we need to understand the
different barriers and opportunities that affect different groups, and craft our approaches,
policies and programs with those challenges and needs in mind.1
1 from "At the Intersection of Active Transportation and Equity" Safe Routes to School National Partnership
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image source- Interaction Institute for Social Change
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Northampton has a long commitment of and success in involving and serving all community members
and stakeholders and focusing on social equity. Representative examples of these efforts include:
An amazing diversity of community participation in decisions as diverse as the 2016 reconstruction
of Pulaski Park and the 2008 Sustainable Northampton Comprehensive Plan.
A focus on environmental justice in siting parks, wayfinding signs, and affordable housing and in
cleaning up brownfields sites.
Attention to public health issues and health inequities in seeking small community gardens and
demonstration gardens to serve low income residents, funding food access interventions, and in
hosting a 14-municipality grant aimed in part at reducing city and regional health inequities.
Special efforts to engage typically underrepresented communities, ranging from a dedicated Youth
Commission to funding specific outreach efforts with Casa Latina, Center for New Americans, and
others.
Funding, with both external grants and city funds, affordable housing, homeless shelters,
transitional housing, fair housing, enhanced bus transit for transit dependent riders, and other
efforts that serve low income residents.
A Mayoral commitment and engagement to bring the budget to residents and encourage questions
and comments.
Early adopters of Open Checkbook, to make all city expenditures totally transparent.
An award winning website with user subscriptions to allow all populations to keep up on city
government actions and opportunities.
Northampton Police Department Open Data Portal, the first in Massachusetts, to build transparency
on data from police demographics, use of force, motor vehicle stop demographics, etc.
Exploring how the City’s planned bike share program can serve underserved and unbanked
residents.
Public file cabinet, providing easy on-line public access to tens of thousands of public records,
including every planning permit application from the moment an applicant files.
Yet, Northampton always strives for more. The city has been and wants to remain a leader in this area.
Equity is a core value and also a goal for the City of Northampton, yet although the city and most
businesses and resident strive,inequitable access to opportunity still exists for African American,
Latino/Hispanic and other residents in Northampton and across the United States because of our
country's history of institutionalized racism. 2 While the tragically cruel story of African American
experience in the USA is not what other racial and ethnic minorities have experienced, there is a long
2 reference "Rewrite the Racial Rules: Building an Inclusive American Economy" Roosevelt Institute, June 2016
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history in the United States of mistreatment of black and brown people/people of color. Our goal is to
re-energize democracy in Northampton with a series of recommended actions that aim to achieve more
equitable access to opportunity.
In addition to racially marginalized residents living in the 87% white City of Northampton, our
engagement work identified young adults and economically disadvantaged residents as additional
marginalized groups in Northampton. These recommendations are designed to improve participation in
City government by all three categories of marginalized populations: 1) people of color, 2) economically
disadvantaged residents, and 3) young adults. These improvements, if successfully implemented for
historically marginalized groups, will improve access to the city for all residents.
Background/Process
Government exists to serve people. In the United States our cherished history of government being
created by the people for the people and with the people compels local governments concerned about
accountability to continuously seek ways to improve the ability of residents to get involved. In 2015-
2016, the City of Northampton, through its Department of Planning and Sustainability working with the
Mayor, Department of Public Works (DPW) and other departments, initiated Walk/Bike Northampton, a
comprehensive walk and bicycle planning effort designed to serve as a standalone plan and eventually
as part of the city’s comprehensive plan. The City is always committed to achieving broad community
participation from all stakeholder groups for all of its strategic and comprehensive planning process, but
especially for walking infrastructure that serves populations who have fewer travel options. The City
identified two grants and facilitated grant applications to fund an effort to broaden public participation
in the process and seek to empower underrepresented populations to join in on-going implementation.
This report is a result of work in Northampton, Massachusetts and the recommendations were
developed by residents of Northampton with the staff team and our collaborators, and we anticipate
their utility for all other governments in the United States. Thanks to the generous support of the
Funders Network for Smart Growth and the Bloomberg Foundation matched by the support of the
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, we worked with a diverse group of Northampton
residents, city staff, elected officials, and community based organizations over a 10 month period in
2016 to develop these recommendations to re-energize democracy. Although the City initiated this
process, the grants were awarded directly to PVPC and these recommendations are presented by the
PVPC team for city consideration and evaluation.
The focus of our work was on marginalized populations in Northampton which means people of color,
specifically African American/Black and Hispanic/Latino (mostly Puerto Rican) residents as well as young
adults and all economically marginalized people. Many urban and regional planners are familiar with the
notion of 8 80 cities, that is, if you make streets safe and comfortable for residents aged 8 and aged 80,
everyone will benefit. Similarly, if we can achieve democracy, i.e. meaningful access to government by
our marginalized groups, then everyone will benefit.
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Research
We conducted a considerable amount of both primary and secondary research including conversations
with staff at PolicyLink, the City of Seattle, the Funder's Network for Smart Growth and the Community
Foundation of Western Massachusetts, review of recent publications and other information available
from the Roosevelt Institute, Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN), the American Planning
Association (APA), NextCity.org, Smart Growth On-Line/Planetizen, Living Cities Racial Equity and
Inclusion Toolkit, and the Adaptation Clearinghouse, especially their newest resource focus on Equity.
We also reviewed numerous reports and the new book: Public Participation for 21st Century Democracy
by Tina Nabatchi and Matt Leighninger, Jossey-Bass.
Some of the most useful websites are included below:
http://www.policylink.org/equity-tools
http://rooseveltinstitute.org/rewrite-rules/
http://www.adaptationclearinghouse.org/networks/adaptation-equity-portal/
http://smartgrowth.org/getting-residents-engaged-in-participatory-
mapping/?utm_source=SGN+2016-0125&utm_campaign=sgn-news-2016-
0125&utm_medium=email
http://hereandnow.livingcities.org/racial-equity-inclusion-
toolkit2016?utm_source=Living+Cities+Catalyst+Newsletter&utm_campaign=97e14ebda1-
JAN+16+Catalyst_1.14.16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9aa53b28dc-97e14ebda1-
303768197&ct=t(January_2016_Catalyst_Newsletter1_13_2016)
https://www.usdn.org/public/page/55/Equity-in-
Sustainability?source=http%3a%2f%2fusdn.org%2fpublic%2fpage%2f55%2fEquity-in-
Sustainability
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/janette-sadik-khan-interview-complete-streets
https://www.racialequitytools.org/module/overview/transforming-white-privilege
http://www.equitycaucus.org/home
Capacity Building for Emerging Leaders
In collaboration with the City of Northampton's Healthy Hampshire initiative, we worked with six
emerging leaders from marginalized groups in the City to build their capacity to serve the city and
actively participate in local government. Over an eight-week period, these emerging leaders met every
Wednesday from 6-8 pm, concluding in preparing a video highlighting how and why (and why not)
people do or do not participate in City government.
We also hosted a three session capacity building training for emerging leaders identified by Casa Latina.
