From the Editor
Community Organizations Do Heavy Lifting
By Mark Fausz
Sep 10, 2008 - 9:06:45 AM

The kids were back out in my neighborhood on Sunday, burning off their pent-up energy after Tropical Storm Hanna kept them indoors for a couple of days. I watched them as they explored one fantasy after another in the neighbor’s backyard. The older ones kept the peace for the most part, but from time to time when game rules weren’t going the way of the younger ones, the five-year-olds would band together to make their case for change.

“It’s not fair. You don’t get to be the princess all the time,” the two young ones pouted. “We need to take turns or we quit.”

A lesson in democracy was learned. If someone is behaving selfishly, the others can just take their ball and go home. But it’s not as easy in the adult world. When it comes to issues that impact us, it can be more difficult to get others to band together to fight for what’s right. It seems to be a time issue with most folks, but others are constrained by policies at work, a feeling that things will never change, or just plain apathy.

Community groups in Chesterfield have been organizing for various reasons for decades. Many times these groups coalesce because of a zoning issue, to raise money for a cause, or speak out on school or business issues, and then fade away when a compromise has been reached or solution negotiated.

Some community coalitions have remained and taken on new issues, improving the quality of life of their homes for everyone.

Today, as every level of government is dealing with short budgets, improvements on the local level are dwindling. Community organizations have stepped forward to fill the gaps left by lack of funding.

Robert Fisher, in his book Let the People Decide: Neighborhood Organizing in America, explains the beginning of community organizing in American history.

From 1760 to 1776, “in response to new taxes by Great Britain to pay for the Seven Years’ War, community organizers in the New World colonies aroused their fellow citizens to boycott, coining the phrase, ‘No taxation without representation,’ as the colonists felt that they had no say in the creation of these taxes. As more taxes were levied onto the American colonists, these community organizers in order to better organize” community activism in their hometowns.

Fisher says, “Community organizing is usually focused on more than just resolving specific issues. Organizing seeks to make the participants that they are empowering all community members, generally seeking to build groups that are democratic in governance, open, and accessible to community members, and concerned with the general health of the community rather than a specific interest group.”

In Chesterfield, community organizations such as the Jefferson Davis Association have been bringing citizens together for years and accomplishing feats that would have been impossible for local government to handle alone. Winchester Greens and trailer park resident assistance are examples.  

The Chesterfield Center for the Arts Foundation is a grassroots organization that has raised money to start the process of building an arts and cultural gathering place and convinced county government and voters to support their idea.

The Bensley Civic Association, Friends of the Library, and PTSA groups in all of our schools have bridged the gap between paid administrators and the public, accomplishing much more than local government could have done without their help.

Community organizers quietly work to encourage critical thinking about the status quo, facilitate organization, and the support the solving of collective problems.

The Chester Community Association has taken on multiple tasks, from attempting to bring neighbors together through their annual ChesterFest event, to bringing about a new Chester Plan, negotiating zoning cases while focusing on maintaining a sense of place in Chester through welcome signs, their Orchid Award, Farmer’s Market, and regular meetings.

That’s why I was appalled this week to hear multiple, prominent speakers during the GOP convention mention community organizing in a disparaging way. “He was a community organizer,” said Rudy Guliani, smirking and rolling his eyes while the crowd hissed and booed.

You would think with the philosophy of the Republicans favoring limited government, they would welcome, endorse, and encourage local community involvement that helps lighten the load of government. Community, church, civic, and school organizations are the lifeblood of society. People must be involved in their communities and not be criticized for doing so.

Comments made at last week’s convention have forced me to come to the defense of community organizers who have been a fundamental ingredient of this country since its founding. For the little benefit achieved by the jab made by those prominent GOP members, community organizations have suffered a setback. All I can say is, shame on them.

mfausz@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421
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