Interesting bigger picture reading

1
Interesting bigger picture reading

• Technology and Society
• By Bob Hudspith - on his goals/experiences
  teaching the two tech courses
• Can be downloaded from the course website

2
Public Participation

• Introduction
• Public Participation and the Red Hill Creek
  Expressway
• Some Theories of Public Participation
• Arnsteins Ladder
• Formalized Methods of Public Participation

3
Introduction

• A strong case can be made for public
  participation
• (i. e. democratic influence BETWEEN elections)
• Proponents
• the public, the government, risk communication
  experts
• Arguments
• it is part of our basic rights as humans to
  influence those policies that affect us
• improve legitimacy of a governments decisions
• reduce public distrust and protest

4
Some argue against public participation

• Efficiency sacrificed with increased democracy
• Absolute rationality or bounded rationality
• The public is too strongly influenced by the
  recent events, by the media, or by unfounded
  beliefs/ emotions
• But
• We also have seen that even experts advice is
  not value-free

5
The Red Hill Creek Expressway (RHCE) Democracy
gone wrong?

• Long history of controversy and public debate
• According to some, it is a clear example of
  democracy gone wrong (Curran, 2000)
• Routine obstructions to democratic processes
  exist at the local level here in Hamilton
• Good example to focus our discussion of what good
  public participation might be

6
Some History of Municipal Politics

• Beginnings of local democracy
• 1774-1783 Loyalists arrive during/after American
  Revolution pressure for the right to local
  self-rule
• Bill to authorized town meetings in 1792
• Hamilton incorporated as a town in 1833
• Around 1900, boom growth
• Need for improved management of municipal affairs
• Civic Reform Movement
• Run the city on rational business principles
• Reduce council powers
• More power to the mayor/small executive
• Independent boards, commissions set up
• Region of H-W set up in 1974
• City Planning Movement (early 1900s to 60s,
  70s)
• City planning based on technical rather than
  political rationality

7
Since the 1970s

• While citizen participation has become an
  increasingly regular part of urban planning, the
  traditional planning paradigm still dominates.
• Even where citizen input is sought, the planner
  still describes both the goals of the plan and
  the means of attaining them (Gans 1993ch.8)

8
History of the RHCE (Curran, 2000)

• 1951-1977 - City Council Opposes the Red Hill
  Creek Expressway
• 1977-1990 - City Council Capitulates and Citizen
  Opposition Grows
• 1990-1995 - Bob Rae Cancels the Project and
  Debate Intensifies
• 1995- Mike Harris Restores the Project and
  Ottawa Enters the Dispute
• 2004 RHC Expressway being built amidst
  significant public protest

1979 City Regional councils first approve
expressway
1994 David Crombie suggests an arterial rd.
rejected by Region
1997 - Province grants exemption from
environmental assessments - community
stakeholder committee formed instead
9
RHCEProposed Route(CEAA 2003)
10
Public hearings and information sessions

• several of them since 1979 when RHCE was first
  approved
• Ever since 1979 when the Region first released
  the results of its routing study, all of the
  possible alternative routes that were open to
  public debate have gone through the valley
• value and effectiveness of these public meetings
  is questionable

11
Example

• Just after Crombies arterial rd. compromise was
  rejected by the Region, 2 days of public input
  sessions were held
• 60 presentations, 5 minutes each
• No minutes taken
• There were written submissions by stakeholders
  but they were not provided to councillors
• The expressway option was voted on and approved
  by council with little indication that there even
  was a public hearing
• Was the public consultation just for appearance?

12
Community Stakeholder Committee (CSC)

• In 1997, the province exempted the RHCE project
  from environmental assessments, replaced with
  internal review process the CSC
• Individuals selected by the Region of H-W, to
  represent the views of various stakeholder groups
  or communities
• Mandate make decisions by consensus
• pro-expressway bias was evident in group
  selection
• appearance of bias undermined the credibility
• Anti-expressway stakeholders walked out
• Why? One reason the need for the expressway
  was voted down as an appropriate topic of
  discussion

13
Problems with the process (Curran 2000)

• Public Participation i) Participation Sought
  After Important Decisions Been Made ii)
  Inappropriate Public Participation Initiatives
  iii) Public Input Has No Impact On the
  Policy-Making Process
• Communication and Information
• iv) Information is Withheld from the Public v)
  Information is Withheld from Councillors vi)
  Politicians Often Absent from Public Meetings
  vii) Certain Groups Denied Access to Council
  viii) Regions Discussion of Expressway is
  Limited in Scope

14
Arnsteins Ladder of Citizen Participation

• Question
• Which rung(s) best characterize the RHCE public
  participation process?

15
Discuss

• What do you think the barriers/disadvantages with
  a greater degree of citizen control?
• How might the RHCE process have been improved?

16
Types of Participation(from Rowe and Frewer 2000)

• See Handout
• Key Issue
• How does one evaluate these methods?
• How effective are they?
• How close to the top of Arnsteins ladder do they
  get?

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Public Participation Evaluation Criteria(Rowe
and Frewer 2000)

• Acceptance Criteria
• Representativeness of participants
• Independence of true participants
• Early involvement?
• Influence on final policy
• Transparency of the process to the public
• Process Criteria
• Resource Accessibility
• Task Definition
• Structured Decision Making
• Cost effectiveness

18
Evaluations of the Formal Methods

• See handout

19
Resources

• Arnstein, Sherry R. 1969. A Ladder of Citizen
  Participation. AIP Journal. July.
• Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. Area
  Map of the Proposed Project (http//www.ceaa-acee.
  gc.ca/010/0001/0001/0003/0002/map_e.htm)
• Curran, Andrew. Democracy, Municpal Politics and
  the Red Hill Creek Expressway. Undergraduate
  Thesis. McMaster University. (http//www.hwcn.org
  /link/Rathaus/docs/andrews_project/Welcome.htm)
• Rowe, Gene and Lynn Frewer. 2000. Institute of
  Food Research Public Participation Methods A
  framework for Evaluation. Science, Technology
  and Human Values. 25(1). pp. 3-29.