Community Organizing

New Challenges in Our Area

William Sundwick

Let’s start with some assumptions about 21^st century American politics. Assumption #1: many, many people are poorly served by their local governments; assumption #2: virtually all communities have some people who are quite content, but most others much less so; assumption #3: those who are most content are that way because they have a voice in the political process.

Assumption #4: the political power imbalance requires extra-governmental activity, or organization, to move it. That’s what community organizing is all about. Those who are discontented because they lack access to their local governments can gain more access through these organizing intermediaries.

How is this done? All local jurisdictions in the United States, like state governments, and the federal government itself, have popularly elected representatives and executives. Yet, some elections are less democratic than others, because of voter interference by political parties, or incomplete (or inaccurate?) information made available to voters.

Since community organizing entities are usually 501(c)(3) organizations – they cannot support partisan actors, or lobby on their behalf – they must limit themselves to non-partisan voter information and registration.  Nevertheless, community organizers can easily advocate for ballot initiatives, economic plans (including allocations in public budgets), and even changes to law, without running afoul of those 501-c restrictions.

How do they accomplish this advocacy? Elected bodies in local jurisdictions must at least appear to be working for their constituents if they intend to stand for re-election, so they have an incentive to be responsive to organizations that present public clout, through media exposure and support from influential community leaders – often the pulpits of religious institutions. Advocacy is carried out in these venues, sometimes even including street demonstrations and marches. It often comes down to sheer numbers of bodies – “seat-warmers” at a local county board meeting, or marchers gathered outside with placards (and reported by local media). That’s my usual role!

There is some risk in these tactics. Arrests can be made at demonstrations, and media exposure can be negative from some outlets. Community organizers should always expect that their actions will cause, at the very least, increased tension with those forces who support and benefit from the status quo. A poorly planned campaign for some social good may experience blowback from the targeted groups, which can dull community momentum. And the interests of the marginalized community members must always be paramount -- they must be the final arbiters of any actions.

Fifty years ago, when Saul Alinsky wrote his book Rules for Radicals, he laid out the principles of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), concluding that the strongest community organizations were religious institutions. An interfaith alliance of churches and synagogues could pool their efforts at community betterment around local umbrella organizations. These were the IAF chapters around the country.

VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) is the Northern Virginia IAF affiliate, founded in 2008. VOICE includes an active cadre of Muslim places of worship, along with traditional Catholic, Protestant, Unitarian, and Jewish congregations. But our region, like others, has recently seen a decrease in concentrations of affected communities. Churches in the area have been losing members. Their budgets have been strained. Some of the old congregations have been dropping their VOICE partnership, mostly due to their changing demographics, and consequent challenges keeping up their dues. New clergy and new congregations can be approached. Some new ones are being added (an established Presbyterian church in my neighborhood just joined).

But many marginalized groups leave the area, or at least move farther out – where they can afford to live. Arlington and Alexandria, especially, are becoming more affluent (and white) as gentrification inexorably pushes the less privileged out of the community. The coming of Amazon to Arlington will only exacerbate an already untenable situation for much of the local service sector of lower income families. “The rent is too damn high!”

This has led VOICE to alter its strategy for 2020 and beyond. Expanding on the model proposed by Alinsky, it now seems that religious institutions need to be supplemented by other community allies. Organized labor, shunned by Alinsky as too parochial in its interests, now may be a potential target for outreach. Likewise, teachers (by law in Virginia, non-unionized) have professional associations; these, too, could be VOICE partners. In addition, tenants’ associations for housing issues, and PTAs for school issues.

While the tactics for advocacy remain unchanged – get local politicians to listen because they fear electoral reprisal if they don’t – the changing demographics in the “inside-the-beltway” communities like Arlington and Alexandria make that somewhat harder. Wealthier citizens are now beginning to outnumber the marginalized in these places.

Arlington and Alexandria do have an important service sector, however, including teachers, police, firefighters. Increasingly, these public servants cannot afford to live in (or even near) the communities where they work. Hence, affordable housing remains a goal of VOICE organizing, both locally and in Richmond (the General Assembly will be voting on funding for housing this session). Localities and Richmond also share responsibility for zoning (yes, the Dillon Rule in Virginia, gives the General Assembly potential influence over city and county zoning authority!). “Upzoning” for multi-family development in single family neighborhoods is an important tool for increasing affordable housing availability.

Criminal justice reform and education resources for school counselors and pre-K are also on VOICE’s docket for 2020. Suspension of drivers licenses for non-payment of court costs is an issue in Richmond, as is state funding for more guidance counselors (current rate: 500:1 ratio of students to counselors – VOICE advocates halving it to 250:1).

Whether the venue is the Arlington County Board meeting or the General Assembly in Richmond, the basic principle is still to show up! Numbers are what politicians, and the media, can see and report.

The original Saul Alinsky theory remains valid. Voiceless people need numbers to be heard; numbers have power for elected officials. But the IAF “Iron Rule” still applies: Never do for people what they can do for themselves. It’s about giving voice to the voiceless, not amplifying the voice of those who are already heard!

