Engagement Done Right

Council Perspectives

St. Paul City Council Ward 2

At the beginning of a summer now edging toward fall, I had the chance to attend the We Live Here community meeting hosted by the W. 7th/Fort Road Federation. I came away energized and grateful for a convening that was impressive in many ways. 

First, it was genuine. Too many community engagement sessions seem to be done for show or to “check the box” to say they’ve engaged the community when they knew what they intended to do all along. This meeting was the opposite. There was no preconceived agenda, no ulterior motive beyond an authentic desire to hear from people who live and work in the neighborhood. Notes were taken at each table and shared with everyone who attended, so it was clear what was heard and what was done with our input.

The meeting was also inclusive. Those of us who attended were welcomed at the door and invited to sit down at any of a handful of tables, each of which was dedicated to a specific topic important to the W. 7^th community – historic preservation, green space, housing, pedestrian safety and more. Each table was moderated by a volunteer who encouraged discussion and helped prevent any one participant from dominating the conversation. We could join the table at any time and leave when we were ready.  Unlike the large-group presentation format that prevents dialogue and encourages only those comfortable with public speaking to make their views known, this small-group style gave plenty of time for conversation and invited everyone to speak up.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, the meeting was designed to truly engage us, not just in the topics but with one another. The convening was held in part to help the Federation more accurately represent the community in discussions about the Riverview Corridor, a plan for a new transit service along W. 7^th that has been subject to an inanely lengthy design process and heated controversy.  It would have been easy to let the meeting devolve into the binary that has dominated much of the discussion of Riverview: Should it be a bus or a streetcar?  

Instead, the organizers thoughtfully designed the gathering to focus on the much more important issues that can and should inform the Riverview conversation: What do we value?  What do we want to see more of and less of in our community? What makes our neighborhood special? When framed in that way, we could all relax and let our guard down, not worried we’d have to argue or defend a particular position. In that more open state, we could do the hard work of really listening to one another.  What came through, for me, was that the areas where we may disagree pale in comparison to the investment in our community that we have in common.

As we enter a heated political season, one in which we’ll feel the temptation to harden our thinking against doubt and demonize people who disagree with us, I’m inspired by this powerful demonstration of community from this small but mighty corner of our vast country.