Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (population approximately 890,000) began using Balance Scorecard, they call Community and Corporate Scorecard, in the early 2000’s.  Enhancing Citizen Involvement is reflected as one desired result on the scorecard with a strategy of seeking citizen participation in policy development and decision-making.   Over the last two years performance standards indicate the County fell below acceptable performance in their efforts to engage citizens.  The County recognized traditional approaches, such as citizen advisory committees, were not enough to meet the demands of today’s world.  As part of their 2008-2010 Strategic Business Plan the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners directed a study to further develop goals, strategies, performance measures and accountabilities to support the vision of citizen involvement in community governance.  

The journey began by conducting a study to focus on the relationship between residents and Mecklenburg County government.   Conducted by The Lee Institute and funded by private grants and in-kind support from Mecklenburg County, several key findings were found:  

The primary relationship between government and residents is that of service vendor/customer.
Many people don’t believe their involvement will affect change
Mecklenburg County’s current approach to citizen involvement is insufficient to achieve the Board’s vision because involvement options are limited and inconvenient
Citizen involvement begins with public awareness
People want to be involved and engaged in their community and government but need help doing so
People generally define their community as their neighborhood, so citizen involvement activities must include targeted efforts at the neighborhood level

Mecklenburg County is using a four-part continuum to structure their business strategy for citizen involvement: inform, consult, collaborate and empower.  Feedback from the study and this continuum has served as the basis of MeckConnect, the business strategy and plan to enhance the quantity and quality of engagement in Mecklenburg County.  

The County is moving forward in implementing elements outlined in MeckConnect.  They recently hired a Citizen Engagement Coordinator in the County Manager’s office to champion the efforts.  Mecklenburg County is continuing to strengthen and build upon the informing and consulting continuum but placing more emphasis on collaboration and empowerment moving forward to create the two-way relationship between residents and government that is required to build community.
MeckConnect is currently being utilized in two specific ways.  First, Mecklenburg County’s long term vision was established in 2001 and is currently being revisited. The last time the vision was completed with very little input from the public, however the 2020 visioning process began with public input.  The second way is maximizing the use of in tack groups, such as civic groups, book clubs, etc., to talk about County Government.  These meetings have no agenda and are being used to build relationships, raise awareness, and simply have a conversation.  

Mecklenburg County is thinking beyond governmental boundaries to partner with municipalities in the County and nonprofit organizations.  One of their overarching challenges is forming alliances and having conversations across boundaries. One technique they are exploring is creating a “Community Cabinet” to view initiatives and look to partner together to minimize the same conversations occurring multiple times.  

John McGillicuddy, General Manager of Mecklenburg County states, “Concepts are simple but citizen involvement is not easy to do.  It is labor intensive, is a change initiative that requires a lot of commitment.  It is a new way of doing business and a strong commitment is required in order to sustain it.”  McGillicuddy goes on to say that “citizen involvement is not a check off box it is a constant that requires a change in mindset.”