Advice for Newly Elected Officials About Vacant and Abandoned Properties

Kim Graziani has some advice for newly elected officials, by way of a little perspective from Leslie Knope. Knope, the character from the popular show Parks and Recreation, famously remarked about how she keeps perspective during contentious community meetings in her hometown of Pawnee, Indiana: "What I hear when I'm being yelled at is being caring loudly at me."

So while newly elected officials all over the country take office following yesterday's election, this is the world they'll now occupy on a regular basis. While these new elected might understandably find it difficult to duplicate Knope's thorough sense of civic duty, they might still benefit from a series of recommendations offered by Graziani.

Writing for the Center for Community progress, Graziani focuses especially on communities struggling to deal with vacant and abandoned properties: "Trust us, residents care REALLY LOUDLY about vacant and abandoned properties…including big, empty pits that could be the next greatest park in places such as fictional Pawnee, Indiana."

Here's a sample of the advice offered by Graziani, with more nuance and elaboration available in the article:

• "Address the elephant in the room." Specifically, acknowledge that racial and class injustices "are at the heart of vacancy, abandonment, and disinvestment."
• Consider this your new mantra: EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD DESERVES INVESTMENT.
• "Cultivate a team of do-ers." Specifically, "a team that is willing to eat, sleep, and breathe all things vacancy and abandonment."