News

Introductions – Geoff Anderson (SGA)

• SGA and organizations like ours are seeing issues associated with success planning and smart growth work including push back from opposition groups
• Funding for programs like the Partnership for Sustainable Communities and other projects that you all care about remain a priority for our organization
• Issues SGA Coalition Members are working on:
• Alliance for energy – next generation of energy policy
• Empire State Future – equitable transit-oriented development
• 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania – land use
• MA Smart Growth Alliance- Great Neighborhoods
• LISC – Finance and community revitalization
• FutureWise – equitable TOD and funding
• 1,000 Friends of Maryland – state transportation plan
• Houston Tomorrow – community sustainability plan
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation – intersection between smart growth and water quality issues
• Cumberland Region Tomorrow– regional strategic growth plans
• Greenbelt Alliance – equitable development
• Policylink- Partnership for Sustainable Communities advocacy
• Coalition for Smarter Growth – sprawl prevention
• Metropolitan Area Planning Council- Sustainable Comm. grant to develop priority development areas and priority preservation areas
• Transportation Choices Coalition – transit and transportation funding
• Center for Community Progress – reclaim and reuse vacant properties

Federal Priorities for Smart Growth America – Katy Hartnett (SGA)

• Reauthorization of the federal transportation bill – Both the House and Senate are currently appointing conferees to committees
• Appropriations Bill– Secure funding for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities; Senate has marked up a bill for $50 million for the Partnership
• Farm Bill – Our strategy will be to work with our national partners because we have a lot of our attention focused on transportation and the Partnership
• There are large players on the farm bill and we need to be pragmatic and strategic in how we engage certain players
• Partners: American Farmland Trust, Newly created office at American Farm Bureau
• The key component is to keep rural areas rural and provide economic development
• PolicyLink will circulate information on the advocacy pushes on the legislative and administrative side
• Developing the next initiative for a rational federal policy regarding real estate development
• SGA wants to look at areas where we could tweak programs to better develop smart growth including: Rehabilitation Tax Credit: Small Building Rental – difficult to get financing to interest developers
• SGA will talk with MAPC set up talk about small building rental conference call
• We are advocating for funding for TIGER programs in the Senate; We are less optimistic on the House Side
• We need individual Senators especially Sen. Murray to support our programs
• Can we get attention from Senators or Congressmen regarding Partnership grants that weren’t funded?

Smart Growth Stories – Paige Miller (SGA)

SGA is doing a blog series on stories that highlight the benefits of smart growth that will publicize the work our coalition members are doing as well as serve as a resource for other organizations. If you have ideas for stories, please contact Paige Miller directly.

Agriculture Policy Work from GMLA – Dru Schmidt-Perkins (1000 Friends of Maryland)

• The GMLA (Growth Management Leadership Alliance) is a subset of SGA’s coalition composed of state and local smart growth and land use organizations. They meet separately from SGA’s coalition and occasionally pursue separate action items.
• GMLA was working on agriculture issues: wanted to articulate the definition of metro regions; promote successful regional efforts that plan and increase farmers capacities to thrive in other markets
• Compiled a list of opportunities and people to work with to strategize about strong rural economies
• Want to open the doors and show communities that we are a part of a vibrant commodity – Elizabeth Schilling (SGA)
• How can we as a national group take on this issue and choose a focus?
• David has food policy working group to establish a food policy at the local level
• Current zoning bill in Mass: if communities lock in they have to show that they can do natural resource protection zoning – Marc Draisen (MAPC)
• Advocate for infrastructure to support density and for agricultural areas as well to allow those areas to stay rural and produce a valuable product – Peter Fleischer (Empire State Future)

Wealth Engine Training – Elisa Ortiz (SGA)
Overview of new SGA member benefit; for more information, visit this page.

Opposition Research – Ilana Preuss (SGA)

