Description: Decatur is a small city, adjacent to Atlanta, which has experienced dramatic gentrification in the last ten years. After a number of conflicts over land use and other issues, the City partnered with a local nonprofit, Common Focus, to involve citizens in the development of a strategic plan. Early in the organizing effort, Common Focus assembled a community network map of all the organizations and groups in the city; this helped compel other groups to join in. Over 450 people were involved in multiple-session "Decatur Roundtables," addressing issues such as growth, race, and education. After the small-group sessions had ended, participants gathered at a city-wide forum to share their conclusions and further refine their ideas. Using input from the roundtables, the city drafted the basic parameters of the plan, and then enlisted 250 citizens to help flesh out the full plan.

Dates active: 1998-2004

Issue(s): Planning and land use; Human rights or race relations; Education

Sub-issue(s): Strategic plan for community; schools; race; growth and planning.

Level(s): City

Initiators: City manager, Chamber of Commerce.

Particular goals: Develop strategic plan; gather input on planning and development decisions.

Number of participants/year: 450

Population of community: 16,000

Time spent by participants: 8+ hours

Staffing/funding: City of Decatur and area businesses.

How meetings were structured: Roundtables were facilitated and followed a series of questions and viewpoints in a discussion guide.

How participants were recruited: Through the many organizations included in the network map.

Sample outcomes: Development of award-winning community plan; establishment of the Decatur Neighborhood Alliance; increased use of tax abatement plan for senior citizens.

Benefits: Detailed, broadly supported community plan, which many citizens and organizations have helped to implement.

Challenges: Inability to sustain involvement of citizens in neighborhood associations or other community meetings.

Related resources:

• Gastil, John, and Todd Kelshaw, Public Meetings: A Sampler of Deliberative Forums That Bring Officeholders and Citizens Together (unpublished manuscript, Kettering Foundation).
• "Changing the Way We Govern," Democratic Governance Panel, National League of Cities, 2006.

This case contributed by: Matt Leighninger, 2007