Neighborhood Politics: Residential Community Associations in American Governance.

• Author: Grewe, Tim

Robert Dilger heralds the awakening of a sleeping giant in the arena of neighborhood politics: the activation of residential community associations (RCAs) throughout the United States. All of us, professional and elected officials alike, have had first-hand experience with the influence of grassroots organizations upon decision-making processes. If the compelling picture that Dilger paints holds true, then governmental officials, especially those at the local level, can expect even greater involvement in the future. In fact, the empirical data put forth within this book leads to the conclusion that RCAs will increasingly move into the spheres of influencing local government decisions and of providing direct services. To this end, in the course of documenting the history of RCAs, Dilger also presents a thoughtful analysis on the currently hot topic of "privatization." Dilger maintains that the significant role of RCAs on the provision of local services has been all but ignored in the latest round of interest in privatizing governmental services.

So, you might well ask, what are RCAs? They are those planned unit developments, condominiums, resorts and homeowner associations increasingly populating our local communities. RCAs are private, nonprofit corporations established by residential developers with local government approval. According to Dilger, RCAs provide homeowners in master-planned developments with a governing mechanism to manage commonly owned property in their neighborhood, such as streets, parking lots, park land and recreational facilities. RCAs increasingly are providing services such as street maintenance, water and sewer services, and security services. They typically create and enforce commonly held covenants, rules and regulations that govern the behavior of residents, such as ownership of pets, exterior remodeling, parking and landscaping. RCAs tax members through regular and special assessments to pay for the provision of the associations' amenities and services. Although RCAs are similar to voluntary neighborhood civic associations, their key distinguishing factors are property ownership, the existence of covenants and regulations, and the assessment of fees to association members above and beyond the taxes assessed by local jurisdictions.

It is clear from Dilger's research that governmental officials can expect both continued growth in the number of RCAs and in their influence on local government decision making. There...