Leading for Innovation: And Organizing for Results

9.2. Making the Case to Poor Neighborhoods

Complementing our efforts to win over city workers was an all-out effort to convince residents in the most neglected areas of the city that they, too, had something to gain. Conventional wisdom held that these low-income residents would protect city employees and the status quo—an impression left over from the era when city hall was the employer of last resort.

Our goal was to demonstrate to these residents that when city hall paid more than it should for inferior services, poor people were the most adversely affected, because the services typically were worst in the neighborhoods with the least political clout and wealth. We also knew that we had to make the benefits of change immediately tangible ...