Spotlight

Spotlight

The city planning and development process is extremely powerful, which can create gentrification and economic inequality, or provide needed services, affordable housing and job opportunities.  In the last decade, cities around the country have been providing millions of dollars in subsidies to private developers - all in the name of urban revitalization.  Based on the idea that “any development is good development,” there has been minimal, if any, consideration to the needs of the communities impacted by development. 

Responding to the lack of opportunities for community input and involvement, activists have taken steps to develop tools and strategies that increase the role of community members in development projects, which impact their neighborhoods.  According to Chereesse Thymes, Executive Director of The Partnership for Working Families (The Partnership), “communities across the nation are becoming increasingly involved in the development decisions that affect their lives.”  The Partnership, an alliance of five labor-community organizations: the Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) in San Diego, the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE) in Oakland, the Front Range Economic Strategy Center (FRESC) in Denver, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), and Working Partnerships, USA in San Jose - works to help communities pressure public agencies to play a more accountable role in land use policymaking.  “There is a lot of good work happening, so we're facilitating the exchange of information and experience among the organizations. We want to support our peers and colleagues,” says Thymes.

The accountable development movement is changing the way economic development occurs in the United States.  “Through the community benefits agreement or CBA technique, community groups are at the table in the negotiations, but also in the implementation process because they’re a signed party in the contract,” explains Julian Gross, Legal Director for The Partnership, about the legal strategy used in the accountable development movement.  A CBA is a legal contract, signed by a coalition of community groups and developers, addressing a range of community benefits that the developer(s) agrees to provide as part of a development project to benefit rather than harm affected low-income communities of color.  “The idea that community groups can enforce legal rights with developers is groundbreaking,” says Gross.

One of the most exciting CBAs won so far is a half billion dollars in benefits for the neighboring low-income communities of the Los Angeles Airport (LAX) in connection with the reconstruction of the airport.  “The LAX CBA was not new.  What makes it significant is its size and that the contract is with a governmental entity,” says Gross.  A broad coalition of environmental, labor, community and faith-based groups effectively organized thousands of African-American and Latino community members to participate in negotiations for a LAX CBA with the City of Los Angeles.  After intense organizing and mobilizing, the LAX Coalition for Economic, Environmental and Educational Justice secured a contract that includes measures to study and mitigate the health impacts of proximity to LAX, soundproofing of homes and schools, first source hiring and training opportunities for neighborhood residents, and opportunities for local businesses.  However, how do you ensure the implementation of the agreement?  Thymes explains that “compliance with and implementation of the agreement is monitored by involving the coalition members that advocated for the agreement.”  In Los Angeles, LAANE and the LAX Coalition for Economic, Environmental and Educational Justice are monitoring the implementation of the LAX CBA and ensuring that the community is involved and receives maximum benefit. 

Through their local work, the founding organizations of The Partnership have developed winning organizing and policymaking strategies for taking on developers and major companies, such as Wal-Mart to help working families to improve their standard of living.  Their approach has successfully deepened connections among labor, environmental and community-based groups and won legal CBAs and local policies such as living wage ordinances.  The Partnership also provides peer-to-peer technical assistance and training to coalitions of labor and community in strategic metropolitan regions engaged in accountable development work. 

If you are interested in supporting the efforts of The Partnership for Working Families, please contact Chereesse Thymes, Executive Director, at 510-834-8503.  For more information on CBAs, a downloadable copy of The Partnership’s CBA Handbook is located in RJC’s Resources page.