Yes, The Federal Empowerment Zone Program and Its Advocates are Still Fighting.

The federal empowerment zone program and its advocates are alive and well in bringing to the forefront the need for legislation on the reintroduced Empowerment Zone and Renewal Community Enhancement Act of 2007. As the former director of the Cleveland Empowerment Zone, and current member of this coalition, movement, organization, political advocacy on the ground and in the halls of Congress are aggressively lobbying for its expansion and support under the Obama administration.

Below is an except from a letter to the EZ/EC coalition, that describes the public and political education campaign that is being undertaken on behalf of Empowerment Zone program around the country.

Just a reminder that Congress convenes Monday and that contacts with your Senators or Representatives while they are in state/district can be highly effective. We need their support for the reintroduced Empowerment Zone and Renewal Community Enhancement Act of 2007 [Senate: S 1627 and House: HR 2578]--likely title at reintroduction: The Empowerment Zone, Renewal Community, and Enterprise Community Enhancement Act of 2009.

Ask your Senators to make contacts on behalf of the EZRCEC Coalition: 1] Contact Senator Blanche Lincoln [AR] or Senator Olympia Snowe [ME] and to sign on as an original cosponsor of the reintroduced EZRCEC Enhancement Act and to indicate their support for inclusion of the bill in the recovery bill; 2] Contact Senator Herb Kohl, Chair of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee and indicate their support for inclusion of the rural enterprise communities and empowerment zones in the omnibus appropriations bill to be considered early in the 111th Congress [Unlike the empowerment zones and renewal communities, the 20 rural ECs were created through an appropriations act and including them in the omnibus bill is a must happen in order to extend the enterprise communities through 2009 and, thus, to keep them eligible for the full extension in the Enhancement ACT; i.e., through 2015; and 3] contact Senator Daniel Inouoye and Senator Thad Cochran, Chair and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Senate Appropriations Committee in support of the above and appropriations for the urban EZs and RCs.

Ask your Representatives to make contacts on behalf of the EZRCEC Coaliltion: 1] Contact Representative Artur Davis [AL-7] or Representative Rodney Alexander [LA-5] and sign on as an original cosponsor of the reintroduced EZRCEC Enhancement Act and indicate their support for inclusion of the bill in the recovery bill; 2] Contact Representative Rosa DeLauro [CT], Chair of the House Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee and indicate their support for inclusion of the rural enterprise communities and empowerment zones in the omnibus appropriations bill to be considered early in the 111th Congress [Unlike the empowerment zones and renewal communities, the 20 rural ECs were created through an appropriations act and including them in the omnibus bill is a must happen in order to extend the enterprise communities through 2009 and, thus, to keep them eligible for the full extension in the Enhancement ACT; i.e., through 2015; and 3] contact Representative David Obey [WI] and Representative Jerry Lewis [CA], Chair and Ranking Member, respectively, of the House Appropriations Committee in support of the above and appropriations for the urban EZs and RCs.

Also, please make your plans to participate with the Coalition on the HILL the week of January 12. You need to make your appointments as quickly as possible. If you cannot be in DC, make the appointment and Coalition members will meet with the respective offices on your behalf. Let me know as soon as possible whether you will be in DC, when you will be there, and appointments you have made. Also let me know if others will be there on your behalf. I need your [and/or their] email address and telephone # while in DC.

I will be in DC the full week and others will also be there and be available to assist where needed or wanted. It is particularly important that you arrange Coalition briefings for members from your state of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees. The members want to hear it from their home base, as directly as possible. But, even if your EZRCEC is not in the Representative's district but the Representative is from your state and on the Ways and Means Committee, make the contact, set up a briefing appointment.

While our focus remains on members of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees, every Senator and Representative is important to the Coalition. The capital in the capitol is relationship. The wheels do not turn without that lubricant. Do not assume that your freshman member is not able to influence a decision, Do not assume that your Republican Representative cannot influence a House decision. While party and senority are important in DC, the members of Congress are more capable of reaching beyond party and ideology than we give them credit for. Some issues are decided on their own merits. If you look at our primary Senate and House sponsors, I think you will agree that the Coalition's issues are among those of merit. So, let's get talking.

Med-Mart Miscommunications

I will not comment on the following quote from Mayor Frank Jackson in today's Plain Dealer concerning the postponement of the Cleveland Medical Mart. You comment and decide.

