Democracy Deferred
Democracy Deferred Civic Leadership after 9/11 David W. Woods
DEMOCRACY DEFERRED Copyright David W. Woods, 2012. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-34042-8 All rights reserved. First published in 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-34302-7 ISBN 978-1-137-01320-0 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137013200 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Woods, David W., 1953 Democracy deferred : civic leadership after 9/11 / David W. Woods. p. cm. ISBN 978 0 230 34042 8 (alk. paper) 1. Political participation United States History 21st century. 2. Civics History 21st century. 3. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001 Influence. I. Title. JK1764.W66 2012 323.0420973 dc23 2011036365 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: March 2012 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America.
Contents Li s t of Ta bl e s Key Events: Post-9/11 Civic Renewal Coalitions A ck n o w l e d g m e n t s v i i ix x i i i 1 Healing and Rebuilding: The Post-9/11 Call for Civic Leadership in New York s Struggle for a Citizen Voice 1 2 Phase One: Getting Organized to Make a Difference A Participatory Democratic Framework for Raising a Citizen Voice 23 3 Phase Two: Getting Heard and Throwing Weight Expert Advocacy to Influence Decisions 55 4 Democracy Deferred: Lessons for the Future 85 5 An Experience-Based Planning Framework for Future Civic Leaders: Interweaving a Braided Rope of Democratic Theory 105 Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Telling the Story: Notes on Research Methods and Data 129 List of Post-9/11 Civic Renewal Leaders and Their Organizations 139 Notes 145 Bibliography 167 Index 191
Tables 1.1 Four Civic Renewal Coalitions to Rebuild Lower Manhattan 13 5.1 A Participatory/Deliberative Democracy Matrix 115 A.1 Leaders Interviewed: Standpoints, Motivating Concerns, Roles, and Focuses of Primary Interest 133 A.2 Leadership Roles in Relationship to Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Poor/Working-Class Advocate 136 A.3 Leaders Primary Focal Interest 136
Key Events: Post-9/11 Civic Renewal Coalitions Phase One: September 2001 to September 2002 2 0 0 1 July 24 Port Authority of New York and New Jersey leases the World Trade Center (WTC) buildings to Larry Silverstein for 99 years, but retains control of the site (important in deciding control of the rebuilding decisions, especially during Phase Two). S e p t e m b e r 11 W T C a t t a c k e d. September Founders and other leaders start meeting on a weekly basis to organize the civic renewal coalitions that are based on the founders specific professional ethos planning, architecture, and social organizing.the coalitions continue to meet throughout the fall. October Governor George Pataki and the State Legislature establish the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) specifically to coordinate the rebuilding effort and to manage the federal funds ($20 million) promised by President George Bush. Then Mayor Rudolph Guiliani agrees to give Governor Pataki six out of the nine appointees to LMDC s board of directors. D e c e m b e r 6 A m e r i c a n P l a n n i n g A s s o c i a t i o n s N e w Yo r k M e t r o Chapter holds a conference titled World Trade Center Planning Efforts: Highlights at Baruch College. This conference focuses on the efforts to date of three civic renewal coalitions, The Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York,, New York /New Visions (NY/NV), and Imagine New York, and of their cofounders and leaders,robert Yaro, Eva Hanhardt, and Ernest Hutton all of whom requested volunteers to work on the public outreach efforts that they had planned for the spring of 2002. December The Civic Alliance hires AmericaSpeaks and its executive director, Carolyn Lukensmeyer, to develop a large-scale public event.
