Alternatives: Proposals For Local Governments Struggling With Limited Resources
Alternatives: Proposals For Local Governments Struggling With Limited Resources
In the fall of 1994, the Harry Singer Foundation invited a limited number, of mostly small-town schools, to take part in a pilot program. Students were required to find ways to stretch the resources of local government and make services more responsive to the desires of citizens. The Foundation hopes to gradually add larger communities, and offer categories for innovative state and national projects.
Volunteers at the Foundation narrowed the entries to 22. They were then edited and sent to the National Center for Financial Education in San Francisco, California, where they were reduced to five. These five were then forwarded to a consultant and former-public official in Minnesota who has been in the forefront of the reinventing government movement; the innovative mayors of Indianapolis and Houston, 12 governors, two former-governors and two members of the United States Congress. Many had the help of staff, but all read the proposals and expressed an interest in what these young people had to say.
The final entries are reproduced on the following pages, just as they were seen by the reviewers at the National Center for Financial Education in San Francisco. Across from each paper we reveal the school and participants, information that was kept from judges.
This project was a logical extension of our continuing Responsibility and White Hat programs. Over the years, through student submissions and other sources, we have collected stories of good-things going on around the country, in both the public and private sectors. These inspirational examples have been accessible to anyone with a computer and a modem since the fall of 1993.
Teacher
Janet Adams
Students
Chalon Thomas
John Philp
Shannon McDonald
Owen Cotter
Angela Tesky
Margaret Reynolds
Matt Davis
Maria Hegbloom
Marisa Hegbloom
Courtney Drake
Kelley Lorenzen
Shelly Sparks
Dustin Wilson
Jason Weil
Michael Cox
Donnie Hulsizer
Kristi Olson
Chris Carignan
Kirsten Krulitz
Camille Mongelli
Michelle Gotcher
Janelle Hofmann
Angela Bailey
Jared Watson
Christina Houchin
Randy Tester
Katy Elliston
Randy Johnson
Brad Juelfs
Town
Beautification
Wallace began as a small mining community many years ago. It thrived and grew into a city filled with small shops, restaurants, and most importantly families. Strong, robust men made a living picking into the damp walls of underground tunnels. Their search was for silver, a metal whose prices paid the bill and then some. But gradually the price of silver decreased and the population of Wallace plummeted. Businesses went bankrupt, miners were laid off and families moved. The few families left needed income and tourism seemed like a good idea.
What makes a town a good tourist attraction? Well, it needs an interesting theme. Wallace has one---mining. It also needs a good place to visit and Wallace has many of those. But Wallace is lacking something vital---city beauty. Some parts of town are pocked with paint peeled buildings and cracked sidewalks and other parts are dirty and just plain unattractive. Our class has proposed a project that would beautify our town and make it a more attractive tourist destination. We propose to hang colorful flags representing all fifty states around the business section of town with the idea of boosting tourism. We hope visitors will come to Wallace to experience the mines and instead of leaving right away they just might stay, look for their state and spend money.
Our plan was not one just thought up by a few people. There was a complex process.
The Activity
We began our project by splitting up into two groups. The first group had the job of calling residents and asking what services they felt needed to be accomplished to improve our town. They had quite a few suggestions, some of which were not very nice, but the majority turned out to be very helpful. They felt since our town makes most of its income on tourism, we should have something to attract people. Of the 200 people polled, sixty percent voiced the need for a town beautification program. Eleven percent felt we needed better snow removal because our winters can get down right obnoxious. Nine percent viewed street improvement as most important. Little wonder; you could probably fall into one of our residential potholes and never be seen again. Last, but not least, the other twenty percent we categorized as miscellaneous, which included the detrimental constituents and some rather unconventional suggestions.
The second group polled prominent city figures and business people and we discovered that most of the resulting ideas corresponded with the results achieved by group one. After all results were documented, the class voted on the proposals. The city beautification plan was selected. Then we discussed the difficulties in beautifying all of Wallace. It would turn into a project much too difficult for one class to carry out because of costs, control and labor. We noticed that some of the responses to our second poll suggested smaller decorating projects. We listed a few of the best and voted on them. Hanging flags won, but hanging real pants and decorating recycling bins came close.
