Page 26 RAIN March/April 1985 An Affirmativ·e Neighborhood Information·Plan The quality of life in America's neighborhoods de-pends on information. Neighborhoods need to be able to re-port back to government agencies about what is happening in their neck of the woods'. Freedom of information is theoretically a right of citizens, but to actually obtain information at the right time, in the right form, may be an uphill battle. Some neighborhood groups in Chicago have taken action to make sure citizens can easily obtain quality information. We hope this affirmative neighborhood information plan is just a beginning, and that other.cities will follow suit. -SJ The City of Chicago is taking Freedom of Information one step beyond. Its recently announced "Affirmative Neighborho9d Information" plan pulls together the housing information neighborhood groups most want to know and sends it to them, in regular reports, free of charge. Leaders of several neighborhood groups joined Mayor Harold Washington in announcing the affirmative information plan at an October 17 news conference. They hailed the plan as a crucial help in their efforts to act on local housing problems. Said Arvis Averette of the South Shore Commission, "it will save time-and housing." Planning Department to Coordinate The City's Planning Department pulls together housing-related information from other departments (Law, Housing, Inspectional Services)-information which community groups formerly had to seek out from each department case by case. The city then arranges the information by community area and sends it out, in regular monthly and quarterly reports, to organizations around the city. Each report identifies Housing Court cases-an average of 20,000 buildings at any one tin;ie. The reports give court dates, number and types of violations identi~ fied by city inspectors, and information on building owners. When the city has been able to break a "blind trust" (as it can on buildings in Housing Court for more than 180 days), that information is included in the reports. Neighborho<?d Groups Consulted· Behind the plan lay several months of effort by a group at Northwestern University's Center for Urban Affairs and. Policy Research. NU representatives met last faff with the four city departments to identify housing-related information in departmental computers. They then surveyed neighborhood groups to find which information would be most useful, and put together the plan from their suggestions. Having the information compiled and sent to them will allow small-staff community organizations to use their time working directly with landlords and tenants, rather than in time-consuming research. Roberta Warshaw ofthe North River Commission pointed out that the information gives groups like hers an invaluable "early warning system" to identify buildings in trouble, rather than waiting until they are drastically deteri~)fated or abandoned. In addition, citywide information "will•enable groups to form a coalrtion to identify landlords holding buildings across the city that.are in trouble," according to Nancy Jefferson of the Midwest Community Council. Jefferson added. "I've been_working on the West Side for 39 years, and we've needed this kind of information for 37 of those 39 y~ars. It's·about time." Reform at Work "For those people who are still struggling to figure out what 'reform' means, this is a classic example," said . Mayor Washington. "We get this information with tax
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz