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Question: I need your help desperately. I am the secretary of my neighborhood association and my leadership has abandoned me to carry it by myself. I am the last remaining board member of the largest neighborhood association in my city. The association has imploded as a result of a councilman who has manipulated board members which led to the founder of the association want to dissolve the association. City by laws do not permit politicians to use neighborhood associations for political purposes, the problem is the councilman does not care about the city charter and is only interested in advancing himself. Tomorrow I will be having an exploratory community meeting where I will create a forum like environment that will allow the people of the community to provide input about their needs and the shape of the association. My other problem is nobody wants to volunteer to be a part of the board. This too I will be addressing at the meeting tomorrow. I need your guidance on how to address all the matters shared, my goal tomorrow is to engage the community in meaningful dialogue that recognizes the importance of their participation while sending a clear message that we will remain independent of political influence. I have told the councilman that we will not be having any speakers, he informed me then he will be there absolutely be there like it or not. I look forward to your advice and guidance.
Answer:

Hi Carlos,

My first impression is that you are really up against a wall with what sounds like little support, intense political opposition, and little time to prepare.  I hope you do have some allies among your neighbors.  This may be a situation where you loose this battle, but not necessarily the war.  I will explain that later.

I want to refer you to several chapters in our Learn A Skill section.  First take a look at chapter 35 (Responding to Conterattacks), to acquaint yourself with common attack strategies and possible ways to respond.  

Chapters 6 through 8 address Promoting Interest and Participation in Initiatives.  They may be helpful in tonight's meeting, or later.

If time permits, contact the city official responsible for coordinating with neighborhood associations and ask that person to attend or send a representative.  The city has a stake in supporting neighborhood associations.

I suggest that you try to focus the meeting on understanding the purpose and potential benefits of having a neighborhood association (Passing out a succinct handout may be a good idea if you have time to write or copy one explaining the purpose of a neighborhood association), and that you then facilitate the discussion, inviting all (including the poitician) to have their say.  Encourage all to limit the time they speak, so all may be heard. Depending upon how the politician speaks and behaves, you may either gain or lose support.  But it will give you an opportunity to identify and explain the attack on neighborhood rights and values.

At the end of the meeting, you might want to ask for a show of hands to indicate how many of those attending want to have a neighborhood association and how many do not.  Ask those favoring an association to leave their contact information with you before they depart (e.g. a signup sheet).

This neighborhood association may or may not survive, but if enough neighbors want an association one can be built or rebuilt in the future.

Finally, please do not take what is happening personally.  This will be a win or loss for the neighborhood, but not the end of neighborhood advocacy,

I hope this is helpful and I wish you well in this very difficult situation.  Your courage is impressive.

 

Question Date: Wed, 07/16/2014