The Project
We thought hanging the flags would be a success because this winter the city hung Christmas flags and they made a terrific difference in the downtown atmosphere. Again, if the city is more appealing to the eye, we believe more people will visit it.
It was first suggested that we make seasonal flags, some for summer and some for winter. That idea was adopted until the cost estimates came back, and the prices were extremely high. We then decided to only make one type of flag. Some choices were recreation, wildlife, mines and endangered species. We voted on the ideas and finally decided to feature state flags in our display.
We then discussed the format and production of the flags. The design committee decided the flags would be five by three feet, single colored and rectangular shaped. The outline of the state would be on the inside with a colorful state flower inside it. Above the state outline is the state name and below the name is the state nickname. The production committee talked to the printer at Alpine Surf Wear and he said the easiest way to print the flags would be to silk-screen the graphic on nylon material. With everyone agreed, our project was ready to be put into effect.
We sought out an attorney who would answer legal questions without charging us for his time. We learned that the water/power company usually volunteers to hang the Christmas flags so their workers would be covered by liability insurance. If they did not hang our flags, volunteers could be covered for liability and workman compensation for a small fee. He also said our proposal would have to be cleared through the city council, which would also determine size and location restrictions.
Incentives and Disincentives
After researching the problem of displaced workers, we came to the conclusion that our project would completely avoid that problem. Since no person got paid to hang the winter flags no one would be out of work if volunteers hung our flags. Our project could actually create jobs for people if we could raise funds to pay participants. A local business could be hired to print the flags, someone could earn money by hanging the flags and a local artist might get paid for creating the different pictures that would go on each flag. No one would get tax breaks, and no special insurance or job training would be required. Our project would give an honest person a way to make a decent living.
We were delighted to discover our project wouldn't be displacing any workers; it actually would produce jobs. Jobs are very hard to find in our economically challenged valley, so we were especially pleased when we found our project would be helping economically in its own small way. We were also delighted by the way our community leaders gave up their time to work and talk with us. We heard what a rough time students in other towns were having trying to get hold of their city superiors. We are very fortunate to have a society that cares about the 'little people' within it.
The community leaders in our town, such as our mayor, our shop owners and our Chamber of Commerce head, are all very accessible. Anyone can literally walk into the mayor's office and talk to her without getting the run-around. It's wonderful to know if we ever need to get in touch with the people who make everything happen in our community, all we have to do is go talk to them. The attorney who came and answered some of our legal questions is a perfect example. He came in gave us information and did not charge us a penny. It seemed to me, before this project began, the only thing everyone cared about was money. After the attorney's visit and the total cooperation of our community leaders, I have changed my views. The head honchos in our town really are interested in what we have to say. The attorney's free visit and being able to stroll right into the Mayor's office anytime, just proves how great and eager the people are to help make this town a better place to live.
Conclusion
Sometimes living in this town gets extremely difficult and depressing. It's hard to see people out of work because this valley has no jobs available to keep them afloat. If they have no jobs they have no money to put back into the community which is where tourism comes in. That is why the flags are a great idea; they aid our efforts to change our historic town from a mining town to a tourist town. We believe the flags would also help visitors feel more welcome when they are far from home.
Although we do not have the time now to do this project, our class wants to do everything possible to make certain the project is eventually completed. It is a simple easy project requiring simple things that teenagers can do. Things like the purchase of nylon from a fabric store and having our own students here at Wallace High School silk screen the designs.
All in all this project has given us some great ideas and a great sense of genuine care from our community leaders. We truly hope this economically sound and festive project is one day accomplished. It will certainly add originality to the already remarkable character of our community.
It's obvious this project is wanted and needed by our community. A businessman has suggested it, it could only help tourism and it has been thoroughly researched. Hanging state flags is a plan to bring income and beauty to our townÑa plan that we are certain would work! Back