Housing Initiatives Passed

I am happy to announce that the Affordable Housing Task Force of Waukesha County was able to get a 61 unit affordable housing multi unit project through the plan commission in the city of Oconomowoc, WI, as well as allowing a temporary housing unit retain its zoning permit in the city of Waukesha, WI.

Pulling the Cart Before the Horse?

So, it is looking like our effort to get a housing trust fund passed in Waukesha County might stall due to internal strategy disputes. The problem: Some of us want to focus on pushing through a housing trust fund, but the problem with this strategy is that no one can agree on the policy details and others just want to push for affordable housing and once we have public traction then focus on the policy details. Personally, I favor the latter because to me it doesn't make sense to focus on the details of a housing trust fund policy if we don't even know that we have enough public support for it. Moreover, I think we may never get our grassroots effort underway if we keep constantly bickering over the specifics of a policy (which they have for about a year and a half now) that the politicians/public will eventually alter once we do cultivate the public support. Lesson for activists: Do not pull the cart (policy proposals) before the horse (needed public support) if you want to be successful.

The Poor: An Invisible Social Class

So, I had a meeting today with our fellow affordable housing task force members to review our strategy after collecting some of our petitions (we received about 500 signatures so far). I was surprised to hear one of our members dismiss the petition results once I told them that we got signatures from people at food pantries. He said that county supervisors won't recognize their signatures because "food pantry people" don't pay taxes so we should try to get signatures from the "representative community". Besides being appalled by his comments, it was even more amazing at the muted reaction from everyone else (considering that these are folks who advocate for affordable housing). The poor has truly become an invisible class in America. With the rich in power and politicians tripping over each other to cater to the middle class, who will speak for the poor?

Spies Among Us?

Today at our affordable housing task force meeting there was one well dressed guy who seemed to take on the role of an obstructionist. He seemed to try to steer us off of our agenda and he steamrolled over other people's opinions. Later, it was revealed that he worked for the county and that there is strong suspicion amongst our leaders that the county sent him to keep an eye on our meetings. This serves as a reminder to activists everywhere that moles can be sent to infiltrate our ranks with the goal of destroying what we seek to change so be careful!!!!

The A-Student Mentality and How It Kills

So we had a meeting with the county executive and not so surprisingly he shot down our proposal for a housing trust fund. However, the surprising part was how quick our task force members went into "A-student" mode:

Task Force Member: "Well, what can we do to improve our proposal?"
County Executive: "You need to find better funding sources."
TFM: "OK, we will find more funding sources and then schedule a follow up meeting with you."

Although this conversation might seem OK, when you consider that the task force has been working on this issue for over two years and had several meetings with both the county executive as well as other county supervisors, this reaction is inexcusable. Unfortunately, too many people were brought up in a school system that says, "if you work hard enough on your homework then you will get the results you want from your teacher" which is not necessarily true (and at times can be debilitating) in the real world. In this case, we could bring a perfect proposal to him and he still would reject it because of his politics. So, we have to seek to change something outside of the classic "teacher-student" dynamic in order to change his behavior. But our task force seems a little cool to the idea of mounting an aggressive and serious grassroots campaign to place external pressure on our elected officials.

Proper Partnership Etiquette

I'm kinda peeved today. We had a meeting with a key county supervisor for the housing trust fund scheduled and our non-profit partner (who shall remain nameless) decided to unilaterally cancel the meeting literally a couple hours before the meeting via email!!!

I think it is time to review proper partnership etiquette:

1. DO NOT unilaterally make critical decisions to a grassroots campaign without FIRST discussing it with your other stakeholders.

2. DO NOT notify the other attendees of a cancellation only hours before the meeting takes place.

3. DO NOT inform other attendees of a cancellation via EMAIL....always give a courtesy call.

Housing Trust Funds

Affordable housing activists might find the concept of a housing trust fund interesting. A county sponsored housing trust fund provides county monies for the following:

1. Construction of new affordable housing

2. Rehabilitation of existing housing

3. Land acquisition for new construction

4. Accessibility modifications (for people with disabilities)

5. Housing related supportive services (i.e. housing counseling, case management, etc.)

The county would have an oversight committee to administer the fund and grant monies based on a competitive application process. Possible funding sources include the following:

1. A small increase in the real estate transfer tax

2. A county sales tax of .1 percent

3. Two cents per $1,000 of property taxes

4. Employer tax deductible contributions

When most people think of affordable housing they instantly conjure up images of huge projects. Nowadays, this isn't the case. These places are all affordable housing complexes:

The Silvernail, Waukesha, WI

Deer Creek Village, New Berlin, WI

Breezewood Village, Hartland, WI

New Online Petition Tool

Change.org continues to create internet tools to advance grassroots work. You can now create an online petition for netizens to sign and it will automatically be sent to the email inbox of your targeted elected official. The petition is at http://www.change.org/petition.

