Ain't No Sunshine: Examining Informality and State Open Meeting Acts as the Anti-Public Norm in Inner-City Redevelopment Deal Making

Abstract:     
The literature about redevelopment and the displacement of inner-city residents is plentiful. What has been missing from legal scholarship's discourse about displaced communities, however, is a meaningful focus on the role and impact of the public-private relationship in inner-city redevelopment. This article examines the deal making process of inner-city redevelopment projects and its deficient mechanisms for community participation. It particularly critiques the structure and scope of open meetings acts as these acts apply to redevelopment projects sponsored by cities partnering with quasi-public developers. This article argues that an anti-public norm dominates inner-city redevelopment deal making and that, as a result, open meetings acts fail particularly in the context of inner-city redevelopment due to the informality of deal making. To counteract this norm, the article advocates for increased formality in inner-city redevelopment through revisions to state open meeting laws and the implementation of formal mechanisms of community participation by local government.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 47

Keywords: inner-city, redevelopment, Open Meeting Act

Accepted Paper Series