History of OCL
by Lee Smith
The Onondaga Citizens League was founded in 1978, issued its first report to the community in 1979, became a not-for-profit corporation in 1980, and was granted tax exempt status in 1981.
The organization resulted from programs conducted by Syracuse University's Thursday Morning Roundtable (TMR). In 1976, members of this civic forum group traveled to Toronto, Canada for two days of meetings with Toronto officials on the subject of metropolitan government. The tour was co-sponsored by the Metropolitan Development Association, whose director, John Searles, was an active Roundtable member. Onondaga County Executive John Mulroy was present, as were many other well-known Roundtable members.
In Toronto, a presentation was given by Arthur Naftalin, a well-known official from Minneapolis. He described the long, successful experience of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Citizens League. That organization, the best known of several citizens leagues in the U.S., had been instrumental in much of the progress made by metropolitan government in the twin city area.
Members of the Syracuse group were impressed with this example of citizen participation in public affairs. Upon returning to Syracuse, several Roundtable members, supported by county officials, mapped plans to develop a local version of the Minneapolis-St. Paul League. Assisted by several local planning groups, the Roundtable brought Arthur Naftalin to Syracuse for a series of meetings. This resulted in the development of a local organizing group of twenty members, mostly TMR members. By-laws were drawn and temporary officers were appointed. Lee Smith, director of TMR, became the first president.
After much discussion, the group adopted the title "Onondaga Citizens League." Original Executive Board members included Carter Chase, Kate Hill, Leo Jivoff, Mary Korte, Minchin Lewis, James McDonald, Marilyn Pinsky, Roberta Schofield, John Searles, Lee Smith, Bill Thomas, Frank Woolever, and Helen Zych.
The early organizing efforts were aided by a "research intern" made available by a grant from the Onondaga County planning department. The intern, Richard Geisler, served as assistant to Lee Smith, arranging meetings and keeping members informed about the organizing progress.
Part of the rationale for organizing a citizens league was phrased by one of the founding group. Carter Chase was a prominent local attorney very active in community planning organizations. Early in 1977, responding to a proposal from Lee Smith, he wrote,
"Our community seems to need an organization or a process by which the support of the rank-and-file voter can be developed for proposals which do not sell themselves. Politicians and other decision makers seem to need clearly-expressed grounds for believing that if they take a proposed action they will have the support of a substantial majority of Onondaga County residents for not only the proposed action but for its necessary consequences such as increased taxes. A Citizen's League could provide a tool to develop and express that support."
There should be a Citizens League at work in many of our urban communities. Anyone interested in the concept and the process can obtain information by calling University College at 443-4846 or E-mailing to: suocl@uc.syr.edu.