A couple of things you should know before jumping into it:

* Currently there is no way to limit who can sign the petition. This isn't good for local efforts dealing with local officials who may not be interested in the opinion of someone from Italy on a local matter.

* This tool is probably most effective for issues related to multinational businesses or global organizational leaders such as the UN or World Bank.

* It enables for quick and nimble mass organization on issues impacting nations across a broad spectrum.

Organizing in a Conservative County II

So we decided to pursue a low key grassroots strategy that entails getting petitions out to churches, calling county supervisors, and meeting with supervisors one on one. Waukesha County is pretty cool to the idea of "in your face" activism so we are adjusting our strategy and tactics to fit within this framework. I drove around Waukesha County today dropping off petitions and found that mostly Catholic churches and some food pantries were receptive while most politely denied to pass the petition. The greatest challenges we will face will be finding a suitable funding source for the housing trust to provide monies for affordable housing (the good people of Waukesha do not enjoy tax increases) and convincing elected officials that affordable housing is a problem.

An interesting aspect of organizing around affordable housing in Waukesha County are the people who are behind the effort as well as the people who are most affected by it. The face of people struggling with housing is not single mothers, minorities, and working class people, but rather teachers, daycare workers, pastors, middle management people, etc. Also, the people driving the change are mostly non profit folks (many of whom do not even live in the county such as myself). One of our goals is to increase the participation of the actual county residents who are being affected by housing, but due to Waukesha's subdued political climate, most people do not want to "ruffle any feathers." So, it will be interesting to see how this campaign unfolds. We also have a website for our campaign at http://www.affordablehousingtaskforce.org.

Email Quilen with your questions, comments, or random outbursts about your organizing or activism work at cuestocommunityorganizing@gmail.com

Organizing in a Conservative County

I recently got a new job as a community organizer with Community Action Coalition is Madison, WI (I've taken a bit of an organizing hiatus). It is a stimulus funded position and I am responsible for organizing a grassroots campaign in Waukesha County to establish a housing trust fund to provide county monies for affordable housing initiatives such as starter homes, apartments, senior housing etc. This effort is unique because Waukesha is the wealthiest county in Wisconsin. The median home value is $250,000 which clearly prices out many service level professionals such as teachers, daycare workers, church pastors, etc. Because of this high bar for housing, 40 percent of the workforce live outside of the county primarily in Milwaukee and Jefferson counties. This drains potential monies that could be spent on local businesses in Waukesha but are spent in neighboring counties since housing is more affordable there. I will track my progress in my new job in this blog.

Email Quilen with your questions, comments, or random outbursts about your organizing or activism work at cuestocommunityorganizing@gmail.com.

When Will Wealth Meet Organizing?

My friends know that my biggest gripe about organizing is the stigma against business. I feel that organizing will not fulfill its total potential until organizers take business and entrepreneurism more seriously. It is a well known fact that power can be obtained two ways: by having the money, guns, and lawyers or by having the people. We've been focusing on the people for far too long and I think it is high time that we at least get some money and lawyers.

Membership Retention

I met with a bunch of student leaders and one of the reoccurring themes is the problem of membership retention. I believe the key to membership retention is membership selection. The ability to select willing and committed members will naturally increase your retention rate.

The Three Models of Youth Organizing

1) Independent Groups
These are groups that are organized exclusively by youth for youth with little to no adult supervision. They tend to be organic and grassroots in nature.

2) Multi-Generational Groups
These are youth groups that are apart of larger multi-generational groups where youth may be mixed in with young adults, middle aged adults, or the elderly.

3) Youth Groups Apart of Larger Institutions
These are groups such as the YMCA or Girl Scouts of America where adults are largely responsible for the operations of the group and act as service providers for the youth recipients.

National Service Bill to Become Law

Today President Obama will sign into law the National Service Bill. This bill will triple the size of the AmeriCorps over the next 8 years and provide college money credits for people who volunteer. This bill also includes up to $1,000 school credits that people over 55 can earn and transfer to a child, grandchild, or even someone who he/she mentors.

You can find out more about this bill at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30322060/.

Meet a Commuity Organization: the Center for Third World Organizing

Today we will take a look at the Center for Third World Organizing. You can find them in the cyber world at http://www.ctwo.org/.

The Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO) is "a racial-justice organization dedicated to building a social-justice movement led by people of color. CTWO is a 25-year-old training and resource center that promotes and sustains direct-action organizing in communities of color in the United States." They have programs including the training of new and experienced organizers, creating model multi-racial communities, and aggressively building networks activists of color to achieve racial justice.

