What is SPIN?
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SPIN stands for the Southlake Program for the Involvement of Neighborhoods. The program's mission is to provide a forum which fosters open and timely communication between the citizens and city government regarding programs, activities, and issues affecting the quality of life in the community in order to provide positive relations and a stronger sense of community |
Like many local municipalities today, Southlake continues to be a rapidly growing community. One of the biggest challenges for the City Council and staff is keeping citizens informed and obtaining citizen input in order to effectively manage the City's expansion and changing landscape.
Recognizing this need, the City Council created the Southlake Program for the Involvement of Neighborhoods (SPIN) on November 2, 1993, to increase communication between citizens, council, city staff, developers and other interest groups.
A City Council-appointed volunteer organization, SPIN is comprised of representatives from 11 geographic areas within Southlake and two special interest representatives from the youth and senior communities. These members make up the SPIN Standing Committee.
SPIN Standing Committee members and two staff liaisons organize forums which play crucial roles in the development process and also serve to inform citizens about issues such as local elections, city projects and regional issues. Initially, the City Council charged SPIN with providing opportunities for potential developers to present their plans to residents to allow citizens an opportunity to meet with developers directly and express any concerns prior to the formal development process. These opportunities later became formally known as SPIN Town Hall Forums and have allowed citizens to increase their involvement in the decision-making process of city management in an environment of rapid growth and development.
Over the years, SPIN has expanded its role outside of the development field to organizing regional information forums. Regional Forums hosted by SPIN in recent years have been instrumental in the success of many city projects and have provided information on economic development, transportation issues, safety and emergency readiness, and water conservation.
Since its inception in 1993, SPIN has held more than 700 public meetings with thousands of citizens in attendance. In 2005, a peak year, SPIN held 50 meetings with more than 1,000 residents in attendance. The program has, on average, a yearly operating budget of $25,000. The majority of costs go to printing, signage and postage expenses. However, in 2008, SPIN began utilizing a phone-based meeting notification system, eliminating over 80% of its postage and printing expenses.
SPIN is one of the most effective tools that Southlake uses to increase public participation. Southlake citizens know they have a direct impact on the development of the city; the evidence of this can be seen all over Southlake, from its housing and businesses to its streets and parks, from sign design, and even to the elevation and appearance of buildings.
Southlake would not be the innovative and progressive city that it is today without the support and dedication of its residents - something that is made easier through SPIN, a unique device that has promoted the ideals of citizen participation, transparency in government decision-making, and innovative problem-solving for the City of Southlake.