The Casa Latina emerging leader trainees have committed to continuing their capacity building planning
in 2017. The Casa Latina workshops sought to connect participants who are already leaders in their
community with a list of who’s who in city elected offices, and the range of committees on which
residents can serve.
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The participants self-described as leaders
or others identified them as leaders
because they are the go-to person when
there is an urgent issue, or information is
hard to find. Even though these individuals
do have access to a certain amount of
power within their self identified
community, these residents are still
marginalized and as a result knowledge of
elected officials is minimal in part because
of language barriers and as reported by
these individuals, they receive many messages growing up that the mainstream society does not care
about them so they create parallel communities, literally on the margin of the community in which they
live.
To help the identified leaders know who is charge of what in the city, we provided sheets with
information about the city and its top officers, with their respective telephone numbers and email
addresses. One of the tasks for participants was to find out what ward they lived in so they would know
who their city councilor is. We also provided information about a variety of city committees, including
what they do and how residents can interact with them and/or volunteer to serve. Finally, we invited
Mayor David Narkewicz to speak about how he got involved in the community, from his first jobs
working with federal officials, to going door to door seeking signatures for his run for city councilor, to
running for and being elected Mayor.
The mayor came to our workshop and generously shared his story with participants and was available
for questions. He was unhurried and showed interest in every participant. Later, we all went to his
office, where he introduced us to his staff, and the trip ended with a photo with the Mayor. The photo
was possible because we had already established and/or strengthened rapport among the participants
with trust and the dignity of every person as our foundation. We served a homemade hot meal at each
workshop, provided child care and established an environment of equals. Through this process of
breaking bread with one another and sharing stories and wishes, we became a cohesive group.
We believe the way to re-energize people to participate in democracy, be it through volunteerism on
municipal or private non-profit boards of community-based organizations, or running for office or
helping someone else run for office, starts with building trust among one another, not just for a short-
term goal, but for a long time. Trust begins with small meetings and conversations.
Mayor David Narkewicz with emerging leaders from Casa Latina
and Facilitator, Natalia Munoz
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Priority Recommendations for Action
1. Create a volunteer-driven pilot Resident Engagement Team which will recruit and train
residents to serve as Engagement and Inclusion workers on behalf of the City and Residents with
the main goal of reaching and empowering marginalized residents to inform them of
opportunities to participate and how to do so.
2. Simplify access to important information about opportunities to participate. Given the pace of
technological change, we are not proposing any specifics, but could be: on-line subscription
service, engagement app, text message system, Facebook page with push notifications, …
Consider developing a transparent system to track who has expressed interest in serving on
boards when an opening occurs.Explore training opportunities, such as the existing city civilian
police academy, to provide training so that more people are trained to serve on boards.
3. Expand on existing City Council or department sponsored “Get to Know One Another" events--
coffees etc. with City staff and elected officials visiting with residents. Throughout the outreach
conducted for this effort, residents enthusiastically supported public forums/meetings at which
people could learn about the boards that are volunteer based and how to serve on them.
4. Commit to participation in undoing racism training to explore, understand and advance the
process of dismantling institutional/systemic racism. Prioritize training key people: elected
officials, department heads, and others most often engaging with the public.
5. Create a Volunteer Mentor program for "Savvy" residents to donate their time to 'translate' the
system for marginalized residents--people would be paired up for a fixed period of time, a la Big
Brothers and Big Sisters to translate the system and build capacity of marginalized residents to
get more actively involved in local government.
6. Institutionalize the current Mayor’s efforts to work with the community on the City's budget
process. While there was considerable community and staff support for the idea and goals of
participatory budgeting, the experience of current staff and research from cities across the
country and in Europe experimenting with participatory budgeting suggest that this tactic can
end up empowering the already most powerful voices in the community who are not necessarily
broad new voices. In the last few years 2014-2016, the Mayor has launched a much more
inclusive process of reaching out in the budget development process to assure broad resident
and community input. It is important that this approach become a part of the City's budget
process, guaranteed to remain throughout future Mayors.
In addition, the city representatives who consulted on this work proudly affirm their intention to
continue to make every effort to affirmatively advance opportunity for residents who face additional
barriers in all city actions and decision-making. For example, give extra points to sidewalk and bikelane
projects in neighborhoods with significant numbers of minority, poor, elderly and/or youth residents,
recognizing that these areas have less pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure than neighborhoods where
wealthier white residents live.
And the City firmly intends to sustain the current focus on overcoming logistical barriers as needed, to
make it possible for all residents to meaningfully engage in city government, i.e. continue to offer
translation services at public meetings, provide childcare, transportation, and other assistance as
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needed, and continue to pursue opportunities to advance capacity building for emerging leaders,
especially from under-represented groups in the city.
Planning and Sustainability found that the targeted focus groups were the most effective way, at least in
this process, to meaningfully engage marginalized populations. While the City has always had a goal of
getting marginalized groups to participate in all public workshops, forums, and activities at the same
rate as the general population, this has proven to be extremely difficult for both the city and the Re-
Energizing Democracy effort because of the challenges. The focus groups, however, include traditional
elements that lead to success, direct invitations and a welcoming environment, and a limited demand
for resources.
Using focus groups, however, requires ensuring that the focus groups are open to all who want to
participate and ensuring that the focus groups are inclusionary of all populations, and not a new way to
include some marginalized community members at the expense of others.
For the City, the most important steps moving forward are creating low cost ways to engage such focus
groups, but with the focus groups including a clear and open priority of empowering participants so that
they will later feel empowered to participate in all the workshops, forums, and other activities that
other community members participate in. This opens up potentially new areas of collaboration between
the city and community partners and place based and social-equity focused foundations and funders.
Both the City of Northampton and the PVPC have benefitted greatly from the partnership with the
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts (CFWM) made possible by the funding from the
Funder's Network for Smart Growth. This initiative was the first time the CFWM has supported
Complete Streets planning with an emphasis on engaging marginalized populations in local planning
processes and agency staff are very eager to explore ways they can continue to support such work in the
region.
Pathways to Power
As we were working, one of our preliminary recommendations was to consider a "Marginalized
Community" seat on City Council as a means of undoing institutional/systemic racism in the City and
thereby expanding access to opportunity to marginalized residents. However, over the course of
researching comparable efforts to re-energize democracy in cities across the United States, we have
moved away from this recommendation because it could lead to tokenism and/or resentment and other
cities' experience suggests that such an office often leaves the person of color serving on the job feeling
as if they are not valued and are simply fulfilling a quota. Instead we are recommending a variety of
means to improve access to information and to overcome feelings of despair, cynicism and not feeling
welcome.
Our analysis of existing pathways to power in the City of Northampton suggests that many City
Councilors and previous Mayors started serving the City by volunteering on Boards or Commissions or
working groups. Therefore, we are focusing our recommendations on these pathways to power and
overall engagement by ALL residents of the city with an affirmative emphasis on marginalized residents
because of inequitable access to these opportunities.
