As of June 30, 2011 the City’s assets exceeded its total liabilities by $331 million, which is up $5.5 million from the previous year. Net assets
for governmental activities increased by $4.27 million, a 2.8% increase.
City of Novi, Michigan
FISCAL YEAR 2009-2010
BUDGET MESSAGE
March 2009
It’s not that looking into the future is bad, so long as one does not restrict the present
according to a future more distant than one can see… Life itself [is] like driving at night:
You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
E. L. Doctorow quoted in “The New Pioneers”, Thomas Petzinger, Jr.
Dear Mayor Landry and City Council Members:
As Novi looks ahead and plans for the future; we will not be diverted from goals even
though fog may lie ahead. To help us look forward, we rely upon community
involvement from volunteers and boards and commissions to create master plans. Staff
and outside experts provide elected leadership with options and strategies to lay out the
roadmap as our City of Novi drives forward. We apply a success formula of APPEAR
(Analyze, Plan, Prepare, Execute, Adjust, and Repeat).
As of June 30, 2011 the City’s assets exceeded its total liabilities by $331 million, which is up $5.5 million from the previous year. Net assets
for governmental activities increased by $4.27 million, a 2.8% increase.
City of Novi, Michigan
FISCAL YEAR 2009-2010
BUDGET MESSAGE
March 2009
It’s not that looking into the future is bad, so long as one does not restrict the present
according to a future more distant than one can see… Life itself [is] like driving at night:
You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
E. L. Doctorow quoted in “The New Pioneers”, Thomas Petzinger, Jr.
Dear Mayor Landry and City Council Members:
As Novi looks ahead and plans for the future; we will not be diverted from goals even
though fog may lie ahead. To help us look forward, we rely upon community
involvement from volunteers and boards and commissions to create master plans. Staff
and outside experts provide elected leadership with options and strategies to lay out the
roadmap as our City of Novi drives forward. We apply a success formula of APPEAR
(Analyze, Plan, Prepare, Execute, Adjust, and Repeat).
Financing the 2030 SDGs with Community Development Bonds sola bickerstethSola Bickersteth
Community Development ( CD ) Bonds are proposed to raise finance directly from local citizens through the capital market and to be invested in major infrastructure projects especially those aligned to achieving the SDGs..
The proposed CID Bonds provides for a mechanism for sharing public sector risk with private sector reward as well as a sustainable model for financing community development.
This article sets out the basic framework for issuing Community Development ( CD) Bonds and provides answers to the various components of a successful implementation in Nigeria
Addressing poverty with community developement bonds sola bickerstethSola Bickersteth
Poverty in our society can be substantially reduced by 1. creating Financial Inclusion Centers ( FIC) in local communities 2. Deploying professionally competent Financially Services Agents to operate the FIC 3. Building a bio-metric database and on boarding of the residents , properties and resources in the community 4. Conducting a community development stakeholder needs assessment 5. Negotiate tax breaks with the Local/state government 6. Issue a Community Development Bond on the local stock exchange 7. Implement a digital repayment system by all on boarded community stakeholders
The Obama Administration recognizes that the interconnected challenges in high-poverty neighborhoods require interconnected solutions. The Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative is a community-based approach to help neighborhoods in distress transform themselves into neighborhoods of opportunity.
Yolanda Kodrzycki, emeritus director of the New England Public Policy Center, summarizes her research on resurgent cities including the importance of cross-sectoral and regional cooperation.
Panel organized for the RECAST conference in Santa Fe, marking the 20th anniversary of the public process that created the Santa Fe Railyard Redevelopment. Panelists included: Joel Mills, Cheryl Morgan, Erin Simmons, and Thea Crum. The panel explored issues facing cities today and multiple democratic methodologies (participatory budgeting, democratic urbanism) for city building.
Financing the 2030 SDGs with Community Development Bonds sola bickerstethSola Bickersteth
Community Development ( CD ) Bonds are proposed to raise finance directly from local citizens through the capital market and to be invested in major infrastructure projects especially those aligned to achieving the SDGs..
The proposed CID Bonds provides for a mechanism for sharing public sector risk with private sector reward as well as a sustainable model for financing community development.