Amazon Comes to Arlington

Giddiness vs. Foreboding

William Sundwick

The initial local reaction to Amazon’s HQ2 selection was giddiness. Our community would stand to garner a windfall estimated at $4.6B over twenty years. Bring 25,000 high paying jobs into the area, and everybody would benefit, right? Not necessarily.

I’ve lived in Arlington for 46 years, making me an “almost native.” I have no desire to leave. The community has been good to me and my kids. But I know that many are struggling here. In recent years, the public schools have been bursting at the seams with exploding enrollments. Many people who make the county a great place to live (teachers, police, firefighters, service workers) must commute from outside the county, since they can’t afford any available housing here.

How Arlington Works

Arlington’s five-member County Board is elected at large for staggered four-year terms. The chair is rotated annually among the members. They are elected by people like me. People who make the county work, but live outside it, have no say. And, although ground has yet to be broken in the new “National Landing” neighborhood (straddling the Arlington/Alexandria border) designated for the Amazon HQs, already-inflated house prices are still headed north.

The Amazon giddiness, then, comes from a promise of new wealth for the people who already live here, or of higher paying jobs for younger workers which might allow them to move here. Some local businesses will also benefit (restaurants, retail, etc.), but others (tech start-ups) see Amazon as a powerful competitor for needed talent, forcing up labor costs.

While trusting our local officials (or the less responsive General Assembly in Richmond) with the kind of commitments our county needs may be appealing to the lazy, it is not effective. All politics involves pressure. Justice requires giving voice to the voiceless. If Arlington will truly benefit from the coming of Amazon, we must begin agitating now for those commitments. It is not, as some have said, “pushing on an open door” – the challenge is to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Those at Risk

While some will benefit from Amazon’s HQs, those at risk include established communities of color in the immediate vicinity, like the Arlandria neighborhood.  Here, there are many small retailers, bodegas, etc. – and lower income rental housing – that are too easily sacrificed for the greater corporate good with Amazon.

Besides threatened communities in the immediate geographic vicinity, there are the already overburdened infrastructures in Arlington and Alexandria for transportation and public schools. Metro cannot keep up with track maintenance now without shutting down late night service. Increased ridership might break its back unless new commitments of revenue can be secured. It can come from Amazon’s windfall. Even Richmond, in a Dillon Rule state (where the state can override local jurisdictions on infrastructure funding), has now allowed for that. We need to make sure the local authorities follow through.

Public schools in the area expect to see even greater enrollment pressure in the coming years as new young families settle in the county with their high-paying Amazon tech jobs. Some of that revenue windfall from Amazon needs to be earmarked for teacher salaries, school-based mental health counseling, and physical plant. To ensure that happens, someone inside needs to speak for those on the outside.

It's All on Us Now

With the collapse of the Long Island City site from Amazon’s plans, the entire HQ2 thrust will be here. Northern Virginia is not NYC. There is no organized opposition to Amazon coming as there was in the heavily unionized, politicized metropolis up there. Yes, we’re friendlier to corporate interests down here these days. And, the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington has lots of vacant office space since the federal government has largely abandoned it – ripe for refurbishing or teardown! This neighborhood and the adjoining Alexandria Potomac Yards neighborhood (still partially undeveloped) will comprise the new “National Landing.”

While there may be no organized opposition, there are many interested organizations supporting guarantees from the Arlington County Board, the Alexandria mayor and city council, and the local delegations to the General Assembly,  of new affordable housing units – changing some NIMBYs to YIMBYs. There should be scholarship funds created for local students to attend the promised higher education expansion in the area from VT and GMU. Metro must accelerate its track maintenance efforts.

Statewide, there will be blood bath elections this November, with implications for Richmond’s role in Amazon’s plans. Both the House of Delegates and Senate are up for grabs. Tight races dominate in both houses. Community organizing needs to extend to these races, even if it means reaching outside the immediate NoVa region.

VOICE and the Faith-based Sector

Among the interested parties with some experience in mobilizing community strengths for local political action are faith-based groups like VOICE in Northern Virginia (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement). VOICE is currently planning a June 2 forum with Christian Dorsey, the chair of the Arlington County Board, and Mayor Justin Wilson of Alexandria. VOICE’s power comes from its ability to bring people together from many different faith traditions to engage local political leaders and win commitments from them (moral AND material). By the time of the June 2 forum, there will be specific requests prepared – numbers, percentages, timelines. This is the VOICE way. Expect hundreds of attendees from the nearly 50 different congregations represented – Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, both white and non-white, citizen and non-voting immigrant, rich and poor.

All the faith traditions represented share a common theology regarding social justice: there is an important divide between power with and power over.  Power with is what community organizing is all about – it is power close to God. Power over is the flip side, and what social justice movements are always trying to counteract.

Community Organizing

VOICE, the IAF in Northern Virginia

William Sundwick

Saul Alinsky and Bishop Bernard James Shell founded the Industrial Areas Foundation in Chicago in 1940. Their idea was to mobilize diverse faith communities of urban poor and working-class people lacking in political power.