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As a means of affirmatively hiring of residents of color we encourage the City to aggressively apply the
State bonus points for working with Minority and Women owned businesses. In early drafts of the Re-
Energizing Democracy strategies, we considered suggesting breaking up contracts into smaller pieces
which makes it more likely for smaller businesses that may be minority owned to pursue a contract,
based on research conducted, including interviews with City of Seattle staff; however, the likelihood of
significantly higher costs to the City combined with the increased difficulty of project coordination,
argued against inclusion of this strategy in the final report. At a minimum, the city should be tracking the
percentage of contracts (total number and economic value) that go to minority owned businesses. The
City could also track the racial make-up of staff and report this information to residents.
Themes
These are the themes that surfaced time and again in our research, and should be integrated into all city
efforts as appropriate.
Trust Building, Relationship
Development & Maintenance--Two-
Way Street
Institutional and Organizational Change
Youth Pathways
Economic Opportunity
Partnership, Collaboration &
Cooperation
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Barriers To Participation
Throughout the course of our work we identified three different categories of barriers to resident
participation in City of Northampton planning/development processes:
1. Lack of Knowledge/Time
2. Logistics
3. Lack of Trust/Faith in Government
Within these three categories, we identified nine different barriers:
Lack of Knowledge/Time
1) Residents do not know HOW to participate
2) Residents do not have enough time to participate
3) Residents are frustrated by the amount of information on the City website and cannot find what they
are looking for in an efficient manner
4) Residents do not know how to gain the experience or skill sets required to serve on city boards
Logistics
5) Some residents do not speak English as their first language and have difficulty understanding
6) Economically disadvantaged residents may require childcare at meetings
7) Economically disadvantaged residents may require subsidies for transportation to be able to attend
meetings
Lack of Trust/Faith in Government
8) Residents reported not feeling welcome at meetings
9) Residents reported/communicated Despair and feelings of powerlessness
10) Residents expressed feelings of Cynicism and Hopelessness
11) Residents reported not receiving the direct person invitation to meetings that other groups receive
Our recommendations are designed to overcome the barriers in a variety of ways with the ultimate goal
of re-energizing democracy in Northampton and assuring equitable access to opportunity for all.
How?
We worked with the City's Human Rights Commission, as our primary Advisory Group for this initiative,
so initially recommended that the HRC be the city entity charged with advancing these
recommendations; however, after reviewing the official city charge of the HRC, it seems they may not
be the most appropriate implementation oversight body. Since the surprising election of President
Trump, Northampton City Councilors have reported a significant upsurge in resident engagement. The
Mayor and his leadership team and community volunteers can determine how best to act on the
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recommendations in this report. The responsibility for deeper citizen engagement requires equal actions
on behalf of the City and volunteer community members.
We suggest that this process be understood as the City's conscious effort to partner with communities
of color, economically marginalized residents, and young adults within the City and their community-
based organizations to collect and connect stories and cultural experiences to a broader narrative of self
governance to influence policy creation. Likewise, we hope that those communities will become better
engaged and active; self-empowerment is obviously a part of the process.
Recommendation Estimated Cost per year
1) Engagement Team Volunteers with very limited staff coordination, est. cost: $2,000-5,000
or volunteer or in-kind equivalent
2) Improve/expand ways
residents and city connect
Varies—given fast pace of technological innovation, could be extremely
low cost
3) Get to know one another
potlucks, dinners, and
events
Est. $2,000-3,000 or volunteer and in-kind equivalent
4) Undoing Racism Training 1-2 training(s)/year at est. cost $6,000 or volunteer and in-kind
equivalent
5) Volunteer Mentors
Volunteers with very limited staff coordination, est. cost: $2,000-5,000
or volunteer or in-kind equivalent
6) Institutionalize Mayor’s
Inclusive Budgeting Process
Undertaken within existing budget
TOTAL $15,000-20,000 per year to implement ALL recommendations, with some
combination of cash, volunteer, and in-kind time.
Resident Engagement -Phase 1
Summary of Tasks:
The following is a snapshot of tasks completed during the Walk/Bike Northampton planning process:
Hired a community organizer from Casa Latina to assist with outreach
Ongoing collaboration with the City’s Human Rights Commission
Distributing fliers at Northampton Housing Authority to promote Public Forum #1
Participation in Walk/Bike Northampton Public Forum #1
Launched survey on state of engagement practices in Northampton’s planning processes
Focus Group at Casa Latina
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Distributing fliers at Northampton Housing Authority’s seven properties advertising upcoming drop-in
meetings
Launched Wiki-map application
Hosted drop-in meetings at seven Northampton Housing Authority properties at which we publicized
and promoted the Main Street Design Workshop and Public Forum#2
Door-to-door outreach at Northampton Housing Authority properties to leave information about
Public Forum #2
Participation in Walk/Bike Northampton Main Street Design Workshop
Participation in Walk/Bike Northampton Public Forum #2
Participation in the Walk/Bike Northampton Main Street Demonstration Day
Documentation of Demonstration Day via video creation
Ongoing participation at the Northampton Pedestrian and Bike Advisory Committee
Recruited representative from marginalized groups to serve on Pedestrian and Bike Advisory
Committee
In sum, the perspectives on walking and bicycling shared by residents engaged via Casa Latina, the
Human Rights Commission and the Housing Authority properties were more about specifics for walking--
with requests for more sidewalks to assure connectivity, especially to school and parks from residential
neighborhoods as well as other important destinations, and highlighting the need for sidewalk repair and
maintenance, especially for wheel chair accessibility and to avoid elderly falls due to cracks and un-
smooth surface, combined with the importance of lighting for safe walking at all hours. With respect to
bicycling, people engaged do not, for the most part, feel that bicyclists belong on the road, so the need
for bike lanes on streets as well as off road bike paths was highlighted. We also understood this as an
expression of need for a broad public information and education campaign to inform Northampton
residents that a bicycle is a vehicle and as such belongs on the road.
A potential area of conflict surfaced with respect to the City's commitment to prioritize pedestrian
infrastructure within a close proximity to the down town--where services are concentrated, versus the
high cost of housing within this same area. The residents we engaged, tend to be less well off
economically and not including the people who live in the Housing Authority properties downtown,
cannot afford to live close to the City center. These people would like sidewalks in the outlying
neighborhoods.
Key issues identified in this outreach work include the following:
The lack of sidewalks connecting to parks and schools
The perception that bicycles do not belong in the road because it is dangerous
The need for sidewalk maintenance. The state of disrepair makes it dangerous for the elderly
and impassable for those in wheelchairs
The presence of dog feces on the bike path
The perception that the bike path is dangerous
The desire for lighting to be added along the bike path
The need to educate drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians about safe operating practices
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Public Forum # 1:
The first Walk/Bike Northampton public forum was held on March 7, 2016.This meeting was advertised
through a variety of means by the City staff and consultants. In addition to the traditional
outreach/engagement, we posted fliers at the City Housing Authority properties and at various
community bulletin board sites identified by the community organizer at Casa Latina and by members of
the Human Rights Commission. Outreach to marginalized populations started later than planned due to
difficulty connecting with the Housing Authority staff. Once we connected with the Housing Authority
staff they were helpful.
