Chapter 12

Historical Origins

An Early Coordinating Council

Organized Community Councils

Representation of a Council

Weaknesses of Coordinating Councils

Using Public Officials

Co-opted Membership

Selecting Members

Membership Standards - Nine Points

The Scope of the Community Council

Community Council Publicity

Community vs. Coordinating Councils

The Work of the Community Council

Organization of the Community Council

Limiting Initial Objectives

Suggestions as to New Councils

Suggestions for the Program

Surveys

Leadership

Keeping the Public Informed

Council Meetings—Programs and Policies

Other Forms of Community Organization

Questions

 

The Community Course
Part 2 - Community Design
Part  1   2   3   4      Chapter 10  11  12  13  14


12. The Community Council

 


Points to cover

  • The Community Council is possibly one of the most important fruits of American democracy.

  •  The Community Council has a long and venerable American history, with many independent origins.

  • There are many sources of information and assistance from within the movement to those starting out. 

  • There are principles, or standards, of membership within a Community Council.

 

Historical Origins
The Community Council movement seems to have had several independent origins. During the First World War such organizations were proposed as a defense measure, and it is said that thousands were organized, but nearly all of them disappeared after the war. From 1912 to 1919 Community Councils were promoted by the Massachusetts Agricultural College, under the leadership of Dr. E. L. Morgan. The first publication on the subject, Mobilizing the Rural Community, by Dr. Morgan, outlined methods and policies strikingly similar to the latest pronouncements by proponents of Coordinating Councils, except that his program looked more to long-time planning, concerned rural communities chiefly (whereas the Coordinating Council has been a movement of large city and suburban communities), and called for a greater degree of direct community participation. With his retirement from Massachusetts, and with the after war relaxation, the movement largely stopped, but his bulletin spread the idea.

An Early Coordinating Council
In 1919 Dr. Virgil E. Dickson, Director of the Bureau of Research and Guidance of the Public Schools of Berkeley, California, and August Vollmer, Chief of Police of Berkeley, began to have lunch together and to coordinate their work. Then, after some years, with four other department heads, they organized to form the "Berkeley Coordinating Council.” In 1929 the California Commission for the Study of Problem Children recommended the spread of the Berkeley idea, and by 1933 there were about fifty Coordinating Councils in the state.

Organized Community Councils
In 1929 the village of Alexandria, Ohio, organized a “Community Council” which has had a continuous and successful career. At Norris, Tennessee, under the T.V.A., a Community Council was organized in 1936, and for some years constituted the sole governing body of the community of 1500 people. In 1934 “Neighborhood Coordinating Councils” were formed in Cincinnati. Doubtless numerous other similar organizations have originated in past years quite independently of each other. In 1935 an organization of the 90 Coordinating Councils of California was formed, as the “California Coordinating Councils.” In March, 1938, “Coordinating Councils, Inc.,” was created, and has since been the active head of an active movement for the organization of such councils.

The only available census of Community Councils, that of the American Legion, seems to be indefinite. For instance, the 175 Councils reported from New Jersey are, in fact, quite another type of organization, and others were reported which, while organized, did not survive. While it reported six hundred Coordinating Councils in the United States, and while this figure is frequently quoted, there may be a much smaller number in effective operation.

Representation of a Council
The Community Council may well be one of the most important inventions or creations of American democracy, perhaps not even second to city manager government. It may be made up of one representative of each live, active public-interest organi­zation in the community. That is, the Chamber of Commerce would appoint one member, the Parent Teachers Association, the League of Women Voters, the Garden Club, the Rotary Club, the Trades and Labor Council, each church, the Farm Bureau or Grange, each would appoint one representative, and so on through the public-interest organi­zations of the community. These representatives would constitute a council to plan the fuller development of the community, to study its needs and shortcomings, and to cooperate with governmental bodies and with the member organizations, for the improvement and development of the community.

A great value of the Community Council lies in the fact that it represents every public-spirited interest and organization in the community. It cuts across all party and class lines, and gives representation to the entire community. When constituted as indicated above, it is exceptionally resistant to political or other manipulation.

The Coordinating Council movement is of great importance, and great credit is due to the unselfish efforts of those in California who are chiefly responsible for it. As is natural with any new movement, it has not arrived suddenly at perfection, and in planning the organization of Community Councils difficulties may be avoided by observing early shortcomings of the movement which are in process of being eliminated.

