Partnership for Regional Livability

Project Update

May 28,1999

This is the third weekly update to partners concerning the Partnership for Regional Livability.

Note: Project information, including project updates, email addresses, background papers, etc. are available on our web site. See: www.pfrl.org User name is "guest"; Password is"partnership".

If you want to send anything out on this listserve, just forward it to Julia, Sheila or Steve and we will get it out promptly.
FUNDING NEWS: The Surdna Foundation is a new funder of the Partnership, joining the MacArthur Foundation, Turner Foundation, and James Irvine Foundation, among others.
BACKGROUND ON THE REGIONAL TEAMS: Each region has been engaged in a somewhat different process to arrive at its regional projects.
San Francisco. The Bay Area team is led by the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development, a multi-issue, multi-sector network organized two years ago to carry on the work of the President's Council on Sustainable Development in that region, and housed at the Bay Area Council. The Alliance members prioritized four initiatives at a retreat held for this purpose in April and narrowed the selection to the two listed below, Capital for Communities and the Jobs-Housing Footprint.
Atlanta. A network consisting of the Metropolitan Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Project, the Metropolitan Atlanta Community Foundation, the Georgia Conservancy, and the Ted Turner Foundation leads the Atlanta team. The team members conducted interviews with over one hundred organizations over the past several months and developed priority selections including the three listed: the Chattahootchee River Greenway, Resettling Atlanta, and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. They have also held open the possibility of a fourth initiative to promote the regionís rail commuter system expansion including the development of a specialized downtown Atlanta multi-modal terminal.
Chicago. The Chicago team is co-convened by Judith Stockdale, Executive Director of the Gaylord and Susan Donnelly Foundation, and Wim Wiewel, Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Sciences at the University of Illinois, Chicago. The team convened luncheons with approximately sixty organizations working in the region, and used these occasions both to identify priority opportunities and to ëtake the pulseí of regional leadersí willingness to partner. As a result of these conversations and additional consultations, the team has prioritized three initiatives, Expanding the Regional Clean Air Dialogue, the Innovative Watershed Planning and Finance Initiative, and the Regional Workforce and Housing Partnership.
Denver. The Denver team is co-convened by two principals of the Center for Regional and Neighborhood Action, John Parr and Katherine Archuleta. The team has conducted one-on-one interviews with greater Denverís civic, government and business leadership. As a result, they have prioritized two initiatives, a Regional Workforce Initiative and an Open Space Conservation Initiative, each backed by a consortium of foundations and practitioners.
NEXT FEW STEPS:
· At this point, each region's project team has identified a small number (two to four) of specific opportunities (See Matrix Below).
· During the next few weeks, these opportunities will be refined and fleshed out through dialog with the federal team and others.
· By June 14, the federal representatives will give direction to the regions which already have submitted projects on which projects appear to be the best match with the federal partners' interests and capacities, and what questions do the federal partners still have about whether the projects meet the Partnership criteria. ( Note: Most important, the feds need a demonstration of local political support before they can join the regions as formal partners. This can happen over the summer.)
· It is anticipated that each region will generate a second draft plan and an invitation to the federal government to join the partnership in pursuing these opportunities by June 21.
· A meeting of the Partnership for Regional Livability in San Francisco on June 27th, 28th and 29th will provide an opportunity to share project information, strategies, and lessons, and have an initial discussion about the Partnership's future.
UPDATE ON PROJECT SELECTION:
Proposer Title Goal Possible Federal Interest/ Innvovations Bay Area Team Capital for Communities Capital Access & Related Services to Alleviate Poverty in 46 Targeted Communities
· Market Assessment/Private Sector
· Community Reinvestment & Community Development Finance
· Workforce Development
· Household Asset Development
· Innovative Finance of Public Infrastructure

Bay Area Team Jobs-Housing Footprint Achieve Regional Commitments to Solve Spatial Mismatch_
· Use of Advanced Planning and Information Tools
· Advance Base Reuse, Brownfields,Water Quality Initiatives
· Emergency Preparedness
· Regionalizing Affordable Housing
· Expanded Community Presence in Planning Bodies

