{"id":53170,"date":"2021-02-25T13:24:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T13:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcity.org\/daily\/entry\/framingham-ma-makes-strides-toward-inclusive-civic-engagement"},"modified":"2021-02-25T13:24:00","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T13:24:00","slug":"framingham-ma-makes-strides-toward-inclusive-civic-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/02\/25\/framingham-ma-makes-strides-toward-inclusive-civic-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"Framingham, MA Makes Strides Toward Inclusive Civic Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
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In this Nov. 2 file photo, Framingham, Mass., Mayor Yvonne Spicer, right, faces reporters during an event intended to encourage voter turnout ahead of the 2020 election. (AP Photo\/Steven Senne)<\/p><\/figcaption>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Framingham, Massachusetts, a former mill and manufacturing hub 20 miles west of Boston, is ramping up fresh efforts to improve civic engagement, small business support and local transportation for its densely populated southeast corner. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n

The neighborhood has no shortage of challenges. Southeast Framingham residents suffer double the city\u2019s rates of unemployment and poverty, with median household income in the neighborhood just one-third that of the city overall, according to recent figures from the mayor\u2019s office. Many residents lack fluency in English, an obstacle in connecting residents and business owners to city services and civic participation. Nearly half of the neighborhood\u2019s housing units are subsidized, yet a majority of households\u201491 percent of whom are renters\u2014are cost-burdened, paying more than 30 percent of income toward housing.<\/p>\n\n

As if those troubles weren\u2019t enough, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit Southeast Framingham disproportionately hard. The neighborhood\u2019s plight was underscored last summer when Gov. Charlie Baker launched free COVID-19 testing sites in eight hard-hit municipalities. Framingham was not among them, prompting the city\u2019s dismayed public health director to point out that<\/a> in assessing municipalities only as a whole, the state was missing \u201cpockets within the city facing tremendous barriers.\u201d COVID rates in Framingham have been far higher among Hispanic and Black residents, residents of multi-family housing, and those speaking primarily Spanish and Portuguese at home\u2014all factors concentrated in Southeast Framingham.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"Last fall, Mayor Yvonne M. Spicer and her staff were able to direct heightened attention to the neighborhood, spurred by participation in the inaugural Just City Mayoral Fellowship<\/a> sponsored by the Mayors\u2019 Institute on City Design (MICD) and the Just City Lab at Harvard Graduate School of Design. The program was designed with 2020\u2019s double-whammy of pandemic and racial justice reckoning in mind. Seven participating U.S. mayors from small to mid-sized cities (Framingham\u2019s population is about 75,000) were challenged to choose a neighborhood experiencing inequity and historic disinvestment and create a \u201cmanifesto of action\u201d to tackle the problems with a racial justice lens. <\/p>\n\n

Over 11 weeks, the fellowship cohort gathered virtually to hear presentations on such topics as how public policies historically have contributed to spatial and social injustice, and how design and planning strategies can help right historic wrongs.<\/p>\n\n

For Spicer, who took office in 2018, the obvious choice was Southeast Framingham, which she called \u201cthe most underserved part\u201d of her city.<\/p>\n\n

The first African American woman popularly elected to a mayor\u2019s office in Massachusetts, Spicer is no stranger to racial justice ideals. As mayor, she has declared racism a public health emergency and secured approval to hire the city\u2019s first diversity, equity and inclusion officer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Still, it\u2019s not always easy to direct attention toward less visible residents.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe big outcome of this fellowship is the targeted focus,\u201d she says. \u201cThis has allowed me to put a laser-beam focus on this section of the community. And not just me, but my staff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Spicer and her staff pinpointed engagement, resilience and fairness as key values. In terms of planning, they zeroed in first on shoring up small business support, an urgent immediate need in the face of the pandemic\u2019s economic fallout.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe took a look at the programs for small business owners: How do they participate? How can they?\u201d Spicer says. \u201cAnd so that\u2019s the other part \u2013 creating those mechanisms for greater engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

They began a concentrated push to expand business support and civic engagement, especially among youth and among those who\u2019ve not typically had visibility at community meetings or on local boards and commissions.<\/p>\n\n

Spicer had already implemented a Community Conversations<\/a> series and weekly Community Hours<\/a> (which during the pandemic are continuing as Zoom sessions) to keep city residents informed and involved. A multi-week \u201cFramingham Government Academy<\/a>\u201d to educate residents about local government and how they can participate shifted in fall to a virtual format. But the team now sees they could do more to make city affairs inclusive of those who need language interpretation, need extra recruitment to participate, or lack internet access.<\/p>\n\n