Weaknesses of Coordinating Councils
The first of these weaknesses is the tendency in some cases for public officials and public employees to dominate the Councils. In the original Coordinating Council, of Berkeley, California, and in several other Councils in that region, the entire representation was made up of public officials or public employees. It would seem to be a natural and necessary part of good local government to have a coordinating committee, with representatives from each department or agency concerned with local government, to prevent overlapping of effort or failure to cover the ground, and to develop understanding, unity, and economy in local government. Yet such a committee of public officers and employees does not take the place of a Community Council made up largely of non-governmental representatives.

While the Community Council should be in touch with all government departments and agencies that are concerned with the life of the community, yet in the opinion of the writer, public officers or employees should not dominate the Community Council. It would be well for each major official department or agency concerned with local government to designate one person to meet with the Community Council when desired, and to be a connecting link between the Community Council and the government department or agency, but not more than perhaps one fourth of the Community Council members should be public officials or employees.

Using Public Officials
The value of working with public officials is well expressed by Kenneth S. Beam:

It has been the experience of coordinating councils in California, with some exception, that the public officials are ready to participate in the council program and that they welcome the opportunity to cooperate with the private agencies and civic organizations. The very assumption that this cooperation will be forthcoming often produces cooperation, when any other attitude would have failed. In those instances in which the council feels that some public service needs improvement, they have found that they can usually serve such improvement by working with the official concerned and offering cooperation, rather than by criticism or opposition.

"It frequently happens that the improvement in service or additional service sought by the coordinating council has long been the objective of the official in charge, but that he has been unable to secure the improvement because of lack of funds or lack of approval of other officials. The weight of opinion registered by the coordinating council in many cases has provided the support that the officials have needed to secure the service that they have long desired."  --Coordinating Councils in California, p. 49.

Co-opted Membership
In addition to members representing public-interest organizations, it would be well for the Community Council itself to select a few "co-opted members,” that is, persons chosen for membership because of special personal ability to render service. These may be full members with voting powers, or associate members with opportunity to discuss but not to vote. For instance, a physician in the community may be greatly interested in public health, and willing to work in that field, and yet he may not be chosen to represent any civic organization; or some person may be chosen as co-opted member who would be responsible for developing community music.

Selecting Members
Another shortcoming of the Coordinating Council movement has been the lack of a clearly defined basis for selecting members. As the Community Council becomes a more and more important element in our national life, this shortcoming may have serious results. The question rises, what kind of organization is qualified to have representation in the Council? Suppose the largest church in town has a Men’s Club, a Ladies' Aid Society, a Sunday School, and a Boys’ Club, can each claim a representative? Suppose the Trades and Labor Council is made up of half a dozen craft unions, should each union have a representative? Unless clear policies are developed, such issues may make trouble.

Membership Standards - 9 points

The following general principles or standards are suggested for membership in Community Councils:

1.      Government officials or employees shall not constitute more than a quarter, or at most a third, of the members of the Council.  Where some public official not on the Council has some special knowledge or skill which would be of particular service to the Council, as for example the public health officer or the teacher of school music, such person, if co-opted by the Community Council, may be an associate member without a vote. If any general class of people in the community should be found to be without representation, such as the farmers adjoining the community center, or some foreign population group, such as Mexicans in a Southwestern city, the Community Council may appoint representatives of such groups. The total number of co-opted members shall not be more than a third of the whole membership.

2.      Only civic-purpose organizations are eligible to appoint representatives to the Community Council. This classification does not include amusement organizations, such as country clubs, golf clubs, or bridge clubs, though it may include a sportsman's club if its interest is largely that of game preserva­tion. The criterion is that the organization shall be committed to the public service. Purely commercial organizations like advertising men’s associations or coal dealers’ associations are not eligible to choose representatives. Cultural societies concerned only with the interests of their own members, such as dramatic clubs and private music clubs, are not eligible.

3.      Political or propaganda organizations, such as the Democratic or Republican Committees or the Communist Party organization, or the Single Tax Club, are not eligible.

4.      No organization will be eligible to appoint a representative if the organization has been created chiefly for that purpose, or if it has been in active existence for less than five years, or if its membership is less than one percent of the population of the community, or if it is a secret organi­zation.

5.      Membership shall be for three years, approximately one third retiring each year. Initially the expiration of the terms of members may be determined by lot. After a member has served for two consecutive terms, he or she shall not be eligible for a third term until one year has elapsed.

