Voluntary Participation in Regional Fisheries Management Council Meetings

Insufficient and unrepresentative participation in voluntary public hearings and policy discussions has been problematic since Aristotle's time. In fisheries, research has shown that involvement is dominated by financially resourceful and extreme-opinion stakeholders and tends to advantage groups that have a lower cost of attendance. Stakeholders may exhibit only one or all of these traits but can be still similarly advantaged. The opposites of these traits tend to characterize the disadvantaged, such as the middle-ground opinions, the less wealthy or organized, and the more remote stakeholders. Remoteness or distance is the most straightforward and objective of these characteristics to measure. We analyzed the New England Fishery Management Council's sign-in sheets for 2003-2006, estimating participants' travel distance and associations with the groundfish, scallop, and herring industries. We also evaluated the representativeness of participation by comparing attendance to landings and permit distributions. The distance analysis showed a significant correlation between attendance levels and costs via travel distance. These results suggest a potential bias toward those stakeholders residing closer to meeting locations, possibly disadvantaging parties who are further and must incur higher costs. However, few significant differences were found between the actual fishing industry and attendee distributions, suggesting that the geographical distribution of the meeting attendees is statistically similar to that of the larger fishery. The interpretation of these results must take into consideration the limited time span of the analysis, as policy changes may have altered the industry make-up and location prior to our study. Furthermore, the limited geographical input of stakeholders may lend bias to the Council's perception of ecological and social conditions throughout the spatial range of the fishery. These factors should be further considered in the policy-formation process in order to incorporate a broader range of stakeholder input.

The social evil in Chicago: a study of existing conditions with recommendations by the Vice Commission of Chicago, a municipal body appointed by the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Chicago, and submitted as its report to the Mayor and City Council of Chicago

Preface -- Outline of study -- Resolution of appreciation -- Introduction and summary -- Proposed ordinance -- Recommendations -- Existing conditions in Chicago -- The social evil and the saloon -- The social evil and the police -- Sources of supply -- Child protection and education -- Rescue and reform -- The social evil and its medical aspects -- Appendices: Text of revised statutes of Illinois and ordinances of the City of Chicago ; Tables ; Exhibits.

Letter from William Croswell to the City Council of Boston, 1827 September 4

Drafts of a letter concerning Croswell's June 1827 petition to the City Council.

Memorial to the City Council of Boston, 1828 February 4

One draft of a letter.

Petition to the City Council of Boston, 1829 October 5

One draft of a letter.

Council's Proceedings on the petition of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1743 March 7

Handwritten copy, signed by Josiah Willard, of a March 7, 1743 Council vote ordering further work by a Committee considering a petition by the Harvard Corporation related to ferry fares, and a half-page response by Francis Foxcroft suggesting that the Committee recommend certain fare rates and ferryman percentages.

Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, By His Excellency the Governor, you are by and with advice and consent of His Majesty's Council, ordered and directed to pay unto

Not in Evans or Ford.

Richard L. Kennedy, Field representative, Development Council of the University, 29 December 1960

(Preferred negative 10)