x Key Events 2 0 0 2 February 7 Civic Alliance holds Listening to the City 1 event at South Street Seaport. The public decision makers pledge to hold a second event on an even larger scale in the summer. February New York/New Visions publishes its Principles for the Rebuilding of Lower Manhattan. March Rebuild Downtown Our Town (R.Dot) issues its Guiding Principals, which focuses on all of Lower Manhattan. March-April Municipal Art Society (MAS) sponsors the Imagine New York: The People s Visions Programs. January June Civic Alliance organizes eight issue-focused working groups and reports back to the Civic Alliance Steering Committee. April 9 LMDC releases its Principles for Action, starting with the pledge to Make decisions based on an inclusive and open public process. June 11 New York /New Visions holds the June 11: Nine Months Since 9/11 Lessons Learned program at the Alexander Hamilton Building in Lower Manhattan and LMDC introduces the architecture firm of Beyer Bender & Belle to create the six concept design for the WTC. June MAS issues its Summary Report outlining the 49 findings of the Imagine New York project to LMDC and to the Mayor s office. July 20 Civic Alliance sponsors the second Listening to the City event at the Jacob Javits Center. A u g u s t 14 L M D C c a l l s f o r a n I n t e r n a t i o n a ld e s i g n C o m p e t i t i o n a s a direct outcome of Listening to the City 2. September Regional Plan Association (RPA) publishes the Listening to the City 2: Report of Proceedings. September The Civic Alliance agrees to A Planning Framework to Rebuild Downtown New York, published by the RPA, effectively marking the end of Phase One. Phase Two: October 2002 to December 2005 2 0 0 2 D e c e m b e r 13 17 T h e C i v i c A l l i a n c e s p o n s o r s a n i n v i t a t i o n - o n l y Planning and Design Workshop for Lower Manhattan, which focuses on responding to the LMDC s criteria for its International Design Competition. December The RPA publishes the Civic Alliance Planning and Design Workshop for Lower Manhattan: Executive Summary,
Key Events xi which is designed to present the Civic Alliance s design alternatives to the LMDC. 2 0 0 3 F e b r u a r y 2 7 G o v e r n o r P a t a k is e l e c t sd a n i e l L i b e s k i n d a s t h e m a s t e r planner for the WTC site. April LMDC issues its Principles and Preliminary Blueprint for the Future of Lower Manhattan, which includes the principle of continued open, transparent citizen participation. May 13 Municipal Art Society sponsors discussion on transportation issues affecting Lower Manhattan and the New York region at Pace University/Manhattan campus. I facilitated a breakout group. August The Civic Alliance coalitions develop the grant application to develop the Beyond 16-Acres Series. S e p t. - D e c e m b e r T h e M e m o r i a l C o m p e t i t i o n : S h u t t i n g o u t t h e P u b l i c Through Experts is held. October R.Dot hires David W. Woods, AICP, to serve as its executive director. November 10 R.Dot holds its first of two Beyond 16-Acres Series: Neighborhood and Housing in Lower Manhattan: Recommendations for the Mayor s Housing Plan. 2 0 0 4 February 2 R.Dot holds its second of two Beyond 16-Acres Series: Arts and Culture in Lower Manhattan: Giving Visual Artists a Voice in Planning. April The R.Dot board of directors decides to declare success in meeting its founding goals, and to release its members to work with other coalitions. September 17 19 New York /New Visions sponsors Learning from Lower Manhattan Conference at NYU. The NY Metro Chapter of the AIA issues its report. July 19 RPA sponsors Beyond 16-Acres: Implementing a High- Performance Lower Manhattan. D e c e m b e r L M D C i s s u e s i t s P r o g r e s s R e p o r t 2 0 01 2 0 0 4. 2 0 0 5 May MAS sponsors the last Beyond 16-Acres Series program focusing on issues surrounding the 9/11 survivors and their families in connection with LMDC.