For each step forward, though, new challenges become plain to see. Lessons learned so far include the need for cultural relevance, multi-language interpretation and stronger recruitment efforts, Spicer says. Another obstacle is the digital divide.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe virtual Government Academy has drawn more participation\u2014we had twice the number of people,\u201d Spicer says. \u201cBut here\u2019s the kicker: It\u2019s not necessarily the people we were hoping would come, because they have challenges with internet access. We are working to provide Wi-Fi hotspots, particularly in underserved neighborhoods like this one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Alaa Abusalah, Spicer\u2019s citizen participation officer, had begun significant outreach in Southeast Framingham before the pandemic. She estimates she attended 100 events, from community meetings to cookouts hosted by churches and public housing developments, meeting residents and answering questions about city government. The presentations and interactions with other cities last fall crystallized some crucial truths.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI personally began understanding the importance of intentionality,\u201d Abusalah says. \u201cIn order for us to reach residents who historically have not participated, there are historic systems that have to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Abusalah is pursuing new funding avenues to support several inclusivity and assistance initiatives for Southeast Framingham. Among them: a Dollarwise Innovation Grant from the U.S. Mayors Conference<\/a> to build a youth entrepreneurship program; NLC Local Democracy funding to help build on 2020 census outreach infrastructure; and funding from Massachusetts\u2019 Urban Agenda<\/a> program to create a constellation of services including an \u201copportunity hub\u201d to coordinate job training and social services, a partnership with MassHire<\/a> to provide neighborhood youth employment training and opportunities to engage with local government, and a one-stop business resource center. The resource center will support immigrant businesses by offering city permits and licenses in translation and serving as a clearinghouse for resources on ESL classes, continuing education and workforce certifications.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe were hearing how other towns are experiencing things in different ways. There are different approaches than what we know,\u201d says Abusalah. \u201cThat was super helpful\u2014all of these ideas for grants came from these conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The city is taking some other courageous steps on the road to inclusivity\u2014including opening itself up to a hard look at how things actually work now. One eye-opener was discovered through a partnership with Boston University\u2019s MetroBridge<\/a> Program. Last fall, BU students analyzed equity in public participation in Framingham\u2019s forums on schools and housing development. Their examination revealed that the makeup of committees, public meeting attendees and petition-signers skews whiter, older and more affluent than Framingham\u2019s population as a whole (a pattern that holds true across most cities<\/a>). They observed that parents of \u201chigh-need\u201d students, many of whom are racial minorities and\/or non-native English speakers, did not speak up in meetings they attended.<\/p>\n\n

The student teams\u2019 recommendations, presented in mid-December, included providing more translators at meetings; holding a facilitated dialogue between city officials, school leaders and immigrant populations; presenting to the City Council data on the mismatch between petition-signer demographics and the general population; and convening parents of high-need students with real intent to include them in decision-making around resuming in-person classes. Spicer\u2019s team now is assessing how to implement these actions while expecting additional BU teams, skilled in Spanish and Portuguese, who can connect more with immigrant populations and possibly help translate information.<\/p>\n\n

While still a work in progress, there are signs the increased outreach is paying off. Abusalah noted that for the city\u2019s newly formed Sustainability Committee\u2014devised with input from community hour sessions\u2014they received an unheard-of 36 applications for nine open seats, one of which is reserved for a youth age 16 to 25.<\/p>\n\n

It can be cumbersome work to improve city processes, right down to the labor of creating spreadsheets to track previously untracked demographic data.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe are literally changing systems. That takes time,\u201d Abusalah says. <\/p>\n\n

Spicer\u2019s team also is anticipating a round of follow-up technical assistance from MICD aimed at providing guidance on transportation improvements. While Southeast Framingham\u2019s assets include proximity to two MBTA commuter rail stations, local transportation access and safety is spotty, with pedestrian-unfriendly streetscapes and infrequent bus service insufficient for shoppers and workers with night and weekend shifts. Improvements will focus also on creating easier access to parks and downtown businesses.<\/p>\n\n

All of this forward thinking has to be juggled, always, with the relentless duties of a mayor\u2019s office, from mobilizing snowplows to monitoring COVID rates.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI have been so focused on this pandemic, and getting resources to people who need them,\u201d Spicer says. \u201cI\u2019m trying to come up for air. My goal is to get out of crisis mode and be able to do these other things. I\u2019ve got a lot of balls in the air and I\u2019m keeping them moving as best I can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

This article is a part of \u201cDesign Leaders,\u201d a series highlighting mayors\u2019 roles in design and the built environment in their cities. Design Leaders is made possible with the support of The Mayors\u2019 Institute on City Design<\/a>, a National Endowment for the Arts<\/a> leadership initiative in partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t

Sandra Larson is a Boston-based freelance writer covering urban issues and policy. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, Guardian Cities <\/em>and the Bay State Banner.<\/em> See her work at sandralarsononline.com<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n

This post was originally published on Next City<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\t\t\tIn this Nov. 2 file photo, Framingham, Mass., Mayor Yvonne Spicer, right, faces reporters during an event intended to encourage voter turnout ahead of the 2020 election. (AP Photo\/Steven Senne)<\/p>\n

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