-Visioning Program For 2020-
Chapter 3
MY CITY: HOW WE GOVERN

Given an increasingly diverse population, some wondered what changes might be needed in the future to enable the city's civic institutions to continue to meet the needs of its residents. There were a variety of comments concerning leadership, the need to work together, and how best to engage residents in shaping the future of their city.

Civic Leadership
Despite its growth, West Covina is still seen as a small town by many residents and they like it that way. As the city continues to mature, they want to retain this small town quality. For this reason, they believe West Covina should be able to provide the personal touch that larger cities cannot. This means all city officials should be visible and out in the public where they can listen to their fellow citizens. People should know their Mayor and other members of the City Council by their first names and feel comfortable talking to them about the issues that matter to them most.

As in most other cities, some West Covina residents feel their leadership is engaged in too much political partisanship rather than focusing on the larger interests of the whole community. This perception may be fueled by high expectations for the future and a desire to move beyond specific controversies of past years. They want a city council that is responsive to the public and one that represents all aspects of a diverse community.

Public Involvement and Community Outreach
Many believe the city government can best address all the issues facing the community if it has the support of an interested and actively engaged citizenry. It was stated that there is a small core of dedicated residents who want the city to work well for everyone. However, the current overall low level of public participation suggests that most citizens are fairly content with things as they are. It usually takes a divisive issue to bring people out. While this may be sufficient in the short run, it is feared by some that without more citizen involvement, the city will not be as effective as it could be in responding to the needs of the community.

Some suggested more effective outreach is required to increase the level of public involvement. Keeping residents aware of what is going on in their city government is an essential first step. Although they believe the City has made a good start using new tools such as Cable TV, the Internet and Discover West Covina to bring government closer to the people, it was suggested that more can be done to make these outreach tools more effective. For instance, using new interactive technologies, residents could use the local public access channel (Channel 56) and their home computers to directly participate in city council meetings rather than just observe the meetings on their televisions. Public surveys could also be conducted via Discover West Covina. Others suggested making the City web site more user-friendly. It also should provide more links to access information about city services and other local civic institutions. To literally bring government closer to the people, some recommended that the City Council hold a series of town hall meetings in various neighborhoods as a way of inviting residents to become more involved in their community.

Other suggestions focused on how to create opportunities for people to become involved in their community and local government. Some recommended improvements to the institutional structure of local commissions so more people will want to serve. This included changing the process by which members of local commission are selected and granting them more independence and power to get things done. Others discussed community mapping as a way of identifying existing capabilities and potential leaders at the neighborhood level. Neighborhood watch and neighborhood block programs were highlighted as ways for people to meet their neighbors and learn how to help one another. Also, tapping into existing neighborhood and faith-based groups or forming new ones could open up new reserves of energy and creativity for future neighborhood and citywide initiatives.

Community Volunteers
A critical element of public involvement concerns those residents who donate a portion of their time, energy, and skills to improving their community and helping others. Many observed that West Covina has long been blessed with a variety of volunteer resources, including residents who have lived in the community for most of their lives and are willing to share the wealth of their experience. At the same time, however, changes in the economy and society at large have meant that fewer people are able to devote time to volunteer activities. To better utilize all existing and potential volunteer resources, some recommended a more structured, organized approach. This included the development of a volunteer center manned by coordinators that would assess needs and match those to available volunteer resources. It would also help recruit and train new volunteers and facilitate cooperation among community groups that might otherwise compete for sometimes limited volunteer resources. The youth of the community were identified as a tremendous untapped pool of volunteers. Getting young people involved in volunteer activities at an early age would help establish a habit that could benefit the entire community for years to come.

Partnerships
Many felt that there was too much institutional fragmentation in West Covina, including multiple school districts and chambers of commerce, making it harder to achieve the overall goals of the community. As a remedy, they believed it was essential that the city government form close working relationships with the school districts as well as other civic and community institutions. These partnerships might take many different forms, but would be guided by the principle that most solutions to community-wide problems require institutional cooperation and open communication rather than competition. Sharing responsibility for the future of the community should make it easier to combine resource when it made sense to do so. Some suggested combining city and school maintenance departments to eliminate unnecessary duplication while achieving greater operating efficiencies and lower costs. School facilities should be available after hours and on weekends to meet other community needs, including parks and recreation. Others asked do we really need three school districts and three chambers of commerce? They suggested exploring ways to combine these separate organizations to help pull the community together.

Regional Partnerships
Given its location in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley, West Covina should leverage this position to take a leadership role on more regional issues. It was stated that West Covina cannot solve all its problems on its own but needs to cooperate with other nearby cities as well as public agencies at the regional level. This was especially true regarding transportation.

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