6.      The secretary need not be a member of the Council.

7.      In case an organization has subsidiary or component organizations, only the central organization shall be represented. A loose association of officers, such as a town ministers’ association, does not constitute a central organization, and is not qualified to appoint a representative to the Council.

8.      There shall be no restriction of membership on the basis of race or color.

9.      Any civic organization meeting the above conditions for membership may appoint a member to the Community Council. In case of disagreement as to eligibility of an organization, the vote of the majority of the Council shall be conclusive. 

The Scope of the Community Council
Another shortcoming of the Coordinating Council movement is that in its origin and in much of its development it has been concerned chiefly with juvenile delinquency and with underprivileged boys and girls. Important as is this field of work, the scope of the Community Council should be much greater--nothing less, in fact, than the development of every phase of community life in good proportion to every other. Leaders of the Coordinating Council movement are coming to recognize this need. Juvenile delinquency is largely the result of unbalanced community development. While not forgetting juvenile delinquency as an important community responsibility, yet the chief consideration should be to create such a community that juvenile delinquency will seldom originate there.

Community Council Publicity
Still another frequent shortcoming of Co­ordinating Councils has been a policy of avoiding publicity. Many communities know little of the work of their Coordinating Councils, the near secrecy being justified by the Councils on the ground that since much of the work is for delinquents or for persons or families in trouble, publicity would be humiliating to those being dealt with. With a larger view of the place of the Community Council, publicity becomes imperative. The public has a right to know what is being done by such an important organization. Publicity can help to clarify issues, and can make the public aware of the significance of the small community in the life of the nation. It need not make public specific cases where personal or family embarrassment would result from publicity. But through a wise handling of publicity the idea of community integration and unity can be developed little by little, and a feeling of pride in and loyalty to the community can grow. (This shortcoming also is now recognized and is being overcome by the Coordinating Council movement.)

While the Coordinating Council movement has made a great contribution to American life, yet it has needed a clearer definition of purpose and of method, and a broader vision of its possibilities, if it is to make the very great contribution to American life which is inherent in the idea. The steady growth of the concept is illustrated in the bulletin of Coordinating Councils, Inc., A Guide to Community Coordination, (28 pp.,). This is an excellent guide to community organi­zation, and should be in the hands of every person concerned with such activities.

The present discussion of Community Councils is from the standpoint of small communities, which usually do not have councils of social agencies or organizations of paid social workers. Therefore many of the recommendations commonly made for neighborhood councils in large cities, or in suburbs of large cities, are not applicable. The lack of social workers in the small community may be compensated for by a sense of neighborliness and of "belonging" among people who serve their own needs largely without paid professional workers.

Community vs. Coordinating Councils
It may seem to the reader that the terms "Community Council" and "Coordinating Council" are used indiscriminately in this discussion, but such is not the case. The term “Coordinating Council" is used with reference to the movement which developed first in California, and which is served by Coordinating Councils, Inc., of Los Angeles. This movement was initiated, and has been largely led, by heads of departments in local governments, who got together to compare notes, to harmonize and to unify their efforts, and to prevent duplications and omissions in their work. In the view of the early organizers, the value of their "Coordinating Council" was to enable them as department heads to do better the work of their several governmental departments or agencies. In this development the state government, and the federal government through W.P.A. workers, have shared expense and have been helpful. In the literature of that movement repeatedly one meets the statement that the Coordinating Council is not to undertake projects on its own account, but is only to coordinate the work of other agencies. The Coordinating Council movement to a considerable degree is outgrowing that attitude and is recognizing the need for undertakings by the Council itself.

In contrast, the Community Council, while undertaking to co-ordinate the work of existing public and private agencies, does not hesitate to undertake projects of its own. A typical example is the Community Council of Alexandria, Ohio, which has a long period of successful work second only to that of Berkeley, California. The Alexandria Council originated a public library for the community, and in connection with the library provided a social room for farm women. It developed a public playground. It worked out a Community Calendar of meetings. It directed three community pageants at intervals of five years. It directs an annual Halloween party. It promotes the community musical program through an existing agency - the public school system. The Council at Yellow Springs, Ohio, both informally coordinates the work of other agencies and initiates projects of its own.

The Coordinating Council had its origin and much of its development in large cities, or in suburban areas which had facilities largely financed by large cities. In such cases there were well developed public departments and agencies to coordinate. There were health officials, the juvenile court, probation officers, recreation officers, etc. The movement has the color of a large city, or of the suburb of a large city. Its literature constantly emphasizes the need for paid professional workers, which means that it is to some degree impersonal, like large city government.