xii Key Events June MAS declares that the Imagine New York program was a success and decides to move on to other organizational priorities, but will continue to support the Civic Alliance s endeavors. September 19 Civic Alliance sponsors the first of two discussions of Memorial at the behest of LMDC. October 11 Civic Alliance sponsors the second of two discussions of Memorial at the behest of LMDC. October RPA publishes the World Trade Center Memorial Museum Programming Workshops: Summary of Proceedings, and sends it to the coalition members, LMDC, the Port Authority, and the city of New York. This is the last major report to the Civic Alliance. October RPA issues its A Civic Assessment of the Lower Manhattan Planning Process to all the member coalitions, LMDC, Port Authority, and the city of New York. D e c e m b e r 15 G o v e r n o r G e o r g e P a t a k i a n d W T C d e v e l o p e r L a r r y Silverstein announce that Pritzker Prize winning architect Lord Norman Foster will design the third tower to be rebuilt at WTC, Tower Two, at 200 Greenwich Street. This takes control of the whole site away from Silverstein and his architect, David Childs (Daniel Libeskind has effectively been replaced). 2 0 0 6 July The various sources of foundation funding in support of the Civic Alliance ends, so does RPA s support; however, in reality, the Civic Alliance ended in December 2005. Only New York /New Visions is still functioning.
Acknowledgments I am grateful for the hundreds of civic renewal coalition leaders who dedicated their dreams, knowledge, and time to work tirelessly for over five years in order to provide thousands of citizens with real opportunities for civic engagement in hopes of influencing rebuilding decision after September 11, 2001. I am especially grateful to the civic renewal leaders who were helpful in framing the narrative for this book, which made it much stronger and more interesting. They include Roland Gebhardt, Steven Weber, Carolyn Lukensmeyer, Holly Leicht, Kim Miller, Rick Bell, Bev Willis, Alex Garvin, Michael Levine, Ethel Sheffer, Mark Strauss, Kelly Moore, Susan Fainstein, Brad Lander, Eva Hanhardt, Gianni Longo, and Susan Szenasy. My special thanks also go to Bob Yaro, Petra Todorovich, Ed Blakely, Ernie Hutton, and Ron Shiffman for their continuing support and encouragement. I am deeply in the debt of Archon Fung, Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenship at Harvard University, who not only read earlier drafts and provided highly valuable criticism and suggestions for improvement, but also provided a key theoretical framing for understanding participatory democracy in professional contexts; his continuing support has been invaluable. I am similarly indebted to Carmen Sirianni, Morris Hillquit Chair in Labor and Social Thought and professor of sociology and public policy at Brandeis University, for his careful early reading of this book, as well as for his guidance and enthusiasm for this project; his support of my career both as an urban planner and as a sociologist continues to be important to my ability to do both kinds of work. I am grateful to Francesca Polletta, professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine, from whom I learned social movement theory at Columbia University, and who modelled participant observation techniques by observing a group discussion on transportation issues that I facilitated; I look forward to continuing our discussions in the years to come. I would like to thank Lynn Chancer, professor of
xiv Acknowledgments sociology at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center; E. Doyle McCarthy, professor of sociology at Fordham University; and Evelyn Bush, associate professor of sociology at Fordham University, for the countless hours they put into providing guidance on earlier versions of this manuscript; their continuing support for my work is truly meaningful to me. I presented parts of this work to the following groups and received helpful comments from participants: the New York Pragmatist Forum, the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, the Summer Institute in American Philosophy, the Society for the Study of Africana Philosophy, the American Sociological Association, and the American Planning Association. I am grateful to Robyn Curtis and Matthew Kopel, my editors at Palgrave Macmillan, who took a chance on this manuscript, as well as to an anonymous reviewer whose insightful suggestions made it stronger. I am grateful for lifelong support from my parents, David Lee Woods and Mary Jane Brewster Woods (1926 1984); my stepmother, Phyllis L. Chambers; and my sisters and brothers, Kathi, Douglas, Keith, Scott, and Kim. I am also grateful to my sister-in-law, Shannon L. Green, for coaching me to the finish line. Finally, I am grateful to my beloved life partner, Judith Mary Green, who has traveled with me throughout this adventure, sharing my hopes, pushing me to do better, and generously commenting on every draft. Her meeting me at the door to hold me and comfort me on that history-changing day of September 11, 2001, is what kept me together after my personal experience of witnessing the second terrorist attack from six blocks away and later fleeing north through the hot white snow with countless other New Yorkers. They and those whom we lost that day were always on my mind as I wrote this story and thought about what it means for all of us.