MISSION To bring people together to find solutions to community quality-of-life issues.

VALUES We will:

� Offer a safe, public, and welcoming atmosphere for interested people in and outside faith communities.

� Seek common ground to build working relationships among diverse viewpoints.

� Provide balance in planning and delivery of topics, perspectives, speakers, etc. through various venues.

� Listen, with tolerance and respect.

By Paul Hurley

When a local church renovated a former bar/restaurant into a gathering place two years ago, we at the Visalia Times-Delta were presented with an opportunity we couldn't refuse. What developed was a monthly public forum on topics of interest to our community and a partnership that is unique to newspapers.

The forum, called 210 Connect, takes on community topics each month in an open forum that encourages public participation. The topic is also explored through commentary in the newspaper and feedback on our website. The forums give us the opportunity to examine topics on several platforms that engage readers in multiple dimensions, and we hope, contribute to public discourse in our community.

Since it started in 2008, 210 Connect has addressed topics of urban planning, water quality and quantity, hunger, homelessness, the mortgage foreclosure crisis, suicide prevention, end-of-life issues, the role of arts and music in our community, green building, health care reform and animal control, among others. Attendance at our forums varies, and some have drawn only about two dozen people. But others have attracted more than 100, with about 200 people attending our health-care forum last fall. Average attendance is about 50 people.

Considering how difficult it is to get people to come out and engage in public issues, we're pleased with that.

Perhaps the most interesting thing  about 210 Connect, however, is that it is a collaboration between a community newspaper and a local church congregation. First Presbyterian Church in downtown Visalia had long had a reputation for social action and community outreach. Its downtown neighbor for many years was a night club that had a reputation for police intervention. The bar finally closed down for a number of reasons, and the century-old property on one of Visalia's most prominent street corners was put up for sale. First Presbyterian bought the property and its congregation invested millions of dollars into renovating it as a combination coffee house, youth center and performance venue. They called it 210, after its address at 210 W. Center Ave.

210's assembly room can accommodate 225 people. It is a venue for concerts and meetings. The Rev. Rich Hansen intended that 210 be a center for public discussion of community issues, and he invited the Times-Delta as a partner in 210 Connect. After several months of planning and consultation with community leaders, we held our first event in April 2008 with the cooperation of The Great Valley Center, a nonprofit that helps cities in California�s Central Valley plan, as we discussed how to plan for our community's future.

Our 210 Connect format slowly has evolved to its current format. We select a topic and narrow its focus. We try to choose a topic that has attracted some community interest, but not an issue that is in crisis mode(see Mission statement). The newspaper contacts stakeholders or topic "experts" to serve as panelists who provide information and perspective on the issue. For our program on homelessness, for instance, we included city planners, law enforcement, leaders of agencies who serve the homeless, advocates for homeless people and a person who had been living on the streets for several years.

Then we compose an agenda that frames the discussion through a series of questions. 210 also has capability for multimedia presentation, including sound, video and a performance, as well as wireless.

We have a newspaper staffer blog during the live forum through our Web site. We are also working to have online chats enabled so those who aren't at the forum can participate. A moderator, usually myself, guides the discussion by questioning the panelists and directing questions from the audience.

The keys to the forum are keeping the discussion moving and making sure the audience has the opportunity to ask questions and offer opinions. It can be challenging to keep the forum flexible enough to allow for the unexpected while focused enough to stay on topic. And we make sure to keep the forum at 90 minutes � no longer.

210 Connect has broadened the mission of our newspaper into community activism, enabling us to better fulfill our role as leaders of our community conversation.

Paul Hurley is senior editor for community conversation for the Visalia Times-Delta, 23,000-circulation general interest newspaper in the San Joaquin Valley in California that serves the city of Visalia (pop. 125,000) and Tulare County. www.VisaliaTimesDelta.com.

Prepare and plan

Setting up your community forum:

Include a partner in your ongoing community forum. Make sure it is a neutral, trusted institution and not a government entity. Seek collaboration from community leaders. Hold the forum at a neutral site, such as  a library. Choose topics that have some weight, and keep them focused, but stay away from volatile issues that have come to a head. Our forum on health care, while well-attended, was  difficult to manage because emotions ran so high.

Prepare an advance in the newspaper that gives readers background information. We publish an entire Opinion page devoted to the topic on our largest circulation day before the event.

Balance the panel of experts. Our forum on the  state budget included a Republican, a Democrat, a moderate and a Tea Party Patriot.

Establish a statement of principles that emphasizes respect for all points of view (see Mission Statement and principles). 

Prepare a detailed agenda in advance that lets panelists know exactly what is expected and hand them out at the event. We schedule them to the minute.

Allow plenty of time for discussion and audience comment. It's good to have an assistant moderator to seek audience comment and questions. Have another news staffer, perhaps a reporter, attend the session with a laptop and report via a live blog.

Get e-mail addresses of those who attend to give them feedback and alert them to the next forum. 

Follow up with a news report both in print and online and keep an archive of the forums for those who want to comment later.

-- Paul Hurley