While the meeting was well attended, the populations in attendance included mostly the populations
that typically participate in the City of Northampton’s planning processes (white, upper- middle class,
highly educated, older adults).
Spanish translation services were offered at the meeting through the UMass Translation Center and the
Pioneer Valley Interpreters. Childcare was also provided on site through a local childcare provider. The
translation services were not used. The childcare was well-received by the three or four families that
used it. Some families reported that the presence of childcare made it possible for them to participate in
this meeting.
The City distributed a survey at this public forum
that assessed participants’ ideas, attitudes, and
behaviors with respect to their participation in
government planning processes. Seventy-eight
people in attendance completed and returned the
survey.
Survey Results:
Residents in Attendance:
Almost all attendees identified Northampton as
their place of residence. A few attendees, however.
identified that they were from other places in the
region including Easthampton, Amherst, Greenfield and Belchertown, suggesting that there is interest in
the bike and pedestrian planning that happens in
Northampton from beyond its borders.
Current/ Preferred Engagement Techniques:
Respondents were asked to select the types of
participation they currently take part in or that they
would be willing to take part in in the future. There was
a high response rate for the traditional means of
engagement (Public meeting, responding to surveys
and commenting directly to staff). A direct conclusion
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that the status quo is functioning well should not be drawn. This question paired both current and
preferred methods and because all respondents were filling out a survey at a public forum, they were
likely to select that box.
Approximately 42 % of respondents said that they would participate using a smart phone app. Written
comments either expressed a strong disdain for the app or suggested that it should also be available on
the internet so that those with a smart phone can participate.
Navigating Government Infrastructure:
Respondents who attended the first public forum appear to understand how to navigate through the
existing government structures in order to have their voices heard. Sixty percent of respondents who
would be willing to serve on a committee know how to do so. Additionally almost 70% of respondents
agreed that they know how to contact or reach an elected official or staff member in order to share
their thoughts.
Beyond just knowing how to share their comments and get involved, many participants felt that the city
was responsive to their comments. Ninety-two percent of respondents felt that elected officials were
responsive, while 91% of respondents felt that staff were responsive.
Challenges Impeding Engagement:
Respondents were asked to identify the challenges
that they face when participating in the city’s
planning processes. Top responses included not
having the time to participate, not knowing how to
participate or not receiving information about
opportunities to participate. These challenges can
be remedied by more effective communication.
Articulating how and when there are opportunities
for structured participation and what the participant
will be expected to do could help lower the barriers
to participation. Other barriers to participation
include the long time frames tied to planning
processes and the inability to often track how these
particular forums impact the end results.
Very few respondents (1.79%) cited an unwelcoming environment as a challenge to participation. They
also didn’t feel that the language used by decision makers or staff members was confusing to
understand. Access to transportation to get to meetings was also identified as a very low challenge to
participating. Some respondents commented that they felt very welcomed when they come to
participate and others shared that they appreciated the child care provided on site.
These results likely only tell part of the story. The people at these meetings clearly knew where to be
and when in order to participate. Following the city-wide meeting, we held additional engagement
17 | N o r t h a m p t o n M A R e -E n e r g i z i n g D e m o c r a c y
events at Northampton Housing Authority properties, with the Human Rights Commission and at Casa
Latina.
Focus Group at Casa Latina:
We worked with Casa Latina to host a
focus group on Tuesday, March, 29,
2016. Participants were invited to share
a meal, talk about what walking and
biking around Northampton is like for
them and participate in a map based
activity. There were approximately ten
people in attendance. The group was
mostly women who play an active role in
their communities. They expressed that
they felt knowledgeable enough to speak
on behalf of Northampton’s Latino
population.
A few key themes emerged. While not directly related to walking and biking, participants shared that
transit improvements are very important and they believe that more Latino residents use transit than
walking and bicycling as their primary means of transportation. They also shared that they don’t feel
comfortable going to and hanging out in downtown Northampton.
For example, some participants stated that even though they live in Northampton, they are much more
likely to spend time in Holyoke where they feel accepted by the community.
Three major themes arose from the conversation regarding walking and bicycling:
Infrastructure improvements should be prioritized near parks and schools. Many of the
schools lack sidewalks on the streets surrounding them, making it more challenging for children
to walk or ride a bicycle to school. There are also a number of parks that lack sidewalks or bike
lanes connecting to the neighborhoods. Participants shared that they will drive their car from
“I would love to see a meeting like this
at a low-income housing community
with Spanish translation.
“The bike/ped subcommittee meets early
in the morning. The transportation
committee meets at 4pm. I would have to
leave work early.”
“Want to see results. I wonder if
these meetings result in anything.”
“Thank you for providing day care!! On
site.”
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their house to the nearest park in order to walk for exercise, but would be more likely to walk to
the park if there were better sidewalk connections.
Many participants enjoy the bike paths in the city, but feel that they could be improved with
better connections and amenities. Some shared that they would like to see bike lanes and
sidewalks leading to the paths. There was also a discussion of lighting, bicycle parking, and bike
fix-it stations that would make the bike paths more enjoyable spaces.
Better education for all people (drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists) is needed. There was a
consensus that drivers, cyclists and pedestrians could all use a primer on the rules of the road.
There were concerns about distracted drivers and jaywalking pedestrians. A few of the
participants were also parents and suggested that education in the schools on walking and
biking might be the most effective because the children are likely to come home and excitedly
share what they learned with their parents.
Door to Door Outreach:
Between March 29 and April 8, 2016 we went door to door in seven Northampton Housing Authority
properties with information about upcoming meetings. If residents were home, we shared information
about Northampton’s efforts to create a bike and pedestrian plan and outlined when we would be in
their community seeking input. Some of the residents with whom we spoke with were interested in the
work being done and expressed excitement that the meetings would be held in their building. If
residents were not home, a flier that was in both English and Spanish, advertising the upcoming
meetings was left at their door.
Drop-in Meetings at Northampton Housing Authority’s Seven Communities:
Between April 11 and April 20, 2016, drop-in meetings were held at the following Northampton Housing
Authority properties:
Cahill Apartments
Florence Heights Apartments
Forsander Apartments
Hampshire Heights Apartments
McDonald House
Salvo House
Tobin Manor
Meetings were held in each building’s community room from 5:00-7:00pm. Residents were invited to
share their ideas and concerns regarding walking and biking, take surveys, ask questions and enjoy
food. Over the course of the seven meetings, approximately 90 people provided input. There was a
strong representation of youth and elderly, as well as individuals with mobility challenges. A brief
description of each meeting follows and complete notes are available.
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I wish there were sidewalks so I could
walk to school. -Dion and Jomar,
youth at Florence Heights
Cahill Apartments
The meeting was attended by eight people-four
people that arrived exactly when the meeting
started and stayed for a while and four people that
dropped in briefly. A significant amount of detailed
input was received. Major concerns included the
needed for lighting on the bike path, clear and
consistent signage, ongoing sidewalk maintenance
and education to all about sharing the road. There
were also a lot of input from individuals with
mobility devices that cited bumpy sidewalks, too
short of crossing times at intersections and areas lacking pedestrian crossing signals.
Florence Heights Apartments
The community room at Florence Heights is a unit in the development, that was located in a far corner of
the complex. This made being visible to passers-by a challenge. Good weather allowed us to set up
outside increasing our visibility. A core group of young people and a few parents participated and
encouraged others to participate. A smaller number of very specific comments were received. They
included concerns about using the rail trail due to crime, dog feces and bicyclists riding fast. They also
want to see sidewalks and bike lanes
connecting to schools.
Forsander Apartments
Forsander Apartments has a very active tenant
association and president, who worked to
promote our meeting after we had gone door
to door with information. This meeting was
well attended with many residents arriving
right at 5:00pm and staying for over 1.5 hours.
Of particular concern to residents were the lack of lighting, presence of dog feces and crime happening
on the bike path. The prevalence of jaywalking and motorists that fail to yield for pedestrians was also a
major concern.
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Hampshire Heights Apartments
A core group of five young people and their
parents attended, plus a few young people and
neighbors dropped-by briefly. The community
room was a small unit at one 'cul de sac' of the
development, but weather was good so we
were outside and very visible to passers-by.
Information from this meeting was quite
different than other locations, likely due to the
youth presence. Input was also more
spontaneous and in response to questions.
The main feedback we received was regarding
increased bike parking throughout the city and
better bike and pedestrian connections from
the neighborhood to the school, downtown
and the bike path.
McDonald House
This meeting was attended by a smaller group
of committed residents. Our meeting time
overlapped with regularly scheduled bingo event, so we were able to get input from residents that were
waiting for bingo to begin. Attendees were most concerned with traffic downtown and challenges
navigating the nearby area in a wheelchair or with a walker. Individuals using mobility devices stressed
that cracked sidewalks, missing curb cuts and inconsistent snow removal on sidewalks and curb cuts
makes navigating the city challenging. Additional comments included feeling unsafe due to speeding
motorists, panhandling and recent crime on the bike path.
Salvo House
The community room is right off the lobby and includes a large and
TV room. A motivated core group of 12 people stayed for a
minimum of 45 minutes and some whole time, plus 7 passersby
who stayed a range of 3-20 minutes. Significant, meaningful,
detailed input was received during this meeting. Many felt that the
bike path is a great community benefit, but had concerns about
safety. There were also concerns that redesigning main to provide
accommodations for all modes would impact businesses.
Tobin Manor
An active group of residents promoted the meeting in addition to
our door to door research. These same residents were in
attendance along with a number of other drop-ins through the
evening. Participants at Tobin articulated that they would like to
see sidewalk bulb-outs to increase pedestrian visibility, public
information campaigns about sharing the road, and pedestrian crossing signals. They also stressed the
importance of trail etiquette, lighting and maintenance.
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Collaboration with the Human Rights Commission:
The City’s Human Rights Commission was informed and engaged in the Walk/Bike Northampton
planning process. Staff presented to the HRC twice as a means of getting input.
Main St. Design Workshop:
A design workshop focused on Main Street was held on May 10th. Outreach for this event was limited, as
the focus was on soliciting input from those that would be most impact by a redesign of the street. We
did have fliers about the workshop available in both English and Spanish at all of the Housing Authority
meetings and encouraged residents to participate. Spanish translation and childcare were also provided
at the meeting. Translation services went unused, but childcare was used.
The meeting was attended by a fair amount of people, but was not attended by the groups of people
that we had been actively trying to engage in the process up to this point. Participants were asked to
create a cross-section of a street they’d like to see built in downtown Northampton. Pictures were taken
of each cross-section designed and will be used to inform recommendations regarding Main Streets
redesign. Participants also had an opportunity to share why they allocated space in the right of way the
way they did.
Public Forum #2:
The second and final Walk/Bike Northampton Public Forum was held on May 18, 2016 from 5:30-
7:30pm. Advertisements for the meeting were provided in both English and Spanish and were pushed
out through various channels, including all seven of the Northampton Housing Authority properties
where drop-in meetings were held. The meeting was well-attended, but mainly by the people that are
always keyed into the process. There were at least two participants that had previously attended drop-in
meetings. Both childcare and Spanish translation were available. The childcare was well-utilized, but the
Spanish translation services again went unused.
At the meeting the Alta, Watson Active and PVPC presented on what had been done up to this point in
the process, key findings, and recommendations that will be included in the City’s plan. After the
presentations, participants broke out into groups to discuss infrastructure recommendations likely to
appear in the plan.
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Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee:
The Northampton Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee’s monthly meetings served as an
opportunity for the various groups working on the plan update to convene and share information. We
regularly attended these meetings and updated the committee on results from engagement efforts.
Wiki-mapping Application:
PVPC launched a wiki-mapping application on April 8, 2016. The wiki-mapping application allowed users
to share spatial information regarding bicycling and walking. Residents and visitors to the city could use
the map to mark routes that are good for walking or biking or point out places that need improvements
like sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, or new street trees. The wiki-map can be found here: http://
wikimapping.com/wikimap/WalkBike- Northampton-Plan.html
The map was publicized through a press release, the city’s email list and a number of email lists for
prominent community organizations. About 110 people contributed to the map. The wiki-map was
available for use at our seven drop-in meetings, but attendees were much more interested in talking and
writing on physical maps. None opted to use the wiki-map.
One of the purposes of the wiki-map was to test whether it would be an effective method for gathering
input from populations that are not normally represented in planning outreach in Northampton.
Demographic data collected by the wiki-map’s survey shows that highly-educated and higher in- come
residents were over represented, while lower income residents were under-represented.
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Main St. Demonstration Day:
A demonstration day highlighting
physical changes that could be
made on Main Street was held
on Saturday, June18th. The
demonstration included the
creation of a temporary buffered
bike lane and two pocket parks.
There were also tables and
chairs added to the sidewalks
and the city had an area with
maps, information and
opportunities for people to add
their ideas.
This endeavor was publicized
through a press release to local media outlets and a flier that was distributed in English and Spanish.
This event gave people
the opportunity to
literally feel how Main
Street could function
differently with
amenities that would
make the street more
pedestrian and bicycle
friendly. People were
invited to share their
thoughts during the
event and the
happenings were
captured through video
recordings.
Public Forum #2:
The second and final Walk/Bike Northampton Public Forum was held on May 18, 2016 from 5:30-
7:30pm. Advertisements for the meeting were provided in both English and Spanish and were pushed
out through various channels, including all seven of the Northampton Housing Authority properties
where drop-in meetings were held. The meeting was well-attended, including more young adults, but very
few people of color were visible.
