As many of you know, I spent a large portion of my childhood growing up in Brandon, SD. I graduated from Brandon Valley High School in 2005, and still frequent athletic events to support my brother and Brandon athletes in general. The city of Brandon recently released information that the city reaped an unforeseen amount of sales tax revenue in 2008, creating an influx of nearly one half million dollars into the city budget. This unexpected sum has been delegated to the city’s various “wish-list” items.

Upon analyzing what the city plans to spend nearly $500,000 on to “improve the city,” I’m disappointed in the city’s budget plans. While some additions to the city are necessary (including street lights on Aspen Blvd., stretching from McHardy Road to Country Club Avenue, and improvements to the eroding roadway leading into Pioneer Centennial Park), among the superfluous plans are a parking lot for a park to be constructed near a park to be located in the Bluffs development and a permanent speed indicator sign to be placed on West Holly Blvd.

The Bluffs area, which has been developed much like the homes on Tomar Road or near Tut Hill in Sioux Falls, is a development comprised of inexorable wealth, complete with wrap-around porches, gazebos, windows stretching the height of homes and three-car garages. Because of such superficiality, it doesn’t surprise me that the families living in the Bluffs area lament the fact that their location requires them to drive a whole 4 miles away to the the nearest park, the Big Sioux Recreation Area, despite the fact that the Big Sioux is a wonderful park that combines bike and hiking trails with camping, wilderness and playground opportunities.  However, if the city of Brandon insists on adding a park to the Bluffs area, that’s not my main concern. The $12,000 parking lot to be added near the park, however, displays a severe lack of foresight.

I feel that the $12,000 that the city of Brandon is spending on adding a parking lot to the Bluffs park area is superfluous and could be better directed by investing directly in the interests of children and families who aren’t living in luxury but instead are strapped for money. The sum of $12,000 could be better directed, in my view, to improving the daycare facilities in the city of Brandon, facilities that families of all income levels take advantage of. While adding a park to the Bluffs area will certainly entertain the children of Brandon, not merely just children living in the Bluffs area, the construction of a parking lot in order to eliminate side street parking seems ridiculous. What’s wrong with parking on the street if it saves $12,000?

Furthermore, the city council has also allocated $2,500 to permanently place a speed indicator box on West Holly Blvd. While speed indicator boxes do not have the capability to pull over and enforce speed limit laws, it’s my belief that the Brandon Police Department hopes that the presence of the speed indicator forces drivers to slow down. Holly Blvd, which is the main thoroughfare between three schools and a large church, seems like a logical location for this box. However, in a time of pinched pocketbooks and an unstable economy, the city of Brandon should simply use the police taskforces that it employs and pays to enforce the speeding laws in school zones instead of simply spending the money to *hopefully* prevent speeding merely because the funds are available.

I feel that the city of Brandon should echo the practices of middle-class Americans during these unstable economic times by showing self-restraint and working to make smart investments and/or save any surplus income, rather than simply spend money merely because it’s available.

I’d love to hear what any of you think. To read the Argus Leader’s full report, click here.

-Sara

Humanity Even for Non-Humans

I attended a lecture today organized by graduate students at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. The speaker offering the lecture was Harry Boyte, who is a long-time community organizer and Co-Director for the Center for Democracy and Citizenship, where I work.

The lecture focused on how community organizing has evolved over the years, and how the concept of community organizing has finally reached the mainstream media with the Barack Obama campaign. The intent of this post is to summarize what Harry Boyte discussed, and also to offer my own insight into his words and the concept of community organizing.

Harry began by mentioning that Obama began his career as a community organizer in the mid 1980s in Chicago, as a lot of America is now aware. A career in community organizing, according to Harry, is focused upon giving citizens the tools to learn to define problems and work to solve them. Harry also mentioned a variety of early community organizers, starting with Jane Addams and culminating with Barack Obama.

Harry also emphasized the importance of “Everyone is embedded in a particular history”.  I’ve heard this same concept rephrased in another way: “Everyone has a story”. It’s fascinating to think about how the history that I’ve grown up in, the context that my life fits into, shapes who I am and what my passions are. Harry suggested that this is the foundation of building relationships with others, and that this is a key reason why Barack Obama’s campaign strategies were so successful: Obama (and the thousands of volunteers and organizers working for him) took the time to listen to the stories of others.

Harry also drew a contrast between mobilizing and organizing. While the notion of mobilization was developed by progressives in order to address threats like taxation and toxic waste, it lacks substance capable of change. In mobilization, a target enemy is defined; everyone knows who’s in and who’s out. Because of this mentality, everyone’s either good or bad. And, depending upon who you’re dealing with, you have a script that you stick to: “Come to the good side. This is what you should be mad about.” Mobilization takes the approach that we as Americans need rescuing, and that the only one who can provide adequate rescue is the government. The practice of mobilization has dominated politics (look at the campaigns of John McCain and Hillary Clinton).

A strong contrast to this is the notion of community organizing. Organizing focuses upon values, not issues. Organizing sees issues as a means to an end, not the end. Organizing, as Harry puts it, focuses upon “building community power to empower values”. Instead of focusing on developing an enemy and convincing Americans that they need rescuing, organizing strives to promote the values of respect (that is, respect for all political leanings/voters); empowerment (through the aim of skill-building); and inclusiveness (no “us vs. them” mentality).