In contrast, the Community Council of Alexandria, Ohio, is in a village of 500 people, with 1500 in the farm population which is included in the community, and which actually shares in the program. In such a community there are relatively few public or private agencies to coordinate. There is no juvenile court, no recreation department. Short of the entire county there is no governmental or other organization, except the Community Council, which includes the entire community of village and farm area. There is little money for paid workers, so the people must do the work themselves by old time neighborly cooperation. In creating the community playground by filling a gully and removing an eyesore, the actual physical work as well as the planning was the unpaid volunteer work of the villagers and farmers.

In producing each of the three pageants at five year intervals, every member of the Alexandria community in village and country who was old enough to participate had some part, and no one had more than one responsibility. The chairperson of the Council is a farmer living outside the village. Thus, the Community Council, as represented by Alexandria, is a movement to overcome the separateness of denominations, school board, village council, farm organizations, and business people's clubs, to create in reality a community of friends and neighbors who get acquainted with each other by cooperating in community undertakings. This element of becoming a real community is no less important than that of preventing duplication and omission in the work of the several departments, agencies, and organizations. The very fact that the whole community works together on a given project creates a bond of neighborliness.

There is room for both types of community organization, and for various grades between, but the small community will lose something very valuable if it sees its Council as chiefly a means of preventing omissions and duplications in the work of its various agencies and organizations. Its chief work is to recreate the community of friends and neighbors, and to bring it to a well proportioned development.

The Work of the Community Council
The Community Council should not do the work which other organizations in the community are willing to do and capable of doing. Where no organization exists in the community which is willing and able to perform some necessary service, then the Community Council should not hesitate to perform that service if it is able to do so. But such cases in general should be limited to general community projects, such as the development of a calendar for community meetings or the establishment of a public library. 

First of all, it should be the business of the Community Council and of its members to understand the history, principles, and problems of communities in general; to know their own community thoroughly; and to appraise its needs and possibilities. With that background of knowledge it should be the business of the Community Council to know how the public work of the community is being carried on, to point out weak­nesses and ways of correcting them, to support able efforts and to recognize good work. It should aim constantly to promote the coordination of the work of various organizations and agencies, so that wasted time, effort, and expense may be eliminated, and a higher degree of efficiency may be achieved.

Coordination and integration may not mean consolidation or elimination of organizations of similar purpose. Small units often are desirable because they allow more intimate relations. Several small churches, if they are not too small and weak, may serve their members better than one or two large ones in which intimate acquaintance would be lost. Different churches and other organizations appeal to different temperaments. Such small organizations with similar aims should not be looked upon as necessarily competing with each other, any more than squads or divisions which make up a regiment, or the artillery, cavalry, and infantry of an army, are competing. They may have friendly and helpful relations with each other. It may be better for a community to have several Ladies’ Aid societies, and several luncheon clubs, rather than to have one large organization of each kind.

There can be too many or too few organizations in a community, or too many of one kind and too few, or none at all, of another kind. There needs to be a sense of fitness and a sense of proportion in establishing and maintaining organizations in a community. Questions to be answered such as: In view of other needs and interests, is there justification for drawing off part of the total resources for the new organization, or to maintain an old one? Are enough people interested in the organization to give reasonable prospect of success? Does the organization menace others that are more valuable? Is the community over organized?

When any practical need of the community is not being taken care of it is the business of the Community Council, or of its appropriate committee, to bring the need to the attention of the appropriate government department or other agency, and to follow up the matter until suitable results are achieved.

The Community Council should keep the public informed of the state of community affairs. It should seldom if ever try to enforce its opinions by legal or other drastic action, except as it may inform public opinion of the facts and needs and possibilities.

Organization of the Community Council
The initial members of the Community Council may well be proposed to the various organizations by the initial study group heretofore discussed, for appointment as members of the Council. Before making such recommendations to the several organizations, the study group would, of course, discuss the various possibilities with the best informed and most responsible members of the community; and perhaps a committee of such men and women might be appointed informally to draw up a list of proposed names. After the initial organization of the Community Council, reappointments would be made by the several organizations as they should see fit. When subsequent appointments are in order, in case some member of an organization is especially qualified to give good service, the Community Council might suggest his or her name to be placed in nomination among others.

