During the two years that I was a council member in the minority, I learned an awful lot about what people were thinking. I worked very hard to defend rent control and I worked on a lot of small issues, like prohibiting discrimination against children in housing and item pricing legislation (which was of very big importance to the retail clerks' union). I worked on improving bike lanes and narrowing streets and on trying to get some social services. While I did it, I learned about some of the key issues that people were really concerned about, so by the time we ran a council election in April of '81 we really had a good sense of what the majority of people's concerns were in our city. ... We ran an election that focused on rent control as the basic issue but then went beyond it to define what we thought were important issues for a local government and to give us a mandate to proceed. The basic thing was the people came first. The people who lived in the city meant more than the business interests or the bankers or the developers who were making decisions. Again, that goes back to the basic issue of land use control. V » It's terribly important that people on the left begin to realize that they have to deal with safety issues. We cannot be the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] when we run for political office. People have legitimate fears, legitimate concerns. It's the responsibility of government to do what it can to protect them in a balanced way—not to let them believe that simply having a policeman on every comer is going to solve the crime problem. .. . » » » We are showing [in Santa Monica] that government can be just as tough, in fact a tougher negotiator than any business is. ... A government that's wishy washy, that makes mistakes, that can't stand up for anything—that sort of government people do want off their backs. A government that stands up clearly for issues and delivers on them, they're happy for. Shell Oil Company had a franchise for a pipeline under our city that they were paying $1000 a year for over the last 40 years. Fortuitously, the franchise expired just after our election. We have now negotiated with them and they've paid us $40,000 for six months. ... it 3^ Tm convinced that as Reagan cuts back on the amount of monies available to local government that the only option local governments have, whether they're in control or not, is to use their land use authority to get the services they need. « « « We've tripled our social services budget, including a hefty portion that goes to community organizing groups so that people organize and are institutionalized as part of the democratic system in 1 April 1982 RAIN Page 21 "The issue of rent control goes right to the heart of the question of land use and capital formation that cities use, that cities can control." our city. We have the first multi-residential garbage recycling program, a municipal solar utility, a municipal enterprise department. .. . We started a farmers' market that the downtown businessmen are happy about, we have a resolution opposing intervention in El $alvador, we have a status of women commission. .. . We're still learning how to do these things and we have a lot of struggles in our coalition to keep everybody together and keep them moving forward. We think that we'll be making the models that people can use. □□ RUSH RAIN staffer Steve Rudman will be traveling through Europe this fall ('82) and is looking for creative/interesting community projects to visit with and report on in RAIN. Particularly interested in visiting community economic development, neighborhood-based services, and citizen cooperation models. Got any suggestions? Please write to Steve do RAIN, 2270 NW Irving, Portland, OR 97210. See you at the fair? The 1982 World's Fair, whose theme is International Energy Development will include sections on electricity generation, energy conservation, and solar applications, and give information on natural resources, agriculhual research, and community-based economic development programs. This year's Fair will be held from May to October in Knoxville, TN. For further information write to 1982 World's Fair, P.O. Box 1982, Knoxville, TN 37901. The American Section of the International Solar Energy Society is sponsoring a conference entitled "The Renewable Challenge" which is "expected to be the most important gathering of solar energy professionals during the coming year." Sessions have been scheduled on International Energy Development, Advanced Design and Technology, the Solar Market, and Solar and the Utilities. Also featured will be a renewable energy film festival, an energy design charette, and an international energy technology exhibition. The conference and exhibition will be held at the Albert Thomas Convention Center in Houston, Texas, June 1-5,1982. For more information contact Russell Smith, The Energy and Communications Group, 1415 Larimer Square, Denver, CO 80202,512/472-1252. cont.—
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