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There were at least two participants that had previously attended drop-in meetings. Both childcare and
Spanish translation were available. The childcare was well-utilized, but the Spanish translation services
again went unused.
At the meeting the Alta, Watson Active and PVPC presented on what had been done up to this point in
the process, key findings, and recommendations that will be included in the City’s plan. After the
presentations, participants broke out into groups to discuss infrastructure recommendations likely to
appear in the plan.
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Resident Engagement -Phase 2
“Re-energizing Democracy? I think that means helping people recognize and feel empowered to exert
their power as a group, for the greater good of all.”
-Survey Respondent
A survey was distributed to participants at a number of meetings seeking to understand the major
barriers to participation in Northampton and as an initial litmus test for strategies that might work
towards increasing participation. As stated, we learned that there are three major barriers to
participation: (1) Lack of Knowledge on how to participate or time to participate (2) a lack of trust or
faith in the government (3) Logistical Barriers. Based on this understanding, additional survey results on
how people would like to be engaged, and best practices research, PVPC developed nine
recommendations that sought to break down the identified barriers to participation. These nine
proposed recommendations included:
1.) Create a Resident Engagement Team which will recruit and train residents to serve as
Engagement and Inclusion workers on behalf of the city.
2.) Simplify access to important information about opportunities to participate but creating an on-
line subscription service or app.
3.) Create a new staff position of Ombudsperson—whose job is to explain government processes to
residents
4.) Hold semi-regular “Get to Know One Another” events with City staff and elected officials visiting
with residents.
5.) Commit to aggressive participation in undoing racism training to explore, understands and
dismantle institutional/systemic racism in the City.
6.) Create a volunteer mentor program that partners well engaged residents with those that desire
to be more involved, but don’t know how.
7.) Integrate participatory budgeting into the City’s budget process.
8.) Target investments to achieve an equity agenda and ensure that investments being made are
not negatively impacting marginalized populations.
9.) Allocate funding to overcome logistical barriers as needed.
These nine recommendations were explored in a second phase of outreach.
Public Meetings:
Throughout the months of October and November, four meetings were held to discuss the proposed
recommendations.
Northampton Housing Authority
Two meetings were held at Northampton Housing Authority Properties (one in downtown Northampton
and the other in Florence). Participation at these meetings was limited, likely attributed to meeting
notification being up to the discretion of the local tenant associations. Reactions to this work were
mixed among participants at these meetings. Some residents were really passionate about the
recommendations and others questioned why this work in necessary.
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Northampton Young Professionals
In the Walk/Bike engagement work, it became apparent that young people were not participating at a
high rate. This could be seen looking around the room at public meetings, in survey results, and in wiki-
mapping results. (The wiki-mapping, which was hosted and distributed via online channels did have the
higher participation rates than other outreach for the Walk/Bike Plan.) To reach this population, we
partnered with the Northampton Area Young Professionals to host a professional development event,
where participants explored how local government involvement could impact their personal and
professional life and discussed barriers to engagement. This event was well attended with over twenty
young adults from around Northampton coming out. This group is eager to get involved.
City-wide Public Forum
A City-wide public meeting was also held to gather feedback on the proposed recommendations. This
meeting was covered via an article in the Gazette and information was shared on a number of the
listservs that exist in town. In addition, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission advertised the event on
Facebook and paid to promote it in order to reach a broader audience. This event was attended by
approximately 50 people.
Survey
A survey was used to succinctly capture participants’ thoughts on the proposed recommendations. A
paper survey was available at all meetings. Additionally, the survey was available online. Links to the
survey went out with information about the city-wide meeting and the event aimed at young adults.
Beyond this it was promoted on social media.
One-hundred and thirty six people responded to the survey. Almost 29% of survey respondents were
between the ages of 18 and 35, almost 38% were between the ages of 36 and 50, and 34% were over
the age of 51. A majority of the respondents (70%) were female, while 25% identified as male and 5%
identified as transgender. Most respondents (89.1%) were white, 2.3% were Hispanic, 3.9% were Bi-
racial and 4.7% identified as a different race.
Overall Results:
Survey respondents were asked to rank each of the nine proposed recommendations based on
importance (Very Important, Important, Somewhat Important, Neutral and Not Important). When taking
into account all of the votes that equaled some level of importance, the recommendations in ranking of
preference were as followed:
1.) Hold semi-regular “Get to Know One Another” events with City staff and elected officials
visiting with residents.
2.) Screen investments to assess how funding impacts marginalized populations
3.) Commit to aggressive participation in undoing racism training to explore, understand and
dismantle institutional/systemic racism in the City.
4.) Allocate funding to overcome logistical barriers as needed.
5.) Simplify access to important information about opportunities to participate but creating an
on-line subscription service or app.
6.) Integrate participatory budgeting into the City’s budget process.
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7.) Create a volunteer mentor program that partners well engaged residents with those that
desire to be more involved, but don’t know how.
8.) Create a new staff position of Ombudsperson—whose job is to explain government
processes to residents
9.) Create a Resident Engagement Team which will recruit and train residents to serve as
Engagement and Inclusion workers on behalf of the city.
Isolating only responses for Very Important responses, the top three recommendations include:
1.) Commit to aggressive participation in undoing racism training to explore, understand and
dismantle institutional/systemic racism in the City.
2.) Screen projects to assess how funding impacts marginalized populations.
3.) Allocate funding to overcome logistical barriers as needed.
When looking at results based on the number of Non-important votes they received, the following
recommendations received the highest number of results:
1.) Create a new staff position of Ombudsperson—whose job is to explain government
processes to residents.
2.) Create a Resident Engagement Team which will recruit and train residents to serve as
Engagement and Inclusion workers on behalf of the city.
3.) Allocate funding to overcome logistical barriers as needed.
Barriers to participation:
Almost 82% of respondents identified a lack of knowledge and/or time to participate as their major
barrier to participation. A lack of trust or faith in the government and logistical issues (childcare,
translations and transportation) were less of an issue, with 35.5% and 16.4% citing these are barriers
respectively.
81.9%
35.3%
16.4%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
Lack of knowledge/time
(don't know when meetings
are or how to serve on a
committee, etc.)
Lack of trust/faith in the
government (feel the
government has already
made up their mind; don't
feel welcome at meetings)
Logistical barriers (need
translation, transportation or
childcare that isn't available;
don't understand the
technical information being
presented, etc.)
Which of the following Barriers to Participation have
you encountered? (Note--you may check all that apply.)
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Lack of Knowledge
In both the survey and the public meetings, the main reason for not being involved was the lack of
knowledge about how to plug into current processes. The current structures in place in Northampton
present the information required to participate and often the ways that this information is shared goes
beyond what is required to be in compliance with open meeting laws, but everyday City residents
haven’t figured out how to navigate these structures. Participants expressed frustration about
information regarding public meetings being posted in the Gazette, which many don’t read because they
aren’t subscribers. This highlights the need to meet people where they are during engagement
processes, even with advertising and meeting notices. There was interest in having more information on
social media and in activity hubs in the neighborhoods, like libraries.
