Stories of Philanthropic Leadership in Advancing Regional and ...

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EQUITABLE PUBLIC INVESTMENT• A dedicated 20 percent of new housing units thatprovide affordable housing for residents withincomes that are 50 percent or less of the medianand an additional 17 percent of housing forhouseholds with incomes that are under 80percent of the median.According to SAGE’s director, Alice Woldt, “Seattle’scircumstances presented a big opportunity.” Theproject’s 370-acre footprint included 125-acres ofpublic right-of-way. Additionally, in January 2004,Seattle’s median income for a single-personhousehold was $54,500; for a family of four, medianincome was $77,900. Furthermore, 23,610 jobs wereexpected to be created over a 16 to 20 year period.“We reviewed LAANE’s experience,” describesWoldt. “Right now our Coalition is partnering morewith the city than with the developer. [Thedeveloper] needs decisions and support from the citycouncil to make the“A significant factor infunding a CBA project is thedemocratic practicedemanded of participants.Not only does it require thata developer’s plans areagreeable to the largercommunity, but CBAsdemand that specificinterests and communitiescollaborate with others inorder to create a multifacetedcoalition.”— Chad Jonesproject a success. TheCoalition has askedfor the city to bringthe developer to thetable in hopes ofgaining communitysupport.”The comprehensiveset of issues thatSAGE advocates hasstalled on threespecific points. Thefirst is affordablehousing. To date, thedeveloper has yet toview affordablehousing standards asa project responsibility. Additionally, a Card-CheckNeutrality agreement is still outstanding (this simplerand quicker route to union organizing allows workerssign card agreements as opposed to a National LaborRelations Board vote). Finally, the ResponsibleContractor agreement is also in question (a practicewhereby businesses agree to utilize goods and servicesfrom a “union-friendly list” of businesses that alreadypay prevailing wages, benefits, and training for theirworkers).Due to the stalled negotiations, as of the end of2004, the Coalition is reviewing its original issuesand also assessing existing levels of support fromboth city departments and council members, lookingfor leverage with each.Funder InterestThe democratic practices that characterize CBAswere a deciding factor that encouraged the fundersmentioned here to lend financial support to theefforts described in this profile. The New WorldFoundation’s Jones remarks that, “A significant factorin funding a CBA project is the democratic practicedemanded of participants. Not only does it requirethat a developer’s plans are agreeable to the largercommunity, but CBAs demand that specific interestsand communities collaborate with others in order tocreate a multi-faceted coalition.” Beyond democracyin action, for Jones, CBAs demand that specificinterests and communities collaborate with other inorder to create a multi-faceted coalition. In NewWorld’s view, that collaborative process is central tobuilding community-based power.LAANE celebrates a victory. (Source: LAANE).Victor Quintana, senior program officer with theUnitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock,observes that, “At their core, the Living Wage andCommunity Benefits Agreement movements share acommon premise: namely that public dollars going tofor-profit companies and corporations should contributeto addressing public concerns, such as developingfamily-supporting jobs and affordable housing. It wasthis shared strategy and its proven success inempowering low-income communities and workers thatled the Veatch Program to identify CBAs as effectivevehicles for lifting low-income people out of poverty andbuilding the power of their institutions.”The Ford Foundation’s decision to support CBAstraverses community empowerment to elevating theimportance of leveraging public dollars to attractincreased private investment. Since the initial grant21Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities
in Los Angeles, Ford’s Anthony now sees a maturingprocess in the number of foundations wanting tolearn about this “clearing house” of ideas.Regional/Neighborhood Equity ImpactsFor LAANE’s Janis-Aparicio, the impacts are directlyrelated to early decisions: “You have to decide whatthe carrot is, and what the stick is. For the [LosAngeles] airport project, the carrot is the eliminationof groups that would have mired the project inlitigation and the prospect of getting approval fromreticent council members. The stick is the potentialfor the project to fall apart if it does not develop awin-win approach.”Civic and political leaders, including Congresswoman Maxine Waters andRev. Jesse Jackson, join in a LAANE demonstration. (Source: LAANE).According to Greg LeRoy, executive director of GoodJobs First, a national resource center promotingcorporate and government accountability, “It isinevitable for the appeal of CBAs to grow a lot—particularly for the ‘back to city’ movement.” LeRoyfurther states that, “Eight of the ten largest cities areexperiencing growth, but creating growth also meanscreating friction, gentrification, and displacement; or,it can be a mechanism for people to organize anddetermine the best way to harness benefits ofthose who have hung in there with the dark yearsof the cities. CBAs are a great way to keep peoplepositively engaged.”“It is a losing strategy to just be againstdevelopment,” advises LeRoy. “The political lesson isthat if you only have a negative interest, you will bepainted as anti-economic development.”ResultsFor the Veatch Program, poverty, equity, andstrengthened democracy are key goals in its grantdecisions. “CBAs result in living wage jobs going tolow-income workers, affordable housing beingconstructed, training programs that lead to qualityjobs, and a host of other beneficial outcomes,” saysQuintana. “But equally as important,” he adds, “theyreaffirm that economic development—particularlywhen fueled or supported by public dollars orbenefits—must be coupled with democraticaccountability.”