II Design of the Imagine.Akron
Program
Imagine.Akron: 2025 is a citizen-led planning effort
designed to assist the municipal government in setting long-term goals for the growth and
operation of Akron. Imagine.Akron is to suggest Goals that the City of Akron
should achieve if it is to retain the confidence of its citizens; reveal those Strategies
that will enable the private and public sectors to achieve such Goals; and identify the
necessary Resources necessary to succeed. The project complements the ongoing work
of professional planners in the City of Akron and in the numerous public and private
agencies that serve Akron.
The project began in January, 1999 and is to conclude in September,
2000 with a presentation to the Akron Roundtable, and publication of a report to the
Mayor, Council and people of the City of Akron.
The program is chaired by community activist Dave Lieberth, a mediator
in private practice who volunteered time to serve as project Chair, and is also a paid
consultant to the project. The project is overseen by a diverse community advisory board
of 18 people representing every area of the City. The Project Manager is Gigi Woodruff, an
attorney and consultant to Info Line. The Communications Director is Billy Soule,
veteran Akron radio-television producer.
Imagine.Akron was underwritten with an allocation of $150,000
from the City of Akron, and a contribution of $42,500 from Akron Tomorrow, a
coalition of Akron’s leading private-sector employers.
The first phase of the twenty-month project was to inventory topics.
These were generated from discussions with some 100 community leaders; written surveys;
the Imagine.Akron Advisory Board; and individual conferences with the Mayor and his
Cabinet, the Akron Superintendent of Schools, the President of the Akron Regional
Development Board, and the President of the University of Akron. An open forum was held to
incorporate public comments. As a result, 40 topics were identified that relate to the
future of the City.
Workgroups were formed from volunteers who either work or live
in the City of Akron. They were solicited through direct mail; the Imagine.Akron
website; advertising/promotion in newspapers, radio, and publicly placed posters; and
public meetings of City employees.
There are two types of Workgroups: Four Cabinets
whose broad focus is the "macro" view of economic development, planning of
resources, delivery of services to families, and delivery of services to neighborhoods;
and 36 Panels whose narrower focus is the "micro" view of a topic.
Each Workgroup was assigned a Moderator - - charged with
convening the Workgroup and directing the conversations in a way that will enable the
widest participation and the freest flow of ideas.
Most Workgroups had a Resource Delegate, an expert in the topic
area, in most cases, an employee of the City of Akron, who could provide information on
existing services and who could share research from the field.
Workgroups were asked to meet approximately 6 times over a period of 5
months Each Workgroup submitted a report of its deliberations and suggestions to the Imagine.Akron
Advisory Board.
Imagine.Akron held 10 public meetings called "Citizen
Assemblies." Unlike most public-meeting formats, a moderator convened the
discussion by offering chairs at a round table in the center of the group to those who
wished to be heard. Each assembly was televised on Time-Warner Cable in the several days
following each assembly.
Other programs included:
An interactive Citizen Assembly on Education, televised live on PBS
45/49 with 25 live telephone respondents who participated along with an informed panel of
educators.
A Town Meeting on Race with Coming Together and the
University of Akron.
An All-City Assembly for Students, 100 selected from
Akron’s 12 high schools, televised live on Time Warner Cable, with other students
participating by e-mail.
Two "Conversations In The Round," one entitled "The
Future of Health Care in Akron" and the other entitled "e-Akron: The
Future of Technology Business in Akron." The programs were conducted at the John
S. Knight Center at the noon hour, and received radio and television coverage.
A day-long Leadership Assembly which brought together 100
key participants to review the project.
Polling of a random sample of 402 Akron residents, conducted by
the University of Akron’s Center for Policy Research.