This article sets out the basic framework for issuing Community Development ( CD) Bonds and provides answers to the various components of a successful implementation in Nigeria
Addressing poverty with community developement bonds sola bickerstethSola Bickersteth
Poverty in our society can be substantially reduced by 1. creating Financial Inclusion Centers ( FIC) in local communities 2. Deploying professionally competent Financially Services Agents to operate the FIC 3. Building a bio-metric database and on boarding of the residents , properties and resources in the community 4. Conducting a community development stakeholder needs assessment 5. Negotiate tax breaks with the Local/state government 6. Issue a Community Development Bond on the local stock exchange 7. Implement a digital repayment system by all on boarded community stakeholders
The Obama Administration recognizes that the interconnected challenges in high-poverty neighborhoods require interconnected solutions. The Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative is a community-based approach to help neighborhoods in distress transform themselves into neighborhoods of opportunity.
Yolanda Kodrzycki, emeritus director of the New England Public Policy Center, summarizes her research on resurgent cities including the importance of cross-sectoral and regional cooperation.
Panel organized for the RECAST conference in Santa Fe, marking the 20th anniversary of the public process that created the Santa Fe Railyard Redevelopment. Panelists included: Joel Mills, Cheryl Morgan, Erin Simmons, and Thea Crum. The panel explored issues facing cities today and multiple democratic methodologies (participatory budgeting, democratic urbanism) for city building.
Beyond Civility: From Public Engagement to Problem SolvingEveryday Democracy
The national discussion on civility, borne out of the terrible events in Tucson, demonstrates that many believe the current overheated rhetoric is not working as a means to solve the nation’s problems. Policy debates are increasingly fraught with name calling, electioneering, posturing and worse.
In recognition of this, the National League of Cities (NLC) has created an action guide, Beyond Civility: From Public Engagement to Problem Solving, to assist local elected officials in creating a framework for civility and democratic governance that encourages governing a community in a participatory, deliberative, inclusive and collaborative way.
Presentation to the Regional/Urban Design Committee Symposium, "Mind the Gap: The Future of Urban Design Education," at the American Institute of Architects, Jan 2019.
Volunteer collaboration: are we ready to harness the power of the people?, Br...COOPERACION 2.0 2009
Volunteer collaboration: are we ready to harness the power of the people?, por Bruno Ayres para el II Encuentro Internacional TIC para la Cooperación al Desarrollo.
As a retired local councillor in the UK, it's interesting to reflect on the changing landscape of local politics. Over the years, we have witnessed significant transformations in how local governments function and engage with their communities.
This paper is produced on the basis of the on-going work of the Analyzing Development Issues Centre (ADIC) in collaboration with DC Research team working in Dak Dam commune in Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia, since 2013. It is aims to illustrate a different model of development that takes into account the active involvement of the communities for long term social, economic and environmental development. The paper begins with examining the mismatch of development approaches, followed by the concept of going with the flow of community life (GFCL) in participatory action research (PAR) then the emergence of community-corporate partnership (CCP) concept; its relation to social enterprise, and stock taking of CCP in its current practice in the communities.
Different approaches to development interventions in Cambodia have been tested to examine if they offer greater chance of ownership, benefits, and sustainability to the people or communities. Often, the claim of the intended beneficiaries to the approach comes nil when these factors are brought in. In one instance, community people were urged to advocate for their rights and access to land and forest resources when these were encroached on by powerful individuals or companies. Community people’s motivation comes to despair when the intended achievements end up beyond their reach. On the other hand, there are approaches such as the community forestry program that seeks to improve livelihoods in line with environmental conservation; however, the outcome is not realized because of the dependency on external support and the lack of subsidy to those who sacrifice for forest protection. This paper argues that there is an alternative to build a strong individual or household economic base before they effectively start engaging in protecting their resources. This lends itself to the concept of community-corporate partnership (CCP), which taps into available resources such as land from community people while capital and technical inputs come from outside for collective production that is based on mutually agreed principle of shared benefits and losses. Cases of coffee, pepper production and a few other cash crops are being experimented over the past year with indigenous people in upland Mondulkiri Province. Over the period, there have been manifestations of shared understanding, trust, control of processes and challenges, which indicate a promising path to long term benefits. This has long term potential for strengthening community solidarity for defending their rights to land and natural resources they presently depend upon for their living.
Writing Sample-Title: Pioneering Urban Transformation: The Collective Power o...Rahsaan L. Browne
This article delves into the dynamic collaboration between New York City's public sector and its diverse communities, highlighting the crucial role of city and government officials in urban planning and community engagement. It explores the contributions of various NYC agencies, including the School Construction Authority (SCA), in driving innovation and transformation. By fostering inclusivity and leveraging partnerships with grassroots organizations, the article showcases how NYC sets a standard for sustainable development and collective progress.
