Our study examines a nontraditional engagement process employed by the City of Seattle during neighborhood plan updates. Adapting the trusted advocates model from the public health field, the city hired planning outreach liaisons (POLs) from 13 diverse community groups to solicit input from traditionally underrepresented residents. To explore the efficacy of this approach, we collected data through interviews with residents, neighborhood leaders, community development firm employees, university researchers, and municipal staff; a review of planning documents; observation at planning meetings. We found that the POLs effectively engaged underrepresented groups-including more than 1,200 stakeholders-particularly those characterized as selforganized, centralized or having strong social networks and were important in the advancement of democratic principles. Greater transparency by the city about process goals and constraints, along with strategies to address power issues, may have facilitated better communication and relationship building among the city, newly enfranchised residents, and the "usual suspects."

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Midlothian, Ill., has experienced flooding since it was first incorporated in 1927, but the scope and severity of the occurrences have increased alarmingly in recent years. Unrestricted development, deferred infrastructure maintenance, and changes in regional climate have converged in Midlothian, leaving residents vulnerable to flooding across the village.