Urban Innovation in Illinois grew out of the Fiscal Austerity and Urban Innovation (FAUI) Project [1]. Founded in 1983, the FAUI Project has become the most extensive study oflocal government in the world. It includes surveys of mayors, council members, and administrators in 1,400 US municipalities; in 38 countries including most of Europe, and others from Argentina to Japan. Our secret is not massive central funding, but decentralization; some $18 million was raised largely by separate national teams following a common research design. Some 500 persons have participated--social scientists, policy advisors, local officials; as Coordinator, I edit three book series and a newsletter, drive the tour bus, and fix broken personal computers. We meet about three times a year in conferences, which often generate books; some 50 books and over 200 articles have been published to date.
To encourage innovation by local governments, the international project developed an Illinois counterpart, called Urban Innovation in Illinois. It was created in 1986 with a generous grant from the Joyce Foundation, but from outset depended far more on in-kind contributions of participants than foundation money. We have worked with officials from the professional associations in Illinois that serve local governments: the Illinois Municipal League, Illinois City Management Association, Illinois Government Finance Officers Association (IGFOA), the regional municipal associations (Northwest, DuPage, South, etc.), The Civic Federation, and others. Everyone helped as they could. Some had mailing lists. Others had envelopes, but no stamps. We shared and things got done. Bill Morris chaired our Board, Bill Stafford, then Woods Bowman, led the awards program, Burt Ditkowsky bought lunches, Norm Walzer did surveys.
And so forth. A clear sign of the broad support for innovation is that when Joyce Foundation support ended,
others continued the activities by sharing costs and resources. The Illinois GFOA and The Civic Federation played lead roles in the last two awards competitions.
Others acknowledged in the Introduction have been active in this Sixth Competition.
How can we encourage innovation in Illinois? We have done many things, but the most visible activity is the Awards Program. In six successive competitions, we have made a total of some 80 awards to municipalities for innovation. Board members often present the mayor with a plaque at a city council meeting, where the press is present. Pictures thus appeared on the front of the local paper. A favorite for this was Bob Eppley, the wonderful retired City Manager who sang the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ and presented plaques with gusto. This indirectly rewarded the assistant city manager who may have come up with the idea, and the many staff critical to make it work.
And this generated, for once, some good news about local government for the front page. Such encouragement
helps the staff next time around.
The 80 awards are in five areas: creative contracting out, performance indicators, new forms of budgeting,
coordination with other governments and cost of service measures (listed in Urban Innovation in Illinois 1989
and Clark 1994: chap. 8). What is most gratifying is to observe the continuous flow of new ideas and innovative
practices. It makes one proud to work on local government in Illinois.
Terry Nichols Clark
References:
Urban Innovation: Creative Strategies in Turbulent Times. Edited by Terry Nichols Clark,
SAGE Publications, London - Newbury Park - New Delhi, 1994.
Urban Innovation in Illinois. 1989. Brochure listing past winners and documentation about them.
Fiscal Austerity and Urban Innovation Project website: www.src.uchicago.edu/depts/faui/archive.html
Includes abstracts of the 50 books (in Newsletter#27) and related documentation.