It was a goal pursued by organized labor as well, but labor unions were based on employment in specific industrial sectors. Alinsky saw religious groups as the more fruitful partners in efforts to organize the marginalized for political action, regardless of employment status.  He was Jewish, and not necessarily religious himself, but Shell was a Roman Catholic prelate.

In time, the basic interfaith nature of their enterprise would also encompass African-American protestant churches. As it grew beyond Chicago, IAF had considerable success organizing in Texas and California, among poor Hispanic residents. New York City also became an early venue for IAF organizations. Other industrial centers in the Midwest, and Baltimore, came into the fold later.

The DC Metro area (DMV) is now represented by three separate IAF organizations: Action in Montgomery (AIM), Washington Interfaith Network (WIN), and VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement).

VOICE was founded in 2008. It includes over 40 congregations from Northern Virginia jurisdictions – Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Jews, Methodists, Muslims, Presbyterians, and Unitarians.

Administrative offices are at Arlington Unitarian Universalist Church (UUCA), one of the organization’s founders and primary supporters. In the last two years, enthusiastic engagement from two Northern Virginia mosques have provided many volunteers, and much financial help – Dar al-Hijrah in Falls Church, and Dar al-Noor in Manassas. Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church and Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington have also been active supporters since its beginning.

In its first ten years, the organization succeeded in obtaining relief for Prince William residents affected by the foreclosure crisis of 2007-08 by securing grants from Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and GE for victims of their predatory lending practices, via principal reduction and renegotiation of loans, as well as $30M in additional investment capital for the county. VOICE secured $3M from Fairfax County to improve parks and athletic facilities for low-income residents along the Route 1 corridor. And, it has helped Arlington and Alexandria save existing affordable housing units from upscale development, expanding their number by adding more than 1000 new units. Just this year, VOICE pressure on the Arlington County Board contributed to an additional $600K added to Arlington’s affordable housing trust fund.

Each year, VOICE has “asks” of local elected officials. For 2019, these include:

1. Criminal Justice Reform – end cash bail and restore rights of returning citizens from incarceration (such as suspended driver’s licenses for court debts)
2. Increase investment in school counselors, mental health facilities
3. Invest further in pre-K for low income residents (already successful for some in PW County)
4.  Keep families together – immigration and ICE enforcement (protect interests of U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrants)
5. Make Northern Virginia communities affordable for their own public employees (the rationale behind Arlington and Alexandria affordable housing)

On October 21, at Fairfax High School, VOICE held a major action with Governor Ralph Northam and AG Mark Herring, attended by 1400 enthusiastic VOICE members. The Governor and Attorney General were presented with VOICE asks. Both appeared to support the criminal justice reforms and promised to work with the General Assembly to end cash bail, and restore rights of felons. Additionally, they agreed to explore a program to reduce mass incarceration over a 5 to 10-year period.

Increasing investment in schools and mental health resources met with deflection by the Governor, as did the question about the state’s Housing Production Trust Fund. Instead, the governor crowed about the commitment of dedicated resources to Metro funding as his great accomplishment with the General Assembly this year (it was a VOICE ask last year).

The crowd in the high school auditorium shouted down his deflection on schools, “Answer the question!” The moderators, calm clergymen from member congregations, reminded the audience to be respectful of our honored guests!

Indeed, VOICE relies on clergy from its member congregations for leadership in all public actions. This was an important organizing principle taken from Saul Alinsky, identified in his manual for community organizing, Rules for Radicals (1971). It’s clergy who have the stature, the moral authority in the community, to really mobilize the people – their flocks. VOICE has been successful in its political endeavors only because of committed clergy. 

The co-moderators on October 21 were Rabbi Jeffrey Saxe from Temple Rodef Shalom, Rev. Rebecca Messman from Trinity Presbyterian in Herndon, and the inimitable Rev. Dr. Keith Savage of First Baptist in Manassas (a fiery speaker in the tradition of Martin Luther King).

Non-partisan GOTV canvassing (Get Out The Vote) is next on the VOICE agenda. VOICE was wildly successful when it did this last year for state elections. They identified certain precincts where there was historically low turnout for off-year elections. The results were spectacular. In each Fairfax and Prince William precinct where VOICE sent canvassers, turnout was up more than 10 per cent over 2013. This year, they will be concentrating on precincts in the VA-10 congressional district – Fairfax/Loudoun border (Sterling), and PW County near Manassas.

My wife and I have signed up for door-knocking in the Sterling area on Saturday, Nov. 3 and on election day, itself, for a three hour shift each day. Hopefully, VOICE can do as well as last year. It’s strictly non-partisan. We’re not hoofing for any candidate, just trying to get people to the polls.

Saul Alinsky hated both political parties. And still today, there has been absolutely no partisan grist to VOICE or any IAF organization. If one party wants to oppose organizing marginalized groups in the community, that is its choice. During Alinsky’s lifetime, and since, there has been much scorn directed at him and the IAF. But, let’s write that off to jaded cynicism about prospects for social change.

VOICE is an organization of religious people of different faiths who are willing to give it a try by working together. It will never work if you don’t try – even if sometimes it doesn’t work when you do.