• There are nationally organized opposition groups that are instilling a hatred or fear into people about smart growth
• Republican National Committee passed a resolution against Agenda 21
• Agenda 21 encapsulates sustainability, energy efficiency, and smart growth
• We need to make sure that people are preparing ahead of time for this to happen
• We are creating a training toolkit to push back – How are people developing champions for smart growth? How do we allow the planning process to continue? How do we make sure the media is on your side and how to get the right spokespeople out there?
• To get public input, you can do a series of small meetings to make sure people are armed with different kinds of ideas
• We need to get messaging strategies out in enough places quickly
• We have to lay out the economic benefits of smart growth
• Who is the source of the opposition?
• The American Policy Center is the main source of funding for the opposition trainings (Tom Deweese)
• It isn’t well known that this is a nationally funded and coordinated opposition
• We’ve seen a lot of consistent language and legislation pop up in different cases across the country
• Suggestions:
• Seek out people who affiliate with conservation organizations like Heritage Foundation and tell them about the mutually shared interests
• Passing a board resolution opposing agenda 21
• We need to distinguish between those that don’t agree with us and those who are irrational and don’t want to listen – Ilana Preuss (SGA)
• We’ve had success from breaking into smaller meetings, but we don’t have anyone to organize a campaign – Pete Kasabach (NJ Future)
• Strategy – the anti-agenda 21 are only getting traction in semi-conservative areas. We need focused attention to drive a wedge between Moderate R’s and the extreme
• Agenda 21 is starting become a litmus test for R’s
• These conservatives don’t think the way smart growth supporters do
• We need to convince people like the staffs of MPOs who really need to understand how to defend it – Sarita Turner (PolicyLink)
• We also need to tell the masses of people that don’t know about the program what the benefits are
• The issue may be with the SCN and the Partnership
• The issue is about establishing a framework for non-regulation and a world without planning – Stewart Schwartz (Coalition for Smarter Growth)
• This opposition solidifies the right
• This is the same tactic used during the healthcare meetings
• We need to influence people who can be swung by the irrationals – Jeremy Madsen (Greenbelt Alliance)
• We should mention that we want to give people the opportunities and choices on how they want to live
• Extremely conservative people can’t win elections without the equally extreme people that can be influenced – Geoff Anderson (SGA)
• We need to determine who to have a rational conversation with, and we should have a local person when we have the conservations – Marc Draisen (MAPC)
• Political and business leaders should speak out against the extreme views as they may be stirred up to vote along with the extremely conservative – Bridget Jones (Cumberland Region Tomorrow)
• Find out what the real agenda and message behind this is – Gene Krebs (Greater OH Policy Center)
• When the press carries these stories, we don’t want the anti agenda folks to get any sympathy – Dru Schmidt- Perkins (1,000 Friends of MD)
• In formulating a response we should learn lessons from the healthcare debate and other controversial debates – Jack Machek (10,000 Friends of PA)
• Not engaging in their frame and focusing the conversation on the actual issues may be the best frame – Ilana Preuss (SGA)
• There are some tricks of the trade that you all have learned, but we need to make sure that these are shared to get ahead of the curve
• Ilana – we agree that we want to have a process and bring people back together
• (1) This is an emotional issue on both sides (role playing what its like to be screamed at (2) this is an unprecedented new field of practice and sharing everything is valuable (3) We need to have ways that we can think about this – Elisa Ortiz (SGA)

Rapid Fire – What would help your organizations to create better messaging and push back against the opposition?

• We’re counteracting the other side which is very decentralized; to combat we need to build our own networks of autonomous, loosely affiliated groups – Andre Leroux
• We’re still unclear about the purpose of training; and we should use this as an opportunity to understand our targets and what are message should be – Pete Kasabach (NJ Future)
• We need to be trained well in advance of meetings and one on how we don’t get into this position – April Putney (FutureWise)
• Preparation before the meeting to build a base at the meeting; also have people who are prepared to speak if something goes wrong; know how to prevent or diffuse a difficult situation (perhaps shut down); think about how to distribute the microphone and control the geography of the meeting – Marc Draisen (MAPC)
• We need to get ahead of this; perhaps publish an op-ed – Peter Fleischer (Empire State Future)
• Recommendations – turnkey checklist in case talk of opposition breaks out – Ilana Preuss (SGA)
• May be helpful to the HUD grantees
• Having info or talking points make people more confident
• A memo on what should never be done is helpful
• Acknowledging that there is a conspiracy is helpful
• Leaders who are respected can also be a good voice in the meeting
• The opposition has an organic, self–organization structure similar to E.O. Wilson; this is why they’re more effective in destroying rather than promoting a candidate – Gene Krebs (Greater OH)
• Hire a local republican to send to these events because liberals tend to stick out
• Topics for the training: everything to do in advance of the public meeting process; physical event; taking a straw man and making them into a certain character – Jack Machek (10,000 Friends of PA)
• Perhaps we need to have people on the ground to regroup  – Ilana Preuss (SGA)
• Connecting people to what’s important: visual images – Iqbel Khaiy (SGA)
• We should remind each other that we have an emotional connection to great neighborhoods
• Can anyone say that they want a bad neighborhood?
• People walk into meetings with an attachment and most people don’t feel like they’re heard during these meetings – Kim Graziani (Center for Community Progress)
• There is a geographical justification to where these events are occurring
• We should get more sophisticated and do organization and outreach to get people into the process about this; we should avoid the bad stuff in the first place – Jeremy Madsen (Greenbelt Alliance)
• Continue to think about specific tactics or organizational things you’ve done to preempt things before they happen – Ilana Preuss (SGA)
• Figure out what you need and we will figure out how to help with this