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Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
October 10, 2005
As I mentioned in my last entry, the City Administrator has two primary roles: modernizing the organization and building a sense of community. While modernization is a fairly straight-forward enterprise consisting of specific projects, community building is a more intangible and nebulous activity. What, exactly, creates a sense of community? How do you get it? How do you keep it? No one knows for sure.
Academics try to quantify community through “social capital” that is increased or decreased according to the amount of collaborative activity within the community. Robert Putnam described social capital in his book, Bowling Alone, and can be manifested in everything from churches to civic groups to bowling leagues. In essence, the more people who are involved in activities with other people, the more social capital is created and, by extension, a greater sense of community. And when a sense of community exists, your city is said to have a high “quality of life,” which can have a direct impact on your property values, reputation, and economic development.
So, the question again is how do you do that?
Without a doubt, schools play a primary role. O’Fallon’s schools are anchors in the neighborhoods for education, parental involvement, extracurricular activities, and common green space. Residents are highly involved in school activities and participate in the various school-related events. O’Fallon’s median age is 34 and our quality public schools attract many young families to our city.
The city government has no authority over the public schools, but the City’s most active element of community building is in the Parks & Recreation Department. We design and build parks throughout the city to create common meeting places within neighborhoods. We also offer various programs, classes, and leagues for all ages, interests, and skill levels. These activities allow people to participate with other O’Fallon residents in a collaborative environment.
A major community building event was O’Fallon’s Sesquicentennial Celebration in 2004. A steering committee of 75 people organized a three-day festival with a laser light show, carnival rides, two parades, live entertainment, athletic events, 150 birthday cakes, and a beard growing contest. In addition to having a great time, the purpose was for O’Fallon residents to come together for one weekend and show pride in their home town. We estimate that about 100,000 people attended the festival.
The City is involved in many other community building projects, including advisory boards, citizen task forces, community events, historic preservation, and downtown improvement. We are always looking for opportunities to promote community participation and welcome your suggestions.
We feel that we have a high quality of life and a strong sense of community in O’Fallon. In a recent citizen survey, 86% of respondents rated the overall quality of life and 76% rated O’Fallon’s sense of community as “good” or “excellent.” I am gratified that people enjoy living in O’Fallon – we just need to make sure we are doing the right things to keep that social capital high.
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