There are regional planning commissions across the country that have a large voice in how major development and infrastructure gets planned, funded and created.
Things like highways, water systems, and housing patterns, all of which help determine where jobs are created, where capital flows, where public dollars are spent, where political power is concentrated - - and so forth.
But how representative are these bodies? Have you checked recently?
A recent inquiry into the composition of the planning committees at one such body in the greater Milwaukee, Wisconsin area - - including the two-county federally-designated Milwaukee/Waukesha SMSA which is the most racially and economically segregated such two-some in America - - shows the planning committees are 98% white.
For years, I've written and argued that policy-making at the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC) is unrepresentative of the racial composition of its seven-county region, and especially for City of Milwaukee residents, where minorities make up a majority of the city's population of roughly 600,000.
The commission's seven counties each have three seats on its board, and several of the more rural counties have populations smaller than the City of Milwaukee's - - but because Milwaukee is a city and not a county, the city does not have a seat on the board.
(I post often on these matters at http://thepoliticalenvironment.blogs...
It's well-known that much of SEWRPC's policy-making for the region originates, percolates and is fine-tuned in its committees, and that the full commission generally rubber-stamps its committees' recommendations.
And the commission does more than recommend. Because it is a federally-designated high-level planning agency, known as a Municipal Planning Organization (MPO), there can be no federal highway project begun in its territory without its approval.
And we all know that as highway projects go, so goes land-use, housing, and employment expansion - - while transit projects get shorter shrift. That's why our region is undergoing a 25-year, $6.5 billion expansion of the so-called freeway system (freeways are not free, is my point), with no similar expansion of transit.
But back to our Wisconsin example: The SEWRPC committees meet with experts and consultants on transportation, water management and other basic planning matters of real importance to all taxpayers who provide 100% of SEWRPC's annual budget, with Milwaukee County taxpayers supplying the largest recurring annual donation.
It's a public agency - - but in name only when it comes to the racial makeup - - lily-white - - of its all-important committees.
Karyn Rotker, an attorney with the ACLU-Wisconsin, asked Philip Evenson, SEWRPC's executive director, to supply the racial makeup of some key current SEWRPC committees.
Below is what Evenson provided about five SEWRPC committees and a sixth not appointed by SEWRPC, though let me provide you with the mathematical plot-spoiler:
Three of 126 (or two percent) SEWRPC committee members are minorities.
Remember: this is 2007, more than 40 years after you'd have thought landmark federal civil rights statutes would have made segregated governance at publicly-funded governmental agencies illegal.
Here is Evenson's reply:
- Milw Co Transit Program Committee;
11 members, 9 white, 2 African-American, 1 Hispanic; all appointed by the Milw Co Executive (not a SEWRPC committee).
- Population and Economic Forecasts Committee;
12 members, all white; appointed by SEWRPC with membership targeted to include individuals from the public, private, and academic sectors with professional responsibilities and expertise in the subject matter.
- Regional Land Use Planning Committee;
25 members, 24 white, 1 African-American; appointed by SEWRPC with membership targeted to include county and local planning professionals on a population proportional basis plus relevant state and federal agencies.
- Regional Telecommunications Planning Committee;
22 members, 21 white, 1 African-American; appointed by SEWRPC with membership targeted to include individuals from the public and private sectors with expertise and knowledge in or related to the telecommunications industry.
- Regional Water Supply Planning Committee;
33 members, 32 white, 1 Hispanic; appointed by SEWRPC with membership targeted to individuals with professional responsibilities and expertise in or related to water supply matters, drawing from public and private water utilities, industry, agriculture, development and environment groups, county planners, state and federal agencies, and academia.
- Regional Water Quality Management Plan Update Committee;
34 members, all white; appointed by SEWRPC with membership targeted to individuals with professional responsibilities and expertise in or related to water quality management matters, drawing from public works agencies, state and federal agencies, land trusts, county planners and conservationists, development and environment groups, and academia.
We collect no information on income, disability, residence location, or employment for members on these committees other than what can be inferred from job titles."
The bottom line:
Suburban/urban segregation by race and class, and the disproportionate distribution of resources and power away from cities, are not accidental phenomena in the greater Milwaukee area.
They are enabled by government planning and spending - - and the same thing could be happening in your area.
With your tax dollars.