STANFORD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

POLS 104. URBAN POLICY:
STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
WINTER 2002

Luis Ricardo Fraga, Associate Professor
Office: Encina Hall, Rm. 444, 723 5219, Luis.Fraga@stanford.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course focuses on the identification and consideration of strategies for sustainable development in contemporary central cities in the U.S. Sustainable development is understood to include at least five distinct types of resources: human capital, social capital, fiscal capital, policy capital, and political capital. When major cities began to develop in the U.S. in the 1840s, the concentration of peoples, fiscal capital, industries, businesses, and political power presented unique challenges to the nation that were never anticipated by those who wrote the Constitution of 1787. Effective conflict resolution, justice, equality of opportunity, and secure material wellbeing were often rare in these communities and the ways in which the above described concentrations coincided with class, ethnicity, and race seemed to make their attainment unlikely. The ideologies of privatism and individual liberalism served as the primary catalysts of urban growth. They facilitated much accomplishment by some sectors of urban communities. These ideologies, however, also served to generate power, material, and opportunity disparities among segments of urban residents that the public institutions of national, state, and local governments were ill equipped to address. In this course we will determine the extent to which urban communities continue to confront the disparities described above and what options are available to contemporary public and private policy makers to eliminate these disparities or at least limit the extent to which they become more severe.

We will examine policy making in areas such as economic growth, human capital, neighborhood revitalization, housing, public education, and governance. For each issue area we will examine a number of different theoretical and empirical analyses and policy recommendations. Additionally, each student is required to work seven hours per week in a local government department, social service agency, or community based organization. This internship is designed to be a setting where one gathers the experience, evidence, and data to assess the accuracy, relevance, and utility of theoretical models presented in class. Stated differently, the primary goal of the course is to help you understand local policy making using traditional academic approaches and to enrich that understanding with informed experiences provided by the internship. The community of East Palo Alto will be the location of all student placements.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

The course will be conducted in the seminar format. Assigned readings must be completed before class so that constructive and consistent class participation can occur. Attendance at your internship on assigned days, during assigned hours, is mandatory.

You will be required to make two presentations to the class:

1. a presentation of your specific internship and the position of your department, agency, or organization within the decision making matrix of East Palo Alto, and,

2. a presentation of your final policy brief to the rest of the class who will sit as the East Palo Alto City Council, Board of Directors of your organization, or some other relevant decision-making body.

There are three writing requirements for the class:

1. a weekly journal of your experiences in the internship,

2. a five page discussion of your internship and your department, agency, or organization within the process of policy making in East Palo Alto, and,

3. a fifteen page policy brief where you make a specific proposal or report to a relevant decision-making body on the basis of research and your internship experiences.

The final course grade will be assessed as follows:

1. general class participation: 20%
2. presentation and essay of internship placement: 10%
3. journal of your experiences: 20%
4. presentation to the decision making body: 20%
5. final policy brief 30%

READINGS

The following books are available for purchase in the Stanford Bookstore:

Keating, Dennis W., Norman Krumholz, and Philip Star, eds. 1996. Revitalizing Urban Neighborhoods. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.

Keating, W. Dennis, and Norman Krumholz, eds. 1999. Rebuilding Urban Neighborhoods: Achievements, Opportunities, and Limits. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Schorr, Lisbeth B. 1997. Common Purpose: Strengthening Families and Neighborhoods to Rebuild America. NY: Anchor Books, Doubleday.

COURSE SCHEDULE

January 30: Fiscal Resources and Economic Growth

Paul E. Peterson, Ch. 2, “The Interests of the Limited City,” in City Limits, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1981, pp. 17 38.

Paul E. Peterson, “The Changing Fiscal Place of Big Cities in the Federal System,” in Henry G. Cisneros (ed.), Interwoven Destinies: Cities and the Nation, NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1993, pp. 187 210.

Clarence N. Stone, “The Study of the Politics of Urban Development,” in Clarence N. Stone and Heywood T. Sanders, eds., The Politics of Urban Development, Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1987, pp. 3 22.

David L. Imbroscio, Reconstructing City Politics: Alternative Economic Development and Urban Regimes, Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage Publications, Inc., 1997.

Ch. 2, “Reconstituting Urban Regimes,” pp. 23 45.

February 6: Human Capital Investment

William Julius Wilson, James M. Quane, and Bruce H. Rankin, “The New Urban Poverty: Consequences of the Economic and Social Decline of Inner City Neighborhoods,” in Fred R. Harris and Lynn A Curtis, eds., Locked in the Poorhouse: Cities, Race, and Poverty in the United States. NY: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1998, pp. 57 78.

Lisbeth Schorr, Common Purpose: Strengthening Families and Neighborhoods to Rebuild America, NY: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1998.
Ch. 6, “Beyond Welfare Repeal: Real Welfare Reform,” pp. 157 196.
Ch. 7, “Strengthening a Collapsing Child Protection System,” pp. 197 23 1.