When the Community Council is organized it will be divided into several committees. One or more of these may be concerned with the general theory and philoso­phy of community organization. Any group will do better work if it is familiar with the history and background of its problems. It would make the Community Council a more useful group if perhaps the first third of every regular meeting were spent in a study of the history and philosophy and problems of communities in general. One or more committees might be responsible for that part of the program. If no better plan should emerge, at each meeting a chapter might be read from one of the best books on the subject, or a description might be read or given of significant and successful work elsewhere.

Other committees will be concerned with various specific subjects, and special committees may be appointed for limited periods to deal with temporary or special issues as they appear.

To a considerable degree the work of most Coordinating Councils is the outcome of concern for juvenile delinquency and for the needs of underprivileged boys and girls. The Community Council should have a wider range of interests. It should be concerned with the efficiency of the local government and with the economic possibilities of the community, with cultural opportunities and possibilities; in fact, with the whole range of community life. This need for increased range of interest is more and more being recognized by the Coordinating Council movement.

It probably would be unwise to have committees on all phases of community life at once. Unless there is some definite need for it, a committee should not be organized for the sake of having a committee, but in case some member or members have a definite interest in which they wish to work, a committee may well be provided for that purpose. For instance, one or a few persons may feel very strongly that boys and girls finishing high school should have help to prepare for definite callings. In that case they may be made a committee for that purpose.

Limiting Initial Objectives
At first attention might well be limited to a few major issues. In addition to the day-by-day work of meeting the current needs of the community, it might be well for the Community Council to give its major attention for six months or a year at a time to some single issue. For one year the major issue might be a study of the economic life and possibilities of the community. Such a concentration of attention would not prevent the music committee from going ahead with its work, or the committee on health from taking account of current needs.

The initial study group, if it should not be absorbed into the Community Council, might very well continue its work, for the organization of a Community Council will not suddenly result in community consciousness, even among Council members. Unless their interest is maintained, some of the members will be willing to let the Council die. Someone must continue to work hard and patiently against repeated discouragement in order to put flesh and blood and life on the dry bones of organization. It might be that for years the fate of the whole movement might rest on the persistent work of one person or of a small group, some of whom probably would be members of the Community Council. If the Council as a whole seems listless, perhaps some committee chairperson is alive, and with the help of the initial study group, might make his or her own small part of the program such a success as to give life to the whole Council. Often it is by such a course of taking any legitimate opportunity which presents itself, that success finally is achieved.

Suggestions as to New Councils
From the literature of the Coordinating Council movement the following suggestions are culled. Their value is largely due to the fact that they are the product of actual work with Coordinating Councils. Most of them were assembled by Kenneth S. Beam, Executive Secretary of Coordinating Councils, Inc.

"In starting a Council one should concentrate on a few interested individuals rather than try to form an organization with a large number of people." [During the early days of a Council, and until community interest is well established, one thoroughly interested person might represent two or more organizations, but his aim should be to interest others to become representa­tives of all but one of them.]

Start with a small group, then increase by inviting representatives from other organizations in the community, until all are represented."

"Sell the idea to three people who will devote their time and efforts, and the job is begun."

"Take plenty of time to secure good representation from each member organization."

"Get young people on the committees."

"Secure the broad, inclusive participation of all possible interests and agencies."

"Work very closely with the law enforcement bodies."

"Include in the membership the people's groups, so that the Council is not superimposed on a community."

“Secure an active and discriminating membership chairman."  

Suggestions for the Program

"Study the community, find actual needs; then select one need and meet it."

"Find a vital basic need, and concentrate all efforts to fill that need."

"Start work immediately on some problem, however small, which can show tangible results."

"Begin with a small group attacking a definite project, one that can be completed within a reasonable time so that interest can be maintained."

"Go slow. Analyze needs, but do not expect to accomplish everything at once."

"Do not attack too many problems."

"Limit the scope of the project to that which can be well done. Expand as resources and understanding permit.”

Surveys

"The Council's first activity should be to study the neighborhood from the social viewpoint."

"Definite understanding of community problems must precede program building."

Leadership

"The one person who represents the Council in the eyes of the community is the chairman. If he or she is a person in whom the community has confidence, and is one whose interests go far beyond his own organization, the Council has a good chance of succeeding. Ordinarily he should be a person who has already demon­strated his ability by having served as the leader of other organizations in the community." 

No one person can possibly have experience or training in all the fields touched upon by the average Coordinating Council."

