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Community invited to growth forum
Nov. 12, 2001
Indiana University's Center for the Study of Democracy and Public Life and the City of Bloomington's Safe and Civil City program are the co-convenors of a National Issues Forum on growth and community well-being to be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 17) at Bloomington High School South.
National Issues Forums is a non-partisan, nationwide network of sponsored forums for the consideration of public policy issues. The forums are designed to bring people together and discuss community problems and issues.
The local forum will focus on growth, development and urban sprawl. Participants will discuss the proper function of government in regulating development and the role that the free market and individual property rights should play in these decisions. Discussions will be held in small-group settings, with neutral moderators.
Other co-sponsors of the event include the Community Conflict Resolution Program; the Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IU; the Council of Neighborhood Associations; and the League of Women Voters.
Organizers hope this will be the first of many opportunities to bring together a cross-section of people with different points of view to discuss the variety of issues facing Bloomington and Monroe County.
According to Jeffrey C. Isaac, director of the Center for the Study of Democracy and Public Life, and Rudy Professor of Political Science at IU, "Our goal in planning this event is to initiate a process of organizing regular town meetings designed to promote deliberative democracy in our community. The hallmark of deliberative democracy is the creation of public spaces where citizens can have a voice, listen to one another, and work together to discuss, and to solve, common problems. At this time of national crisis it seems particularly appropriate for us to come together as citizens to help to make our local democracy work for us."
The Center for the Study of Democracy and Public Life, created in 1999, has pursued this project with support from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the President of Indiana University, and a grant from Indiana Campus Compact. Working to create campus/community partnerships that promote democratic citizenship is one of the center's principal missions.
The National Issues Forum is free and open to the public. For more information and registration, contact Susannah Karls at 812-349-3854 or karlss@city.bloomington.in.us, or visit the Bloomington NIF Web site at http://www.bloomington.in.us/~nif.
(Susannah Karls, City of Bloomington, 812-349-3854, karlss@city.bloomington.in.us or Jeffrey Isaac, Center for the Study of Democracy and Public Life, 812-855-8605, isaac@indiana.edu)