Harry also discussed how to continue the momentum that Obama’s election victory has created. To get community organizing models in the strategies of government, it’ll take organizing. Everything comes back to organizing. Recognizing that work is necessary to make organizing successful is also a key notion to understand. The key difference between mobilizing and organizing is empowerment; while mobilizing strives to tell us we can’t rescue ourselves, organizing convinces us we can (hence the “Yes We Can” mantra).

An interesting statistic: according to NPR, in the state of Florida, the Obama campaign created 19,000 neighborhood teams led by 500 paid organizers. Other efforts, much like this one, was also replicated in battleground states. To adequately train all of these volunteers, Marshall Ganz, an experienced organizer who developed models for the Obama campaign, created Camp Obama, a weekend retreat where volunteers found their “story” and learned to use it to garner attention and support for Obama in their neighborhoods.

Question: What if we had Camp Obama’s accessible to young people to teach the skills of community organizing? How drastically different would our nation be?

It was a fascinating lecture. If you’re interested in more information about Harry Boyte, please read his book, The Citizen Solution.

Thanks for letting me praise community organizing; I’m so fascinated by it. It’s change at its finest.

I’m a Democrat, if you didn’t know that. I get a lot of flack for being a Democrat, especially coming from a state like South Dakota, which feels like conservative headquarters at times. I wore my Obama t-shirt proudly around Sioux Falls, and felt supported by the younger generation, but questioned and even dismissed by the older generations in South Dakota.

I support the concepts of universal health care, of energy independence, of adjusted tax brackets according to income.
I support raising the minimum wage, a woman’s right to choose, equity in pay for men and women in the workforce.

Yesterday, our nation proved that we are a grassroots movement of citizens desiring compelling and lasting change.

The main difference in a race of partisan politics? While we agree on the problems, we all have different solutions.

I really feel that our next president will do great things for our nation by making strides in achieving energy independence, creating equal access to health care, and bringing about a responsible end to the conflict in the Middle East.

Now is the time when it’s important to come together as a nation and let go of partisan thought. Now is the time to revitalize the very ideals that created America in the first place: democracy, citizenship, and promise. Now is the time to change how the world sees the United States of America. Now is the time to be hopeful for the future. Now is the time to feel energized. Now is the time to go to work for our country.

Now is the time to feel in your heart that it’s important to support recreating the American ideals. Now is the time to stop depending upon government to do everything for us, but take shovel, notepad and sign in hand and do the work ourselves for the country that we are all proud of.

The ideals of this country are strong. While the economy may falter and citizens may breed apathy, Barack Obama has proven that Americans are hungry for change, and that we’re willing to work for it.

I encourage everyone to check out the Web site of our new president, and read his stance on the issues with a focused lens: not the lens of a Republican, an Independent, or a Democrat, but the lens of an American.

Now is the time, America. Let’s work for change. Let’s roll up our sleeves, get our hands muddy, and create change, starting in our own neighborhoods.

When voting in general, I always think about my own context. What am I? I am a college student about to graduate and enter the workforce. What does this mean? I have a chunk of student loan debt. I am entering “the real world” in a few months with the (hopefully) adequate tools to succeed. I will be responsible for obtaining my own health insurance for the first time, or for enrolling in health insurance provided by my future employer. I am moving out of my parents’ house to live on my own. I am responsible for all of my own bills. I have to obtain car insurance on my own; I can’t be on my parents’ plan any longer. What else am I? I am a proponent of ethanol and renewable energy, of literacy, of equal access to education, of equal access to adequate health care, and of protecting and providing for the veterans who have served our country, to name a few issues.

When I vote, I also think about my friends and family, and how their world will be impacted by each candidate or each initiative. I think about friends that I have that deserve the right to marry whomever they choose to spend their life with, regardless of what is deemed an “acceptable” marriage in today’s society. I think about those that are in the military, and how their lives and careers will be impacted if these wars in the Middle East continue irresponsibly, or if we embark on warlike combat elsewhere. I think about those that are struggling to keep their homes, and how a new leader or new bailout plans will impact their very capability to remain in their homes. I think about all of us who struggle with high food prices, and all of us who are relieved to finally feel some reprieve at the gas pump. I think about all of us in the “middle class”, whatever that means, who pay our taxes faithfully while the elite of society evade, evade, evade, or believe that they shouldn’t have to pay more taxes because they make more money. I think about the people that I have interviewed and read about this fall who are struggling to buy Christmas presents for their children because the money just isn’t there, even though the government’s poverty line says they should be able to provide for their families.

It doesn’t matter what your context is; it matters that you vote. Vote within your context. Vote because you’re passionate about something. Vote because you have friends or family members or coworkers that will have life changes if you don’t. Vote to encourage, or prevent, changes in our governmental framework. Vote because you care about what happens in America. Vote because this election is the most important vote in decades upon decades of time. Vote because you’re educated enough to make your own decisions, and if you’re not educated on the issues, get educated. Vote because you feel called to. Vote because you’re inspired. Vote because you want to see change.

Vote because you can.