There was also strong interest in participating on boards and committees, but not knowing how to or
feeling like they may not be qualified enough. A few participants also shared that they had expressed
interest in serving on a committee before and were never contacted. A more transparent process for
how people are appointed to boards as position turn over and a greater campaign on how to navigate
that process could help bring fresh voices to the table and increase interest.
Overall, participants have a desire to be more involved. They were eager for more tangible ways to plug
in beyond the meetings we held. The City of Northampton should act to capture this current energy that
is apparent.
“I would love to be more involved, don't know how to get involved or volunteer to serve on committees,
etc.”
“I am interested in becoming more involved but the greatest barriers for me are a lack of
knowledge around how to serve on commissions/committees and how the nomination process
works. It feels like these decisions are made out of public sight on a "who you know" basis
(thinking of a recent appointment to the Human Rights commission that caused some
controversy). I would appreciate more transparency around this process.”
Logistical
While logistical issues, such as childcare, transportation and translation, were not considered to be a
barrier to participation by many, there were still a few concerns shared. The need for childcare available
at meetings was highlighted in multiple comments. Throughout the Walk/Bike Northampton process
and this Re-energizing Democracy childcare was utilized when provided.
“I am a single mama of two, who has my kiddos on Thursdays, I can't attend city council meetings
without spending at least twenty dollars for a babysitter. That twenty dollars adds up quickly over the
course of a month, or further a year of meetings. Access to discounted or free child care would help to
make me a more active citizen.”
An additional logistical barrier that surfaced in this phase of the work was meeting schedules. A couple
of people shared that they are aware of opportunities to participate, but because of work schedules
they are shut out of the process.
“Have wished I was involved in local politics, haven't found an avenue and I work evenings so
don't know how I could attend meetings.”
“As a parent of young children, evening meetings are … a challenge.”
Public meetings in most cities and towns are held in the evenings, so that they don’t conflict with work
schedules, but this scheduling fails to capture those working evenings. While every meeting can’t be
schedule to accommodate all, ensuring that other mechanisms are in place to gather feedback for those
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that cannot attend in person is important. Additionally many city committees meet in the morning or
late afternoon. This can make it difficult for a person that doesn’t have a flexible work schedule to serve.
Skepticism
Approximately 35.5% of people identified a lack of trust and/or faith in the government as a barrier to
participation. This data point converges with levels of trust in the city staff and government in the
exploratory survey on engagement practices during the Walk/Bike Northampton Process. It may be
likely that the feelings of distrust in government at the national level post-election may have led to
increased levels of distrust in the government being expressed in this survey.
There were, however concerns that committee appointments are not transparent and based more on
connections than simply expressing interest through the established process. Others, in both the survey
and public meetings, suggested that by the time the government is asking for the public’s decision on an
issue that the decision is already made.
“All too often the funding for studies & analysis seem to be a set up to justify what's already known or
project deals already dealt.”
Participation
The overall aim of this work aimed to propose recommendations that would get those that don’t
currently participate in government processes—for whatever reason—to participate. In order to achieve
this, it was key to understand how often survey respondents participate in order to ensure that our
recommendations will benefit those that are currently unengaged in local government processes. At
many of our events, participants shared that they do not typically get involved in their local government
(attend public meetings, serve on a committee, attend city council meetings, talk to City councilors, call
the mayor, etc.). Almost 84% of the survey respondents said that they interact with local government, in
the ways mentioned above, less than quarterly. Similarly, in our meetings many participants stated that
they do not participate in government processes regularly.
Isolating the survey results of those that never participate in local government processes or only
participate once a year, highlights the fact younger residents in Northampton are less likely to
participate. Approximately 40% of those that never participate or participate once per year were
27.9%
32.6%
23.3%
10.1%
4.7% 1.6%
How often are you involved with local government processes (attend public
meetings, serve on a committee, attend city council meetings, talk to your
City Councilor, call the Mayor, etc.)?
Never
Once a year
2-3 time a year
Monthly
Twice a month
Weekly
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between the age of 18 and 35, 41% were between the age 36-50 and 19% were over the age of 51.
Among this group, however, the biggest barrier to participation remained the lack of knowledge on how
to get involved.
The ranking of recommendations by those that participate less than quarterly didn’t deviate much from
the survey results as a whole. When looking at the selection of recommendations based on “Very
Important” preferences the following recommendations rose to the top”
1. Screen investments to assess how funding impacts marginalized populations
2. Commit to aggressive participation in undoing racism training to explore, understand and
dismantle institutional/systemic racism in the City.
2. Integrate participatory budgeting into the City’s budget process.
3. Allocate funding to overcome logistical barriers as needed.
When looking at preference of recommendations based by all levels of importance (Very Important,
Important and Somewhat Important) indicated, the following recommendations were considered the
most important:
1. Simplify access to important information about opportunities to participate but creating an
on-line subscription service or app.
2. Create a volunteer mentor program that partners well engaged residents with those that
desire to be more involved, but don’t know how.
2. Integrate participatory budgeting into the City’s budget process.
2. Screen investments to assess how funding impacts marginalized populations
3. Commit to aggressive participation in undoing racism training to explore, understand and
dismantle institutional/systemic racism in the City.
Thoughts about how politics at the national level impacted this work
All of the public meetings and survey for this phase of work were scheduled, unintentionally, right after
the election. Many people questioned if this work was a direct response to the election or
Northampton’s standings as a sanctuary city.
Other people shared that this election ignited their desire to get involved, because they aren’t pleased
with the current trajectory of national politics and decision-making and hope that involvement at the
local level can have an impact.
“I have never participated in local government due to a lack knowledge/interest, but this election has
changed my attitude.”
“ I have lived in Northampton for 5 years and felt I didn’t need to be very involved because I figure the
representatives were like-minded enough to let them take the lead. After this latest election cycle, I
absolutely plan to be more involved with the hope that my involvement in local and state politics will
affect federal politics. I just need an easy resource to know when, where and what. And I will get my
friends to join too.”
New Ideas:
During the public engagement phase of this work, participants shared additional ideas about how to
increase participation in local government processes. Many recommendations focus on improved ways
of communication about meetings and events slated to take place. Other recommendations included
new ways to engage people outside of the traditional public meeting.
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Disseminating Information
Many people shared ideas on how to best get information about opportunities to participate. Utilizing
social media to share information was a common theme in ideas shared in both the public meetings and
the open response option of the survey. The City already uses social media to share some information,
but it is isolated to certain offices or departments. Using various social media platforms to share
information allows for a variety of mediums that the newspaper just isn’t capable of doing—including
hosting videos, the ability to show interest in an event and receive reminders, and providing real time
information. While there was a push for social media, participants also noted that not everyone has
access to the internet, so information should continue to be available in paper versions.
“Reach out in social media to solicit as many people as possible for input on anything and everything
their government is, or should be, or shouldn't be involved in. Show them that their input has an impact.
