getting all civic dutiful
I spent last Thursday night at a county planning commission meeting, which started at 6pm and ended at about 10:45, and I was there for the whole thing, and...I wasn't bored. Not a bit. Which is weird, because in general, I hate meetings. But this one was interesting and infuriating, in turns.
I went because, at the monthly meeting of the county Democratic party (which I didn't attend, because I hate meetings, but Britt did, because he's on the executive committee) a couple people mentioned that the new county comprehensive plan (a policy document which outlines growth and resource management guidelines for the next twenty years) was being reviewed in several-chapter chunks by the planning commission, and the Tea Party types were showing up en masse and effectively drowning out the few liberal voices during the public comment period.
The comp plan has been in process for nearly two years, and I attended one of the public meetings and answered a survey on it; and anyway, when the draft plan was put up on the county website, I liked what I saw, so I figured I'd just go and give my "I like this plan!" opinion, to counter the anti-progressive types.
Before the part of the meeting that would deal with chapters 5-7 of the comprehensive plan, the planning commission had its regular business. Some people who knew this deliberately showed up late, and others were visibly bored (reading ebooks or texting), but I enjoyed it: at worst it seemed like democracy at work, and at best it was better than a movie made from a John Grisham novel.
The planning commission is a board of five county residents appointed by the county commissioners. Typically what happens is that the county staff presents a petition by someone, and their findings and recommendations; the petitioner speaks, the public is allowed to speak, and the board asks questions at each step. Finally they discuss the petition and vote on whether to allow or disallow it, and any conditions they will impose.
For the most part, this went quickly and smoothly...but then came ( the John Grisham novel. )
Finally, at nearly 8pm, the comp plan review began. And I was flabbergasted! I had thought that they would take citizen input first, and then, based on that, evaluate the plan. But instead the planning commissioners went through the assigned chapters and hacked the plan to bits. That is, they removed everything that a liberal, such as me, would approve of, and occasionally inserted language asserting the primacy of property rights, business owners, and farmers and ranchers, and constantly complained about how the government is overreaching and ought to be smacked down.
( Whatta bunch of tea-brains. )
( Here is the letter to the editor I wrote the next day: )
I'm going to miss the next meeting - next Thursday - because I'm going to be out of town. (I'm going to ECUADOR! Whee!) But I've been reviewing the draft plan chapters that will be covered then, and sending an email to the county planner, who hopefully will pass it on to the planning commission. (The planning commission chair said that they accept public comment by email, but there's no obvious place to send it, alas.) I've put the final two meetings on my calendar.
I always hated meetings. They're boring. Except somehow this one wasn't. And I imagine the next ones won't be, either.
At this rate, I'm gonna end up applying for a seat on one of the county citizen boards. Ulp.
I went because, at the monthly meeting of the county Democratic party (which I didn't attend, because I hate meetings, but Britt did, because he's on the executive committee) a couple people mentioned that the new county comprehensive plan (a policy document which outlines growth and resource management guidelines for the next twenty years) was being reviewed in several-chapter chunks by the planning commission, and the Tea Party types were showing up en masse and effectively drowning out the few liberal voices during the public comment period.
The comp plan has been in process for nearly two years, and I attended one of the public meetings and answered a survey on it; and anyway, when the draft plan was put up on the county website, I liked what I saw, so I figured I'd just go and give my "I like this plan!" opinion, to counter the anti-progressive types.
Before the part of the meeting that would deal with chapters 5-7 of the comprehensive plan, the planning commission had its regular business. Some people who knew this deliberately showed up late, and others were visibly bored (reading ebooks or texting), but I enjoyed it: at worst it seemed like democracy at work, and at best it was better than a movie made from a John Grisham novel.
The planning commission is a board of five county residents appointed by the county commissioners. Typically what happens is that the county staff presents a petition by someone, and their findings and recommendations; the petitioner speaks, the public is allowed to speak, and the board asks questions at each step. Finally they discuss the petition and vote on whether to allow or disallow it, and any conditions they will impose.
For the most part, this went quickly and smoothly...but then came ( the John Grisham novel. )
Finally, at nearly 8pm, the comp plan review began. And I was flabbergasted! I had thought that they would take citizen input first, and then, based on that, evaluate the plan. But instead the planning commissioners went through the assigned chapters and hacked the plan to bits. That is, they removed everything that a liberal, such as me, would approve of, and occasionally inserted language asserting the primacy of property rights, business owners, and farmers and ranchers, and constantly complained about how the government is overreaching and ought to be smacked down.
( Whatta bunch of tea-brains. )
( Here is the letter to the editor I wrote the next day: )
I'm going to miss the next meeting - next Thursday - because I'm going to be out of town. (I'm going to ECUADOR! Whee!) But I've been reviewing the draft plan chapters that will be covered then, and sending an email to the county planner, who hopefully will pass it on to the planning commission. (The planning commission chair said that they accept public comment by email, but there's no obvious place to send it, alas.) I've put the final two meetings on my calendar.
I always hated meetings. They're boring. Except somehow this one wasn't. And I imagine the next ones won't be, either.
At this rate, I'm gonna end up applying for a seat on one of the county citizen boards. Ulp.