February 13, 5:30 10 pm
Policy Decision Making in East Palo Alto: Student Presentations

February 20: Neighborhood Revitalization and Housing

W. Dennis Keating, Norman Krumholz, and Philip Star, eds., Revitalizing Urban Neighborhoods, Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1996, entire, especially Chs. 1 4, 10, 15.

Nicholas Lemann, “The Myth of Community Development,” The New York Times Magazine, January 9, 1994

Peter Dreier and John Atlas, “US Housing Policy at the Crossroads: Rebuilding the Housing Constituency,” Journal of Urban Affairs, V. 18, No. 4 (1996): 341 370.

Keating, W. Dennis, and Norman Krumholz, eds. 1999. Rebuilding Urban Neighborhoods: Achievements, Opportunities, and Limits. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Chs. 1, 2, 12, city specific chapter assigned to students.

*Philip Nyden, Anne Figert, Mark Shibley, and Darryl Burrows, Building Community: Social Science in Action, Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1997.

Case Study 2, John Gilderbloom, R.L. Mullins, Jr., Russ N. Sims, Mark T. Wright, La tondra R. Jones, “University Community Collaboration in Low Income Housing Projects and Neighborhood Revitalization in Louisville, KY, pp. 42 46.

Case Study 3, John Lukehart, “Collaborative, Policy Related Research in the Area of Fair Housing and Community Development,” pp. 47 5 1.

Case Study 4, Gregory D. Squires and Dan Willett, “Fair Lending Coalition: Organizing Access to Capital in Milwaukee,” pp. 52 57.

February 27: Public Education and Schools

Lisbeth Schorr, Common Purpose: Strengthening Families and Neighborhoods to Rebuild America, NY: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1998.

Ch. 8, “Educating America’s Children,” pp. 232 297.

Luis Ricardo Fraga, Bari Anhalt Ehrlichson, and Sandy Lee, “Consensus Building and School Reform: The Role of the Courts in San Francisco,” in Changing Urban Education, Clarence N. Stone, ed., University Press of Kansas, 1998, pp. 66 90.

March 6: Governing the Multi Cultural Metropolis

Rufus P. Browning, Dale Rogers Marshall, and David H. Tabb, Racial Politics in American Cities, Second Edition, NY: Longman, 1997.

Ch. 13, “Has Political Incorporation Been Achieved? Is It Enough?” pp. 277 299.

Clarence N. Stone, “Summing Up: Urban Regimes, Development Policy, and Political Arrangements,” in Clarence N. Stone and Heywood T. Sanders (eds.), The Politics of Urban Development, Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1987, pp. 269 290.

Lisbeth Schorr, Common Purpose. Strengthening Families and Neighborhoods to Rebuild America, NY: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1998.

Ch. 9, “Synergy: Putting It All Together to Transform Neighborhoods,” pp. 301 379.

Epilogue, “We Can Achieve Our Common Purpose,” pp. 380 385.

March 13 and 14: Extra Class Meeting – Presentation of Policy Briefs

March 18, 5 pm: Final Policy Brief Due

INTERNSHIP LIST:

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

East Palo Alto City Council
Contact: Duane Bay
Home: 326 2745
Work: (831) 430 4444
2415 University Ave.
East Palo Alto, CA 94303

East Palo Alto’s City Council has five members, each of whom serves two year terms. Although each member is responsible for providing leadership in various key policy areas, such as public safety and human resources, the council as a whole makes vital decisions on the allocation of government resources and the generation of new revenue.

The intern will work on specific projects, depending on his or her interests, under the supervision of Council member Duane Bay. Specifically, Council member Bay is looking for an intern to complete a report categorizing the different types of housing available in East Palo Alto. Likewise, the position will require some administrative work to support a community land trust organizing project led by Council member Bay.

SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES

The Enterprise Foundation
Contact: Robert Hoover
321 9639
2369 University Ave.
East Palo Alto, CA 94303

The Enterprise Foundation is a national organization headquartered in Columbia, Maryland. It maintains 14 local offices around the United States. The East Palo Alto office was established in 1996. The primary goal of the organization is to broker relationships between public and private actors to enhance the availability of affordable housing for low income residents. The Foundation also attempts to enhance human capital and promote community safety. Unlike other such programs, this group considers community based organizations of prime importance in the achievements of these goals.

The intern will work on the Community Safety Project. The program’s goals are to eliminate drug sales at specific sites within East Palo Alto, to reduce crimes and threats to public safety that are related to the drug trade, and to improve the physical environment by cleaning up parks and vacant lots and by eliminating housing code violations. The program is based on a collaborative effort between the city government, the non profit community, and the residents of the neighborhoods. The intern will work to help organize a consortium of 25 youth organizations working on this problem. Possible tasks include creating newsletters and a database.

Mr. Hoover has worked in the community for over 20 years and is very knowledgeable about all aspects of policy and politics in East Palo Alto. The intern will assist Mr. Hoover in a variety of aspects of his work.