Local Governments Engaging With Citizens From Afi Bid Ideas Spring 2010
1. I
, I
I
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ENGAGING CITIZENS AND
KEEPING AN EYE ON THE FUTURE
Clay Pearson, City Manager, City of Novi has i?een a long-standing resource for finding new
Throughout history, citizen engagement has and Improved ways for citizens to engage. But
taken shape in many different forms, from the who is going to do this work? John Nalbandian
New England town hall meetings to input at the (University of Kansas) has instructed for decades
ubiquitous Planning Commission public hearing, that, for public officials and professional
from revolutionary pamphleteering to Facebookl managers, leading the engagement of our citizens
Twitter, from formal service on some board or in the community is as important as management
commission to volunteering on an improvement of our public resources. Dr. Nalbandian, after
project. Simply put, citizens of a community are years of observations, research, and teaching,
"enga.g.ed" when they inform, direct or help make concludes that such engagement is what leads
a deCISion that affects the community in some to greater legitimacy and an enhanced ability to
way. be a part of long-lasting improvements. We in
local government can design the systems and
One of my favorite thinkers on the topic is Ed make the invitations to bring citizens into genuine
Everett, a California-area city management-guru- engagement.
turned-consultant. Ed posits that "the concept
of community building is at the very heart of the While these concepts are in some ways timeless,
City's values and vision:' He talks passionately the future for engagement is arguably more
about the need to view residents as citizens, challenging these days, for all sorts of reasons.
meaning that they are ultimately responsible First there is the unending cynicism of some
for their government, and not customers (mere of those whose job it is to get the most out of
purchasers of goods). Personally, I am keen on citizen input and involvement. I believe that such
that distinction and add that we can usually assumptions of general apathy (or worse) and
drop the 'taxpayer'label- taxpayers are found in incompetence are a convenient cop-out by those
Myanmar and North Korea, but do not have the who choose not to engage. We public managers
same responsibility and influence as citizens in the aren't going to get more air time from earsplitting
United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, Sweden, TV talking heads. We can only take the hedgehog
appro~ch (Good to G~eat, Jim Collins) and keep
or South Korea. Our own Novi Mayor David
Landry here in Novi talks about the differences plugging away, working towards desired and
between a mere city (a geographic construct) agreed-upon outcomes; building credibility all
versus a community (which describes both the along the way. Local government professionals
~re suc~essful when they are actively involved
people in it and how they engage with each other
In defining the issues, identifying solutions, and
for each other).
developing priorities for action and resources.
So how to move from city to community? It is not
automatic, even in representative democracies. The more pressing challenge is time. As the
In fact, with the right to engage in representative nc~is~ ~nd clutte~ and demands grow, sorting out
democracy comes the responsibility to make priorities to service becomes a more consuming
the most of the opportunity. The Alliance for ~ask, a~d efforts to get others engaged get
Innovation (and its forerunner Innovation Group) increasingly crowded out. But it's important
: The Ideas Quarterly Report. Winter 2010 10
I
2. to remember that it's okay for engagement to
be simple, clear, and fast. We should not build
expectations of huge ongoing time commitments
that are going to scare off all but the most
dedicated (or those with something to gain
personally by the engagement). We must balance
between making things look easy, almost on
autopilot (well-run cities), and demanding that
citizens take part in their own local governments.
The City of Novi is constantly keeping an eye on
the future, seeking to engage citizens through a
variety of venues. We learn from many Alliance for
Innovation communities. Novi knows that when
citizens are engaged and part of the decision-
making process, everyone benefits. Our own
proactive approach to citizen engagement takes
many forms, but can be as simple as fan pages
on Facebook for the City, Parks, and Economic
Development. We layer our efforts to provide
something for everybody, sharing information
in op-ed pieces placed in local newspapers and
websites, seeking input on the City's budget
process, saying thank you to our volunteers with
spending some money on an annual dinner. We
stay transparent, sharing all supporting material
for City Council agenda items on the City's
website. We try to be interactive with hosting
quarterly Police and Fire Town hall Meetings
throughout the community in neighborhood
facilities.
Engaging citizens and sharing information about
all aspects of government operations has been
and will be a top priority for Novi officials. In Novi,
it's a team effort and the community belongs to
our citizens.
3. alliance FOR nnovaTion
T•• ",fo.mlng Lo, .. 1 Government
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