Citizen access to the planning process

[Liz Wright]

Hi -

As many of you may be aware, there is a task force in place to examine the planning process interface between citizens, neighborhoods and others. One aspect is the experience that individuals go through after they get a notice from INCOG saying that a change is happening in their neighborhood.

Good, bad, smooth, rough, simple, complicated - I would sincerely like to hear of your experience and thoughts about how to improve the experience.

While I am not on the Mayor's task force, as a TMAPC commissioner I would like to present some suggestions from citizens. While I understand folks may have experienced extreme angst, my hope is to gather some very useful and productive suggestions.

Thank you in advance.

Liz Wright

[RecycleMichael]

Hey, I watch you on my TV at those meetings...

My experience hasn't been bad. We haven't had many dealings (here in east Tulsa, people just seem to do stuff without all that formal permission). We received letters from INCOG explained the dates for hearings, I called and talked to a staffer, etc.

My complaint is more from projects outside of my neighborhood. I care about things further away too and don't know what is going on without having to check the agenda often. I don't want them to send me every one because I honestly wouldn't read them, but wish there was a more visible sign on the project space.

My only other observation is that the board has been pretty polite to citizens lately. There was a time a bunch of years ago where the commission was almost put off with having to deal with us petty complainers. That has been a big improvement in the last few years.

[Ed W]

I was a member of INCOG's bicycling subcommittee, now defunct.  Members were drawn from area bicycle clubs, businesses, and geographical areas.  As far as effectivity goes, it was a mixed bag.  Our input on some projects produced positive action.  One was especially bad, and we thought it had been shelved permanently.  Yet in the last couple of weeks, it popped up again like Dracula risen from the grave. 

I think one of the problems is that unless a project is going to receive federal money, INCOG has no due diligence function.  So if a city or county department wants to do something, it doesn't have to meet any standards or guidelines.  AASHTO sets the standards for federally funded projects.  Ideally, the city would have a standard incorporated in an overall bicycling master plan, but Tulsa hasn't developed one yet, or if it has, I've never seen a reference to it. 

This means that in the absence of federal money, governments and their departments are free to build as they see fit - unless someone can show them that a particular design brings considerable liability.  This also means they can solicit citizen input, and then disregard it entirely.  I sat in a meeting with some CofC types who were utterly dismissive of any viewpoint other than their own.  When the revolution comes, they'll be at the head of the line for a cigarette and a blindfold.

Just recently, I read a piece comparing modern media to cargo cults:
http://klausler.com/cargo.html

The piece is interesting because the principles can be applied to so many arguments in our world.  These are some of the points from the first section:

Complicated explanations are suspect

    The world is simple, and there must be a simple explanation for everything.

Certainty is strength, doubt is weakness

    Admitting alternatives is undermining one's own belief.
   
Your opinion matters as much as anyone else's

    When a person has studied a topic, he has no more real knowledge than you do, just a hidden agenda.

The herd should be followed

    Popular beliefs must be true.

I bring this up as an illustration of the ways citizen input can be disregarded by those in authority.  On one hand, a professional planner dismisses public input because the man-on-the-street hasn't been educated in his specialization, yet when he encounters citizens who have educated themselves, he assumes their agenda conflicts with his own. 

Now, I don't want to sound overwhelmingly negative.  The subcommittee really did have some successes, and it met with failure as well.  But one thing I find infuriating is the stubborn unwillingness to consider providing for public input in so many aspects of our lives, not just transportation and urban planning.  Some public input is no more than window dressing, officials engaged in a CYA effort because they're required to ask for public comments, yet they have no intention of actually implementing them.  The only way we can hold them accountable is at the ballot box, but by then it's too late.

[Double A]

St. Paul's Letter to the Tulsans
Minneapolis' beloved twin city offers some heavenly, civic advice

BY MICHAEL D. BATES

Read that and get rid of INCOG.

[Liz Wright]

INCOG serves a variety of functions other than land use and zoning for Tulsa city and Tulsa county. The land use arm is TMAPC and is staffed by INCOG. The TMAPC are volunteers while the staff is paid. I will assume for the sake of the question at hand that references to INCOG are aimed at the land use functions and not at INCOG proper unless otherwise noted. Just want to separate the functions for this discussion. While the BOA experience might be similiar in some respects, for now the focus is on the citizen interface.

BTW I like the articles Michael Bates has written on urban issues.

Thank you for your comments.
And thanks for watching TGOV - I don't have cable so I never see the meetings on TV.

Liz

[patric]

And thanks for watching TGOV - I don't have cable so I never see the meetings on TV.

A lot of satellite customers and people who dont have cable would like to see these streamed on the web, as well.

[Liz Wright]

A lot of satellite customers and people who dont have cable would like to see these streamed on the web, as well.

I didn't realize satellite customers were also without TGOV. Excellent point.
Thank you,
Liz

[dsjeffries]

I didn't realize satellite customers were also without TGOV. Excellent point.
Thank you,
Liz

TU students who want to be informed and engaged citizens also don't have TGOV. Web streams would be very welcome! Perhaps podcasts on iTunes, too.