"He or she should not be known as an extremist in any field, political, religious, or professional. He should not be a fanatic, a radical, or a reactionary, and not one who is inclined to ride one hobby to death."

"She should be one who does not try to capitalize on his organization contacts for personal gain, or to make use of the organization for political advancement.”

"He should be able to detect and emphasize points of agreement and to minimize points of difference until common ground is discovered.”

(Some of these suggestions seem to emphasize tactfulness rather than courage and conviction. A real leader will do more than tactfully prevent friction. He will have conviction and creative ideas, and will not shun unpopularity when that is necessary.)

"Never allow politics to enter."

"Select a chairman who will lead from the community point of view, not from a church or a P.T.A. point of view."

"Be cautious lest you have publicity seekers."

"If they don't want a lot of hard work without pay or credit, or if they are not able to give a lot of free time, don't organize.”

"It would be an advantage to start out with a paid director." (In most small communities this is not feasible. Sometimes a woman who does her own housework would be able to give considerable time if she could receive the actual cost of hiring help which would free her own time.)

"Provide a secretary with sufficient funds to keep activities before membership and public." 

Keeping the Public Informed

"Acquainting the public is important, getting its confidence and cooperation."

"The press, the governmental and private agencies must be with you; the community must have confidence in you."

Council Meetings—Programs and Policies

"Be sure to have thorough preparation of interesting programs for every announced meeting.”

“Establish committees only as there is felt need for them, and definite projects for them to work on.”

"No important information should be concealed, whether it indicates success or failure of the plans adopted. [Many matters will come before a Council concerning which publicity would be unwise, as in case of personal or family difficulties where help or guidance is needed.] 

"Every representative should have some responsible part in the organization.”

 "Avoid taking authority and responsibility for initiating and carrying on activities in the name of the Council." [This applies where there are organizations in the community to whom the work and credit can properly be assigned. Sometimes the Council will initiate its own projects, where no other organization will undertake them.]

“There is no pattern for a Council to follow, no fixed program to be carried out in all communities. No two towns and cities are alike, and no two should expect to have exactly the same program.” [This statement by Kenneth S. Beam expresses his experimental, democratic, non-regimented attitude in Coordinating Council promotion. That attitude should be jealously preserved. Naturally some methods and policies will be found to be so generally sound that they will become widespread.”

"One of the axioms to be followed religiously by Coordinating councils is that of requiring full information regarding a given need, condition, or problem before a program of action is mapped out."

“Satisfactory results will come only after hard work and dogged persistence over a long period of time."

"City and county organizations contemplating the sponsorship of a number of Coordinating Councils should recognize the importance of providing qualified and experienced persons on full time to direct the work of the Councils. One such person can serve a number of Councils."

"Coordinating Council work should be related to all vital aspects of the com­munity. Only by being so related can it maintain its balance."

Other Forms of Community Organization
Sanderson and Polson, in their very useful and interesting book, Rural Community Organization, give descriptions of various types of community organizations. This book reflects such clear insight and such a wealth of experience that it should be read by all persons planning Community Councils. Their final comment on community organization is pertinent: (p.234) 

“……it is questionable whether there is sufficient experience in this field of endeavor to warrant the advocacy of any stereotyped procedure in setting up a community council. The presumption is that circumstances will differ materially in each community and that the important thing is in the beginning to get the various organizations to working together in joint community proj­ects, rather than to spend too much time in trying to work out the best type of organization or to give much attention to long-time planning. The need for long-time planning may better evolve out of the situation, when it will be felt as a real need and will have better support. When this stage has been reached, or as a means for determining the essential facts upon which to base certain projects…surveys of community conditions will usually be found desirable.” 

Especially for small communities where there are not several local organizations to be represented a simpler form of organization than that described for the Community Council may be desirable. In such cases thought should be given to find the method of selecting members of a Community Council who will most fully represent the whole community and who will be most efficient and useful. Direct, general participation of the community under the best leadership should be the aim.

 

Questions

  1. What representatives should make up a community council and what duties would these representatives perform?

  2. What are some possible shortcomings with community councils that should be avoided?

  3. What are some of the general guidelines that Morgan provides for membership in community councils?

  4. What are the differences between “Coordinating Councils” and “Community Councils”?

  5. What are some of the responsibilities of the Community Council and its members?

  6. Do you believe a Community Council can make an enormous difference in quality of life?  Why or why not?