Citizen Participation Process FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about the Citizen Participation Process
What are the goals of the Citizen Participation Process?
The goal is to create a formal relationship between City Government and citizens. We do not yet know what form this relationship will ultimately take, but we know what our goals are: to ensure that City Government must engage with citizens, that citizens have a voice in the decision making process before decisions are made, and that our city comes back the way we want it to.
Who is running this process?
The process is citizen-driven. The Neighborhoods Partnership Network and the Committee for a Better New Orleans/ Metropolitan Area Committee are helping to facilitate this process, have opened an office at 3500 Canal Street, and hired staff to help, but neither organization is directing the process and the development of Citizen Participation. Those decisions will be made by the individuals who get involved, and anyone can get involved.
What is the next step?
These forums are acting as a way for us to get in touch with people who want to become involved in this process. The next step is to hold a two-day retreat here in New Orleans to discuss different models and ideas for Citizen Participation. The retreat will lead to the creation of a citizen-driven Steering Committee, who will ultimately be in charge of directing the process.
How is this funded now?
Grants from national and local foundations are currently funding this process. NPN and CBNO/MAC are not privately funding this process, and do not have a private agenda for this process.
How will this be funded in the future?
That is a question that the citizen’s committee will have to decide; this will probably be the hardest question to decide. It has been expressed that it would be desirable to have it written into the budget as a project that gets recurrent funding without having to go through the budget processing. This would be a safeguard from having this process corrupted or completely wiped out by any person inside the city government who may be unhappy with it. It would hopefully keep citizen participation separate from politics. This is only a suggestion, however.
My neighborhood/other community group already has a great relationship with our City Council representative. Why should I want to jeopardize that by supporting this?
It is wonderful that you have a close relationship with your representative, and this process is not trying to endanger that relationship. This process could benefit your relationship with City Government in many ways. Whereas you may have a great relationship with your current representative, there is no guarantee that you will have a similar relationship with representative that may replace them in another election cycle. Moreover, CPP would hopefully free people up to vote based on issues, and not based on relationships or political strategizing. Additionally, CPP would bring everyone to a level playing ground, improving everyone’s relationships with their representatives.
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