Can We Be Partners?

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Sherry Arnstein castigated planners for their tokenistic participation processes. Since then, planning scholars and practitioners have attempted to improve these processes. We report on a Los Angeles (CA) case where Community Health Councils, Inc. (CHC) partnered with the city planners, public health officials, foundations, academics, and residents to pass a Health & Wellness Element in the General Plan Framework and integrate food issues into three community plans. We use a comparative multi-method approach interviewing officials and participants and documenting public meetings, strategy sessions, and other events. We find CHC did develop a successful partnership that represented an improvement over Arnstein’s lower ladders. CHC’s public comment letters had material impact on the language of the element’s provisions. CHC’s collaborative strategy resulted in inclusion of key food-related provisions in the updated West Adams Community Plan. The primary limitation is that our study ended prior to implementation, an area Arnstein accurately identified as a place where community power might be diminished.Takeaway for practice: Planners working collaboratively with community groups can achieve significant improvements in their plans. This process successfully integrated food systems and other health issues into the element and three community plans.