Page 6 RAIN November/December 1985 WHERE DOES OUR MONEY COME FROM? Transfer Payments: 14C FROM: The Homegrown Economy: A Prescription for St. Paul's Future St. Paul's Homegrown Economy: Self-ReHance in Action Future. It is available for $5 from the Office of the Mayor, 347 City Hall, St. Paul, MN 55102. RAIN: What are the key principles of St. Paul's Homegrown Economy? Morris: The Homegrown Economy stems from the self- reliant city concept. The key principle is that the city meets as many of its needs as it can through its internal resources—that it produces as many of its material goods as it can from within its geographical borders, and that it also meets its emotional and human needs from within its borders. So the self-reliant city emphasizes both economic development—relying on internal resources—and a sense of responsibility for the weak and the needy. Human caring and sharing networks are as important as business development and new production techniques. RAIN: How did St. Paul's program get started? Morris: In the early 1970s, the city of St. Paul underwent a charter change and an electoral change. The charter change was that it became a strong mayor form of government. A new mayor was elected, George Latimer, in 1976. During the next few years he reorganized the city government to make it a much more efficient and streamlined organization. The city government began attaining a sophistication in a number of different development techniques, in both small business development In past issues ofRAIN, we have discussed various projects designed to help local economies become more self-reliant by developing their internal resources and reducing their dependence on imported goods. While projects such as Kodak's Regeneration Project (see RAIN XI:4, page 26) and Rocky Mountain Institute's Economic Renewal Project (see RAIN XI:5, page 18) are just beginning to apply the principles of self-reliant economic development to specific locales, there is one city where these principles are being put into practice in a big way: St. Paul, Minnesota. Started by Mayor George Latimer in 1982, the Homegrown Economy project was conceived of as a way of stimulating local economic growth in a time of municipal cutbacks and general economic recession. Much of the inspiration for this project camefrom David Morris' work with the Institutefor Local Self-Reliance in Washington, D.C., and his writings on self- reliant cities (see below). Recently, Morris was hired to work in St. Paul to further develop the Homegrown Economy concept. We called Morris in St. Paul, and he graciously granted us the following interview. For further elaboration on some of the general ideas he discusses here, you might want to read his books—The New City States (Institute for Local Self- Reliance, 1982) and Self-Reliant Cities: Energy and the Transformation of Urban America (Sierra Club Books, 1982). For more information specifically about St. Paul's Program, an attractive booklet has been put together called The Homegrown Economy: A Prescription for St. Paul's
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