Atlanta Team Making a Place for the GRTA/GDC: A Strategy for Nurturing Reigonal Decision Making in Metropolitan Atlanta _Use New State Authority and Legal Settlements to Achieve Smart Growth and Community Reinvestment
· TEA21 Implementation
· Coordination with multi-agency federal interests
· Use of advanced planning and information tools
· Innovative finance
· TEA21-likeater policy w

Proposer Title Goal PossibleFederal Interest/ Innvovations
Atlanta Team Chattahootchee Riverway Create 160 mile river greenway conservation area_Innovative finance of land acquisition
· Advanced planning tools for natural area and watershed protection
· Transportation enhancements
· Management plan for public use
· Water quality technology and monitoring
Atlanta Team ReSettling Atlanta: The Mixed Income Housing Initative _Create region-wide mixed income housing and community reinvestment commitments · Use of advanced planning tools to increase quality of information New housing finance tools (e.g., location efficient mortgages) · Alternative economic valuation of brownfields redevelopment · Community redevelopment as a transportation/air quality control measure Chicago Team Regional Workforce/ Housing Create region-wide coordinated affordable housing and workforce development capacity · Expanded use of housing vouchers · Coordinate between federal and local welfare-work taskforces · Creation of support systems for daycare and transportation · Market assessment of new career ladders to higher wage opportunities (e.g., construction, manufacturing, env. tech., intermodal freight) Proposer Title Goal PossibleFederal Interest/ Innvovations Chicago Team Regional Dialogue on Clean Air & Redevelopment Achieve broad local support for regional air quality attainment, and expand current Il.. Dialogue to multi-state · Crediting smart growth and reinvestment for air quality · New analytic tools to better identify value of community redevelopment · Advanced planning and analysis to identify health issues · Innovative rulemaking to support emerging clean air market development · New incentives to support improvement by small sources Chicago Team Regional Watershed Management Develop a network of watershed-based management initiatives, expand into multi-state area · Flood prevention and mitigation · Natural resource, wetland and habitat conservation · Innovative finance of water quality and drinking water infrastructure · Health and community livability · Water issues and economic redevelopment Denver Team Natural Resources Legacy Develop systematic approach to protecting a ring of open spaces, habitats, natural areas · Endangered species conservation, habitat protection plans · Conservation banking · Restoration at federal facilities · Flood prevention and water quality attainment · Achieve natural resources goals of regional long-range transportation plan Proposer Title Goal PossibleFederal Interest/ Innvovations Denver Team Great Workers for a Great Region Develop region-wide workforce development initiative. Identify workforce and job development opportunities · Tie in broad range of federal agencies with current interests (e.g., base closure and environmental restoration) · Promote asset development and community development finance · Build economic literacy · Expand transportation services

April 2, 1999

The First Project Update consists of the "action minutes" from the Partnership for Regional Livability meeting in Washington, March 29-30, 1999.

Note: Project information, including project updates, are available on our web site. See: www.pfrl.org User name is <guest>; Password is <partnership>.

I. KEY ISSUES FOR THE PARTNERSHIP

(1) Develop and implement nonpartisan strategy for the project There was broad agreement that we need to continually be defining and implementing strategies which position this partnership as bi-partisan, or, better, nonpartisan

(2) Low-income and minority participation Care should be taken to ensure the involvement of low-income and minority residents and organizations who might otherwise be excluded from participation as a result of the speed of the planning process. This would include taking advantage of CRA reauthorization

(3) Federal Commitment Clarify and strengthen the commitment of the federal government to this strategy remains a high priority.

(4) Orientation of Regionally-Based Federal Staff The Steering Committee will take responsibility for determining how best to orient and support the regionally-based federal staff.

(5) Role of State Involvement The engagement and support of state governments are essential to the success of each region’s projects and requires partnership-wide attention.

(6) Rural communities The distinctive sustainability issues and opportunities of rural communities should be understood, including active direct linkages in the four pilot regions.

(7) Business Business interests in the regional issues should be clarified as part of a strategic commitment to expand business representation in the partnership.

(8) Expansion to other Regions As the initial four regional pilots take shape, the Steering Committee needs to be tracking other regions that might be appropriate for a next round of regional partnerships

II. CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF REGIONAL/FEDERAL RELATIONSHIP

During the three month planning period, we will, in each of the four pilot regions, form local partnerships between the region -- civic, business and community leaders -- and the federal government -- represented primarily by regional federal agency staff, with backup from Washington. The federal government participants in Washington will take an active role in identifying and orienting these regional agency participants. Meanwhile, the federal government participants in Washington will be exploring with the other members of the Partnership Steering Committee the nature and structure of the regional/federal partnership at the national level that might emerge at the end of June.

III. FOLLOWUP ITEMS

Regions:
(1) Determine what the inclusiveness goals are for each of the three temporal benchmarks in the Work Plan
(2) Convene a leadership group in each region (refer to key issues raised above)
(3) Quickly determine a short list of likely issues so that the Keith et al can identify the appropriate regional and national staff to become engaged early in the process

Steering Committee:
(1) Resolve final staffing questions

Foundations:
(1) Assemble the balance of the budget
(2) Try to expand the funding base through open space and CRA connections
(3) Nick Bollman will share relevant polling information with other partners

Federal Agencies:
(1) Figure out constraints from FACA (Federal meetings act)
(2) Convene national team
(3) Devise orientation program for federal agency participants to help them "think like a region"
(4) Keith Laughlin to facilitate meeting of Atlanta team with DOT
(5) Discuss White House involvement with Keith Laughlin
(6) Identify regional feds as soon as core issues are identified
(7) Scott Bernstein, Doug Henton, Keith Laughlin and Dave Gerrison to update work plan and integrate federal piece into it

Staff: Scott Bernstein/Doug Henton/Ralph Hamilton:
(1) Scott Bernstein to complete Best Practices Manual, including inventory of federal programs that could be utilized by the pilots and learnings from previous federal partnerships for what works, especially
· Oregon Option,
· Northwest Timber,
· Children and Families,
· After School,
· American Heritage Rivers Initiative
(2) Scott Bernstein, Doug Henton, Keith Laughlin and Dave Gerrison to update work plan and integrate federal piece into it
(3) Scott to convene a group to learn about how to involve the private sector, especially the financial sector, this project and smart growth in general
(4) Scott to explore with Mark Shaffer how his GIS & Decision Support Systems can be used in four pilots and other technology opportunities to enhance civic participation
(5) Scott and Doug potentially available to visit four sites to help expand the range of options after program focus has been determined

Coordinator: Julia Parzen
(1) Think through and implement strategy for learning across regions
(2) Work with the Steering Committee on strategic issues for thePartnership

Circuit Riders: Sheila Leahy, Steve Perkins & Third Person
(1) Set date for and organize media meeting in Atlanta.
(2) Circuit Riders to coordinate and share information so as to learn from the four sites
(3) Sheila to create one page summary of the project

Secretariat: Steve Perkins
(1) Complete Action Minutes of Washington Meeting
(2) Complete Internet site and disseminate access codes
(3) Produce bi-weekly Project Update until Coordinator comes on board
(4) Work with Arlie Schardt on overall talking points for the project’s first phase and plan for dealing with press inquiries, including work out media division of labor between PRL, Smart Growth Network; Smart Growth Coalition and Sprawl Watch; key off of Julia’s one page project summary
(5) Get and distribute Manuel Pastor analysis from Growing Together
(6) Coordinate with Alison Daly at Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse

