(Feb. 18, 2019) — To celebrate 50 years as San Antonio’s urban serving university and to thank San Antonio for its support and commitment to higher education, UTSA is presenting its 50th Anniversary Scholars Speaker Series throughout 2019, featuring experts on a broad range of contemporary issues that impact society. On February 26, the speaker series, which is free and open to the public, will feature Not In My Backyard! The Power and Pitfalls of Citizen Engagement, presented by Francine Romero, associate dean in the College of Public Policy and associate professor in the Department of Public Administration.
Romero will explore how citizen participation in a democracy can be simultaneously difficult, messy, productive and liberating. Her 45-minute talk will delve into the opportunities and pitfalls of civic engagement, with a particular focus on how citizens can most constructively participate in land use planning.
“Civic engagement is the most potent force in our democracy, and we ignore its value at our peril,” said Romero. “But citizen demands can also be exclusionary and elitist, especially in the realm of land use and zoning. Striving to find the right balance is one of the most important things government can do.”
>> Learn more about this Scholars Speaker Series.
Romero’s work emphasizes land use policy, civil rights and Progressive Era reforms. Her recent publications have examined the overlooked northern state civil rights statutes that preceded the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act as well as the determinants of U.S. Senators’ roll call votes on the nation’s first immigration restrictions laws. She is currently investigating the ways in which municipal annexation plays out in various Texas cities and how San Antonio’s tree preservation ordinance compares with tree ordinances in other municipalities.
The UTSA faculty member has served on the City of San Antonio Planning Commission, its Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and its Zoning Commission, where she recently completed a two-year term as chair and remains the District 8 Commissioner. Additionally, she serves as the chair of the City of San Antonio’s Conservation Advisory Board, which oversees the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, an innovative policy on which she has also produced published research.
Romero earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Riverside.
Not In My Backyard! The Power and Pitfalls of Citizen Engagement is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at The Historic Guadalupe Theater, 1301 Guadalupe St., San Antonio, Texas 78207. Doors will open and a cash bar will be available at 6 p.m. Attendees will have an opportunity to meet the speaker following the presentation at 7:15 p.m.