A one-month delay isn't a lot of time for a project that has been in the works for two years, but the postponement irked Jackson because he learned of it by reading a story in Thursday's Plain Dealer. The original deadline for deciding on a medical mart site was Jan. 15.

"If someone would have called me and given me the rationale as to why it needed to happen and if in fact it made sense," the mayor said, "I would have done what I have done so far, which is work with them in order to come up with the best solution for the city and the region."

Community-Owned Media

Community-Owned Media: What Does It Mean?

Jessica Mayberry
12:36 PM | bio | Comments: 0

Many people today who work in social change are convinced that the typical 'top down' approach to development, where bureaucrats and international agencies design large-scale social programs and then impose them on millions of poor people, isn't working. Instead, they favor the idea of 'community-led development', in which communities themselves design the social programs, and interventions only arise from the stated needs of the communities. The goals of all these programs is the idea of eventual 'community ownership' of programs themselves and of the social change process. It means that communities won't only participate, but they will be able to drive social change in their area entirely on their own without outside intervention (except perhaps financial support.) This is seen as the most sustainable way to address poverty for millions of people.

For Video Volunteers, this is also the goal of the community video program--that the Community Video Units (CVUs) we set up will be 'owned' by the local communities, the villagers and slumdwellers in whose area the CVU is running. But what exactly does it mean for us? Here's one way to put it: when a CVU is entirely owned and loved by that community, it would mean that if anyone ever attempted to shut it down or the money dried up, local people would be banging on the CVU door saying, 'we will not let this close. This is our media, we need it, and we will do whatever it takes to keep it going.'

As Rehana, a Producer at our Community Video Unit Samvad put it recently, "I got in an auto a while back and the auto driver said, 'hey, I recognize you. You're the Reporter for the films being made for our area. Great job.'" "Right now," she said, "the communities know and recognize us. They know we are from here and we represent them. In time, we want them to need us, to know that this is THEIR media, that's what we are working towards.'

What will a CVU look like when it is owned by the Community? People will be stopping the Producers in the street saying, 'you must tell this story. Come with me now, there is something happening that must be filmed.' People will be offering to contribute financially to the running of the CVU. They will be helping the CVU expand into other geographic areas and other technologies, like running radio stations or setting up internet portals for that community. There will be continuous communication between the CVU and local people that means that the CVU provides the information that is critical to the community, and the community helps them produce the most meaningful journalism for that area, resulting in a much more informed and active local population.

The CVU model is devised to allow that to happen. It works in a tight geographic area of only 25- 50 villages or slums and all research, stories, and screenings happens in that area. The producers are from those 25 slums or villages too. The villagers 'see' the producers constantly and also know that they will be coming back next month, which makes them much more likely to get involved. (this is similar to how we all are much more likely to write 'letters to the editor' of a magazine that you know will appear next month than to the publisher of a book you read.) Our NGO partners, who invest in and manage the CVUs, agree that the goal is to eventually register each CVU as an independent organization. They do not view the CVUs as mouthpieces for their NGOs; they allow the CVUs to address issues their NGO may not work on, and give the CVUs names independent of their NGOs.

As Rehana said above, we are not there yet, but we are getting there. Community members now come more frequently for Editorial Board meetings and give better and more concrete ideas. CVUs have active volunteers in their screening areas, with community members giving electricity for the screenings and even whitewashing the walls of dedicated screening areas so the producers don't have to carry a big screen. Some villages have offered to pay for screenings, and community members are often coming to ask for copies of films they appeared in or would like to show to their neighbors as part of their own activism.

After two years of work, the Producers have understood the key to having their communities 'own' the CVUs: it is only possible when the communities see it is making an impact and delivering results that improve their lives. To date, more than 2000 people have taken action in their local communities as a result of the films, and this is why we believe we will achieve some of the first truly community-owned and led media operations anywhere in the world.

Creative Ways of Utilizing New Market Tax Credits

A friend of mine, sent me this link to an article describing how a coalition of southeast Wisconsin organizations have utilized New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) to redevelop depressed manufacturing neighborhoods. Initiatives of this type, along with an intensive focus on brownfield remediation for business attraction and development, place the importance on cultivating and remapping large scale available land for business, recreation and job creation. We have the resources and know-how here, let's get a coalition together and move forward.

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2007/11/05/story8.html