Some of their formal programs include Community Action Trainings (CAT), Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program (MAAP), California Lead Organizers Institute (CLOI), and they provide custom consultation services.

You can contact CTWO by calling (510) 533-7583.

National People's Action and the Fight Against Redlining

Today we remember a great moment in organizing history: the National People's Action's victory against redlining.

Before the NPA came into existence, it was influenced by Saul Alinsky in Chicago through the Northwest Community Organization. Tom Gaudette and Shel Trapp worked on the organizing efforts that addressed issues such as panic peddling by real estate companies, and FHA abuse of new homeowners, who were mostly minorities. This grew into a larger campaign against redlining of low income areas by banks and insurance companies.

In 1972, this fledging organizing effort decided to attempt the incredible: cajole Congress into passing federal anti-redlining legislation. So before the 1972 presidential election, they called a national meeting on the issue and formed what is now the National People's Action. They held their first convention and invited the presidential candidates to come (only the democrats showed up). This served as a critical action to gain more support within organizing circles.

As momentum grew, the NPA and other groups planned a strategy to pass CRA (the Community Re-investment Act) and FHA Payback (reimburse homeowners who had been sold substandard homes). This effort led to the passing of the CRA in 1977 (At the end of 2006, $1.2 trillion had been invested in low income communities throughout the country) and in the process FHA passed as well.

This remarkable moment in community organizing history illustrates the impact a few determined and well organized groups can do to bring substantial change at the national level.

Community Organizing's Moment?

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for community organizing. Organizing has entered the national spotlight in a big way led by the new President himself. The question is whether we will capitalize on this rare opportunity.

Unfortunately for organizing, we are fragmented and rarely collaborate on larger issues. Organizing groups generally work in small bubbles around the country although their may be dozens of other organizing groups addressing the same issues in the same city. This can be due to turf battles over funding from foundations, media attention, low profiles, etc.

We will need to overcome these petty turf battles and stubborn isolationist thinking if we are going to fully seize the moment. Opportunities to galvanize a generation around organizing do not come around often. Therefore, we have to act now!

A Good Inside Outside Game

I'm a huge basketball fan, and in basketball one of the most important facets of a winning team is a strong inside outside game. I also believe the same is true in winning community organizing campaigns.

A strong inside outside game in basketball translates to having a good pivot player who is a threat to score near the basket while having good sharpshooters who can put it in the hole on the perimeter. In organizing, a strong inside game is having key legislators and important officials lobby hard in favor of your issues while allowing the strong outside game of protests, civil disobedience, rallies, etc. galvanize the public and place pressure on officials.

It is in mastering this key aspect of the game that an organizing effort can truly wreak havoc on the opposition.

Meet a Commuity Organization: the DART Center

Today we continue Meet a Community Organization with a look at the DART Center. You can find out more about the DART Center at http://www.thedartcenter.org/.

Based in Miami, Florida, the Direct Action and Research Training Center is "committed to building powerful, diverse, congregation-based, and democratically run organizations capable of winning justice on issues facing the community. Since 1982, DART has built and strengthened over twenty local affiliated organizations in six states and trained over 10,000 community leaders and 150 professional community organizers."

This proud organization has won powerful victories in the areas of reading instruction and fair school suspension policies in public schools, new pre-school programming for children from at-risk families, clean-up of drugs and crime, multi-million dollar investments in an affordable housing, reinvestment by banks in previously redlined communities, expansion of effective community-oriented policing, massive multi-million dollar expansions of public transportation, accessible health care reform in several major metropolitan cities, investment in job training for those coming off public assistance, fair immigration policies, and dozens of other issues important to low-income communities.

You can contact the DART Center at 305-576-8020 or DARTCENTER@aol.com

Don't Forget the Church!

As community organizing continues to develop and become a greater fixture in American public life, many groups are drifting from the church as a base. I think that community organizing ignores religious communities at its peril.

The church has been the cornerstone of organizing efforts dating back to the Catholics support of labor unions and the Christian and Jewish communities support of the Civil Rights movement. The church provides several key elements essential to the well being of good organizing: a readily available constituency for turn out purposes, strong foundation of many communities, and a moral imperative to do good works above self interest.

When organizing groups leave this critical group on the sidelines, they expose themselves to potentially fickle coalitions of groups seeking to only address their narrow interests. This can make long organizing campaigns especially difficult since some of the toughest issues requires enduring long suffering. Although non religious groups can do this, religious organizations are uniquely positioned to carry out the role of being the soul of a campaign.

Therefore, I encourage community organizations to re-engage the church as a primary partner in the fight to improve communities through organizing.