Respond to them directly, or by implementing efforts that demonstrate their input was incorporated.”
“I appreciate the info put out by the mayor's office with social media, but would appreciate the same
kind of info by other city agencies/committees (especially the city council).”
“partnering w/NCTV to better share/disseminate video content (on mobile platforms especially!) - there's
loads of interesting video clips from open meetings that can be shared.”
“Have information available in print format not everyone has access to online information or has internet
or a smart phone. Make information available on the web that is friendly for smart phones on web
pages without needing an app. Have information available at Lilly and Forbes as I go there for other
things and rarely in city hall and not easy to get to or park or drag a kid to ask a question.“
Miscellaneous Ideas:
Additional Ideas that were shared include the creation of a High School Mentorship program that
teaches students about various government departments and their purposes so that they have the
knowledge necessary to plug in, energizing the ward committees that already exists, planning policy
talks that have a social aspect to them, and having information stations at community events where city
staff share information about current projects and policies being reviewed in town.
Additional interesting comments from the Survey and Meetings:
I'm all for undoing racism trainings for everyone involved in public service in Northampton
Like ombusman and education
I don't know what a resident engagement team is.
I shouted when I saw your Ombudsman idea, because that is basically my ideal job. If nothing
else, I'd be a damn fine member of your Resident Engagement team. I could use the training. It'd
be awesome.
Re: participatory budgeting, we already have ward and at-large councilors. Aren't they the
conduit to share residents' opinions on the budget? It's already participatory, people just don't
do it!
Simply asking for public opinion on budget issues is a recipe for disaster in my opinion
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I'm sure some of the ideas are good (certainly the racism training & the effect-on-marginalized-
populations ones), but I consider that Democracy is pretty energized already in the city
It would be great for the city to take a look at themselves. More than 90% of people who work
for city are white and there is not antiracism training mandated to them For a person of color to
join the city work, it has to be in a way that fits into the white culture setup, if not, we are
consider trouble makers or become isolated Many of the city councilors have the antiracism
definition by heart but they don't "walk the talk", this is white liberals at their best.
why do many of the recommendations above suggest that the residents volunteer for tasks that
should be part of city employee job descriptions
Emails announcing city meetings are great
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Summary of Accomplishments
1. Brief executive summary
We were successful in developing a complete streets plan for Northampton MA (called Walk/Bike
Northampton) with an emphasis on equity and prioritization of projects based on socioeconomic status
of residents and connectivity. The plan is available for download at:
http://www.northamptonma.gov/1647/WalkBike-Plan. We also developed a video documenting the
city's Complete Streets demonstration day and successfully leveraged an additional $100,000 funds for
the project.
These additional funds enabled the City to engage the services of Alta Planning to lead the Walk/Bike
Northampton Plan development process, allowing PVPC and City staff to focus on: 1) engaging people
too often left out of traditional planning processes in the Walk/Bike Northampton Plan development
process; 2) developing capacity among underrepresented emerging leaders to actively participate in City
government, and 3) identifying actions the City can undertake to learn from this experience and modify
current city practices to improve citizen participation in government planning processes. We refer to this
work as "re-energizing democracy".
Achievements:
Assured robust participation of marginalized residents in the City of Northampton's Walk/Bike
Plan, including holding a series of on-site meetings at properties of the Northampton Housing
Authority and Casa Latina-an educational and cultural center representing, celebrating, and
advocating for the Latino community; working with community organizers to flier and go door to
door in housing developments and neighborhoods where marginalized residents live; including a
wiki map option for on-line place based participation, holding a focus group with young
professionals, identified as missing from City meetings and processes, and assisting one African
American resident identified early on in our outreach, to join the City's Ped/Bike committee.
Created a video of the City of Northampton's Complete Streets demonstration day, available
for viewing at:
http://www.pvpc.org/content/video-complete-streets-demonstration-day-northampton-ma
Facilitated two multi-session capacity building initiatives for City residents self identified as
from marginalized populations;
Collaborated with the City of Northampton Human Rights Commission, the Office of Planning
and Sustainability and the Mayor's office to research, propose and refine over time a series of
actions to "re-energize democracy" in Northampton related to walking and bicycling (and
keeping track of other unrelated ideas).
2. Project activities and accomplishments:
1) We achieved the goal set out in our proposal. The city has a new Walk/Bike Plan that: improves
connectivity; was developed with robust participation of marginalized residents, and includes significant
recommendations focused on addressing built environment needs in areas of the city where residents of
lower socioeconomic status live.
2) This project also advanced the City's overall sustainability progress as the City was able to apply for
and receive $400,000 in additional funding available from the MassDOT thanks to having a completed
Walk/Bike (Complete Streets) plan.
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A significant success of this work, outside of the obviously important fact that we achieved our goal and
developed the plan, is the ongoing improvement of relationships between the city government and its
marginalized residents. We defined marginalized residents as people of color, people with low incomes
and/or from immigrant or refugee communities, and young adults, as well as the elderly and disabled.
Residents responded enthusiastically to having meetings at their buildings, in their neighborhoods and
at locations where they felt comfortable (Casa Latina). Marginalized residents reported support for the
provision of childcare at meetings and for interpretation services. The emerging leaders from
marginalized residents who participated in the capacity building sessions felt that it was a very positive
experience. An African American woman who lives at one of the Housing Authority properties was
identified early on in our outreach and engagement efforts and with the support of this initiative joined
the City's Bike/Ped committee. Achieving greater diversity among residents serving on city committees
is a goal of the City's Sustainability work, so this was a significant achievement.
The new Walk/Bike Plan, which emphasizes connectivity and ranking of projects including the socio-
economic status of residents in the city, will improve equity by assuring safe and comfortable walking
and bicycling infrastructure throughout the city. The need for the plan was motivated by the recognition
that the city's pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure has been historically inequitably distributed,
especially during the period of rapid suburbanization in the 1950s and 1960s, and our goal as to
affirmatively address this history of inequity.
3. Lessons learned:
This grant project affirmed the growing awareness among Sustainability Directors and others committed
to advancing sustainability, that to achieve full participation of all community members in community
planning processes, it is necessary to take affirmative actions and also to consider changing 'business as
usual' practices of local government. The financial support provided by the Funder's Network enabled us
to anticipate and offset known barriers to participation by marginalized residents. These known barriers
are lack of child care, not speaking English, not knowing about the meetings, and not having time and
possibly no transportation to meetings. Providing this additional support of participation, we reached a
significant number of marginalized residents who indicated that they would not have participated in the
planning process without the extra support.
Recognizing that many residents, especially marginalized residents, may not be familiar with what on
street bike lanes look like, and may in fact, fear that they will make it harder to drive and/or park, the
Complete Streets demonstration day was a very worthwhile event to literally show residents what an
on-street bike lane could look like, and having the additional funding enabled us to document the day
via video and as a result many more people have the opportunity to 'participate' in the day. This is a
practice that we encourage other Sustainability Directors to replicate.