“The significance of this work is evident in its successacross the country,” observes New World’s Jones.“Coalitions are forming to come together and figureout how to harness the resources made available bytheir tax dollars to spur projects that meet their needs.”Lessons LearnedFor the Veatch Program, according to Quintana, “Akey lesson of the living wage movement was thatstrategic and broad-based coalitions of communitygroups, labor unions, and congregations couldeffectively address issues of equity and democraticdecisionmaking and win public policies that liftedlow-income people and communities out of poverty.”“Another lesson,” continues Quintana, “was thatpublic subsidies, tax benefits, contracts, and grantscould be used to address issues of poverty and socialequity.” Despite notable and impressive victories,Quintana believes the CBA movement is still “veryyoung.” He clarifiesthat, “The challengeis to grow thismovement, so thatmore developmentprojects across thecountry result incommunity benefits.In addition, there arepublic policies thatneed to be enacted atthe state level across the country to ensure thateconomic development that is driven or supportedby public dollars leads to community benefits.”“It is a losing strategy to justbe against development. Thepolitical lesson is that if youonly have a negative interest,you will be painted as antieconomicdevelopment.”— Greg LeRoyFor New World, local efforts are envisioned to leadto larger geographic scopes. “With local victories, thework expands towards state and regional impacts,”notes Jones. From Ford’s perspective, the lessons areEQUITABLE PUBLIC INVESTMENTPart III: Section 1: Promoting Equitable Public Investment 22
Page 1 and 2: Stories of Philanthropic Leadership
Page 3 and 4: Signs of Promise:Stories of Philant
Page 5 and 6: Funders’ Network for Smart Growth
Page 7 and 8: (II. B.)(II. C.)Turning Neighborhoo
Page 9 and 10: PART I:IntroductionThe Purpose of t
Page 11 and 12: social justice issues as they relat
Page 13 and 14: PART II:Perspectives on Advancing R
Page 15 and 16: peer work, we can reestablish a sig
Page 17 and 18: Annie E. Casey FoundationBaltimore,
Page 19 and 20: neighborhoods into healthy ones—g
Page 21 and 22: Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation
Page 23 and 24: Section 1:Promoting Equitable Publi
Page 25 and 26: I. A. BUILDING POWER AND GIVINGVOIC
Page 27: policy advocates. In 2002, Milwauke
Page 31 and 32: I. B. PROMOTING COALITIONSTO ADVANC
Page 33 and 34: Yet the interpersonal dynamics of c
Page 35 and 36: guidelines. “Many of the member o
Page 37 and 38: Funder InterestThe EPA supported th
Page 39 and 40: I. D. DEMONSTRATING THESTRUGGLE FOR
Page 41 and 42: Richmond, Calif.The second regional
Page 43 and 44: through policy reform at the local
Page 45 and 46: I. E. BUILDING COALITIONTHROUGH KNO
Page 47 and 48: organizing project, the Connecticut
Page 49 and 50: and businesses are quantified in a
Page 51 and 52: I. G. REVITALIZING WHILEASSURING DI
Page 53 and 54: In the late 1990s, the city of Albu
Page 55 and 56: I. H. A TRAVEZ DE LA FRONTERA:LAND
Page 57 and 58: The International Community Foundat
Page 59 and 60: I. I. MOBILIZING ACTION FORREGIONAL
Page 61 and 62: To meet all of these objectives, th
Page 63 and 64: efforts. And with each public plann
Page 65 and 66: pattern of disproportionate transpo
Page 67 and 68: Clinica de la Raza identify this cr
Page 69 and 70: Contact PeopleCarl AnthonyActing Di
Page 71 and 72: Section 2:Making All Neighborhoods
Page 73 and 74: II. A. REACHING BEYONDHOUSING TO IM
Page 75 and 76: A local resident receives the keys
Page 77 and 78: East Baltimore community and the Jo
Page 79 and 80:
example, adjacent to the EBDI area,
Page 81 and 82:
II. C. YIELDING REGIONALBENEFITS TH
Page 83 and 84:
is using transit-oriented developme
Page 85 and 86:
financing and innovative, forward-t
Page 87 and 88:
The Row House Community Development
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II. E. COUNTERING THE PERFECTSTORM:
Page 91 and 92:
funded community programs, includin
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housing developments and commercial
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owned enterprises, totaling $8.5 mi
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LOAN GUARANTEESSection 3:Connecting
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III. A. MAKING HOUSING ANOPPORTUNIT
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A new report from the National Hous
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The Straphangers Campaign was found
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Funder InterestThe Straphangers Cam
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or increase poverty. Whether direct
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The Regional Plan Association then
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multi-stakeholder effort composed o
Page 113 and 114:
director with LISC. No one set of s
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12 western Louisville neighborhoods
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III. E. UNITING THREE STATESFOR ONE
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increased their personal wealth by
Page 121 and 122:
summary evaluation of MSDI found th
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method alone was strong enough to m
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consistent body of work. The Counci
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3) Issues Need to be ConnectedThe f
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PART V:Glossary of TermsThe terms d
Page 131 and 132:
Regional and neighborhood equity. A
Page 133 and 134:
Tijuana River Reserve, California:h
Page 135 and 136:
Sargent Shriver National Center on
Page 137:
1500 San Remo Avenue • Suite 249
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