Ecumenical Hunger Program
Contact: Nisa Kali
323 7781
1394 University Ave.
East Palo Alto, CA 94303

The Ecumenical Hunger Program is a private, non profit organization that works to alleviate hunger and poverty in the mid Peninsula since 1975. The organization views poverty as a consequence of other problems and provides support, counseling, referrals, and advocacy to help families resolve and prevent crises. The organization also meets the immediate needs of clients by providing food and clothing.

The intern will assist the organization in all aspects of its work, including the organization of files, the distribution of food and clothing to clients, and the identification of social service agencies. Much direct contact with clients is likely. Knowledge of Spanish would be an asset.

OICW
Contact: Sharon Williams
322 8431
sharwillkhotmail.com
1200 O’Brien Drive
Menlo Park, CA 94025

OICW’s mission is to improve the quality of life in the community through education, job skills training, placement, youth development and child development programs. It is a community-based, non profit organization which provides extensive academic and vocational training, counseling, and placement to approximately 3,000 low income people each year. OICW’s special programs target welfare reform, youth and the working poor. This internship is best for a student interested in job training and placement for youth and adults. There are a wide range of projects available. The intern will meet with Ms. Williams to design an internship interesting to the intern and of use to OICW.

The Girls Club
Contact: J.D. Williams
322 0543
PO Box 5006
East Palo Alto, CA 94303

The Girls Club is a non profit organization dedicated to providing educational, cultural and recreational programs for young women, ages 6 to 16 years in East Palo Alto, Belle Haven and surrounding areas. Mrs. Williams stresses that the intern be fully committed as the program fosters a healthy and nurturing environment. The program also works to provide basic life skills and computer skills to young women. The intern will work directly with young women in an area of interest to the intern. Possible projects range a good deal in their focus. Examples include helping track the migration of birds and starting an urban gardening project.

Start Up
Contact: Diana Romero
321 2193
1935 University Avenue, Ste. A
East Palo Alto, CA 94303

Start Up works to foster economic development in East Palo Alto. It provides training, capital and other assistance to locally owned small businesses. Start Up was established in 1994 as a result of collaboration between the Stanford Graduate School of Business students and community leaders.

Interns might staff Start Up’s technical assistance center, which provides services to entrepreneurs. Inters also might assist the center’s consultants with projects in market research and analysis. This internship is well suited for students interested in stimulating business development in low income neighborhoods.

Senior Center
Contact: Ruby Williams
329 5901
550 Bell Street
Palo Alto, CA 94303

The East Palo Alto Senior Center was organized to provide services and programs to senior residents of East Palo Alto. The mission of the Center is to enhance the quality of life for seniors and to insure equal access to social, economic and political systems in a safe, nurturing and secure environment.

The Senior Center is currently working to restructure itself to better meet the needs of East Palo Alto’s senior citizens. A consultant has been hired to evaluate the Center’s work and the needs of the community, and make recommendations as to how the center might organize itself more effectively. It has been suggested that the intern work together with the consultant on this project.

Free at Last
Contact: Gerardo Barragan
462 6299
1946 University Ave.
East Palo Alto, CA 94303

Free at Last is a non profit organization providing alcohol and drug treatment and preventions services, as well as health and HIV/AIDS education to individuals and families who will reside in East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park.

There will be two positions with Free at Last. Interns must speak Spanish. Also, this internship requires that students interview before Free At Last will commit to a quarter long placement. Students will tutor clients in basic English skills. This work will be done one on one or in small groups. This year, there will be an additional component and interns will also be tutoring adult English speaking clients.

COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS

One East Palo Alto
Contact: Carrie Pang
723 8749
HAAS Center for Public Service
562 Salvatierra Walk
Stanford, CA 94305

The One East Palo Alto (OEPA) Neighborhood Improvement Initiative is a resident driven revitalization effort aimed ultimately at improving the physical, economic, and social conditions in targeted neighborhoods within East Palo Alto. OEPA’s plan for improving these conditions starts with the community vision: One East Palo Alto that is informed, involved, connected, secure, and employed. Funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, OEPA involves Peninsula Community Foundation, Community Development Institute, and the Haas Center for Public Service as partners to support neighborhood residents and organizations involved in their initiative. The second year of the project (2000 2001) is dedicated to leveraging resources within and around Stanford University in support of OEPA activities, providing technical assistance to the residents, and developing a tracking system for OEPA.

The primary role of the Implementation Assistant is to provide administrative support to the residents and community based organizations involved in the OEPA implementations groups. Students will work with subcommittees to implement projects in one of three primary areas (Cross Cultural Community Building, Neighborhood Revitalization, and Individual/Family Support Systems), through the following activities:
-Attend Tuesday night community meeting and other committee meetings as needed.
-Provide Spanish translation, as needed.
-Provide general support to professional facilitators assigned to each subcommittee, including contacting members of the subcommittee
-Take notes during meetings and disseminate notes to subcommittee members and the OEPA staff/partners.
-There will be five intern positions within each respective committee. Those committees include:

1. Technology and Communication
2. Health and Human Services
3. Education with an emphasis on ESL includes the ballot and bond issues centering on public schools
4. Housing
5. Economics assessing the needs of business development in the community