Project Update
June 11, 1999

This is the fourth "weekly" update to partners concerning the Partnership for Regional Livability.
Note: Project information, including project updates, email addresses, background papers, etc. are available on our web site. See: www.pfrl.org User name is "guest"; Password is"partnership".
If you want to send anything out on this listserve, just forward it to Julia, Sheila or Steve and we will get it out promptly.
FUNDING NEWS: The Turner Foundation will host the September meeting of the Partnership in Atlanta. It has provide funding to the Partnership for the September meeting and to hire Environmental Media Services to help formulate and communicate the PRL message.
PROGRESS:
Federal Progress -- The federal partners have had a variety of individual and group meetings and phone calls to talk about the regional proposals, including in depth meetings with people at EPA, HUD, OMB, HHS, Interior, Treasury, and DOT. The federal partners are working on identifying if there are strong lead federal agencies for specific proposals as well as representatives from other agencies who could be part of a federal team for each region. The federal partners will give feedback to the Regional Leadership Teams next week.
Regional Progress --
Bay Area The Bay Area project has substantially revised its proposals to incorporate more perspectives and add more detail on activities and federal role. The Information Tools for the Bay Area Footprint and the Community Capital Investment Initiative will be further revised and reviewed. Both projects will be submitted before the June 28-29 meeting, but the group will continue to revised and update.
Denver The Denver project will have its write up on Great Workers for a Great Region on June 16th and its write up on Natural Resources Legacy on June 18th. Atlanta The Atlanta proposals for GRTA, Chattahootchee Riverway, and ReSettling Atlanta are being rewritten for final draft. The hope is to submit second drafts and get feedback on them before producing final drafts. Chicago A second draft is being prepared for the Regional Dialogue for Clean Air. Work continues on the Water and Housing/Workforce proposals.
THE TOOLKIT: There are four new items of interest on the PRL website.
(1) and (2)Scott's Chicago and Denver Memos on Federal Opportunities: An assumption of PRL is that the most viable approach to regional-federal partnership is one that makes the most of existing federal resources and authority, in the context of a process that is inherently local in character. The three kinds of resources available from the federal government are (1) information and planning; (2) investment and innovative finance; and (3) regulatory innovations. Scott wrote memos for Denver on Workforce and Human Services and Chicago on its Regional Dialogue for Clean Air which present a sample set of opportunities to help illustrate the range of potential federal assistance tools.
For Chicago see: http://pfrl.org/chicago.html
For Denver see: http://pfrl.org/denver.html
(3) and (4) The Second Drafts of the Bay Area Proposals:
For Bay Area see: http://pfrl.org/bayarea.html
NEXT STEPS:
Immediately below you will find a first draft of The PRL Critical Path for Phase II, i.e. Now Through September and Beyond. One of the objectives for the June 27-29 meeting in San Francisco is to revise this Critical Path so that it includes the key things we need to "get to yes." If you have comments before the meeting, call or e-mail Julia Parzen. (773-288-3596, daniel@peds.bsd.uchicago.edu)

The PRL Critical Path for Phase II. The Planning Phase July Through September and Beyond

BY JUNE 11:
· Atlanta and Chicago: Scott Bernstein and Keith Laughlin and/or Dave Garrison have one-on-ones with Atlanta and Chicago people to get clarification about the proposals, ask follow up questions, and get names of existing federal regional participants.
· Atlanta and Chicago: Scott Bernstein and Keith Laughlin and/or Dave Garrison have a meeting by phone with the Atlanta and Chicago local leadership teams to brainstorm creative opportunities to work with the feds, help rule out stuff which is not ready to go, and identify new people the region might work with from the federal government on the ideas which seem most promising to the federal representatives.
· The Bay Area: The Bay Area submits revised proposals.
· Keith Laughlin, Dave Garrison and Steve Redburn contact their informal interagency team to get advice on additional federal people to call in.
· Scott Bernstein, Keith Laughlin and others shop the regional proposals within the federal government through both group and one on one meetings with their federal network to build and gauge interest in the projects, assess the opportunities and strategies for moving forward, and find out who is best to take the lead with each region.
BY JUNE 14:
· By June 14, the federal representatives give feedback to the regions which already have submitted projects on which projects appear to be the best match with the fed's interests and capacities, and what questions the feds still have about whether the projects meet the Partnership criteria. (Note on the criteria: Most important, the feds need a demonstration of local political support before they can join the regions as formal partners (Phase I inclusion). They also need to see that there is a strong process in place to build broad regional support for the projects (Phase II inclusion). This can happen over the summer.)
BY JUNE 21:
Federal
· If possible, (i.e. depending upon each individual case), Keith and Dave and others identify an appropriate response team, including national and regional folk and one lead contact person for each region. Keith makes the contact to engage this person with the region aiming toward at least one initial meeting or conversation with the Regional Leadership Team before the June meeting of the Partnership in San Francisco.
· Keith Laughlin and Dave Garrison and others contact the regions' current federal regional contacts and bring them up to speed on the Partnership.
Regional
· The Regional Leadership Teams revise their proposals.
· The Regional Leadership Teams submit their revised proposals to Rebecca and Julia by both e-mail and fax, along with a cover letter asking for the federal partners to join them in planning to pursue these opportunities. (See the template already provided)
Coordinating Committee/Staff
· Steve Perkins coordinates the mailing of a packet to the June San Francisco meeting participants including the regional proposals and agenda.
JUNE 27-29 MEETING:
· As a group, brainstorm about how to make the regional projects even better, how to address political and communication challenges, and how to improve the Partnership process. Agree on action steps for producing agreements to begin planning.
JULY:
Federal
· Keith and other federal representatives put in place an informal federal coordinating team and mechanism for facilitating and supporting regional-federal linkages.
· Keith Laughlin and the other federal leaders develop and implement a capacity building plan for the federal teams working with each region, for each agency, and for on-going coordination of PRL within the federal government to keep the emerging projects going.
· Once there is a demonstration of local political support, Keith helps produce a written letter of interest in participating in planning for the federal contact person for each region, including a description of the federal representative's role and availability, what technical, convening, analytic and other resources they can bring to the table, their authority to negotiate (i.e. what they think they are doing there), and how decisions will be made within their agency about moving forward.
· Keith helps to ensure that feds involved in each region begin to take a team approach to working with the regions, including brainstorming together on the range of federal incentives and authorities which could facilitate each project.
Regional
· The regions continue to refine their projects.
· The regions define what will be their negotiation process to achieve a multi-party agreement for their project with the feds at the table.
· The regions broaden participation in and support for the projects.
· The regions develop and implement a capacity building plan, i.e. what they need to learn to achieve their project goals. For example, this might include learning about various negotiating processes.
Coordinating Committee/Staff
· The Coordinating Committee implements a plan for assisting the capacity building of the feds and the regions. In the regional example, it might include a toolkit for negotiating processes. For the Partnership overall, it might entail bringing on 'enterprise agents' who can identify and bring in potential partners and resources for the projects.
· As each region so desires, the Coordinating Committee brings in Arlie Schardt (EMS) to help with communications and message, and Doug Wheeler to help figure out political positioning re: bi-partisanship.
· A Team from the Coordinating Committee begins work on a proposal for the future of the Partnership for Regional Livability.
· Rebecca Riley, Keith Laughlin, Scott Bernstein, and the other foundation people work on outreach to broaden the funding support for the Partnership.
AUGUST:
· The regions, with all of the necessary partners at the table, including their federal team, begin the planning for implementing their projects using their selected negotiation process. The multi-stakeholder teams agree on a time line for planning which culminates in a formal agreement specifying roles, responsibilities and expectations.
SEPTEMBER:
· By September 5, Pete Plastrik submits his paper interpreting the Partnership, Its Value Added, and Plausible Next Steps.
· By September 20, the Team from the Coordinating Committee delivers it paper proposing what should happen beyond September, i.e. Phase III of the Partnership for Regional Livability.
· Late September: The Second Meeting of the Partnership to present progress and lessons and discuss potential next steps -- getting to formal agreements, new regions, new strategies -- with everyone who has an interest in the Partnership for Regional Livability. This meeting will be as inclusive as possible. A paper will be presented with one or more scenarios for the expansion of the Partnership. OCTOBER THROUGH ?: · Completion of a formal agreement specifying roles, responsibilities and expectations among all of the local, state, and federal partners for each project. The agreements developed should specify: What are the roles of the partners? What are the expectations of those roles? What would constitute success? How will performance be measured? By what process will the partners hold each other accountable? How will the partners communicate with each other? What latitude does the partnership have to speak for the individual partners? What are the mechanisms by which disputes will be resolved? What kinds of resources will the partner be bringing to the partnership? · Implementation of projects.

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Last updated March 24, 1999.