On small town politics

...in which I explore how much I love working in a small town.

On one hand, it's only a matter of scale. There are things that go on in small towns that are only different from large cities in that they are, well, smaller. The main actors are still the same, but the production is bigger.

The thing that I enjoy about small town stuff is that there is a definite human face on everything. People are not ambiguous entities or demographics - they are real folks with real concerns. And interestingly, the concerns are not different, either. Failing infrastructure, commute times, community development - these are all concerns that a developer and resident may have regardless of the size of the City.

The challenge with such a personal nature in professional settings is that one may feel that the regulations/requirements of the City are being personally applied or are somehow personally injurious. If one is caught up in a bureaucratic machine - as many large cities are perceived - it may be more difficult to take things as personally. The staff may feel disconnected and detached emotionally from the concern. The person with the concern may also feel that there is a lack of interest on the part of the city staff - whose job is to serve the public, anyway... But in a small town setting, where the conversation may be between two people (as opposed to a team of people) the exchange may become more difficult and emotionally charged.

So there's definitely an interesting dynamic here at the City. We are doing our best. I acknowledge that things may feel personally offensive or difficult, but we do not intend it to be so. We have been given a set of regulations by which we should evaluate new development in the City. Ultimately, the authority to affect these things comes from the City Council, which enacts the laws in the first place. City staff just does our best trying to apply equitably the mandates given us in the ordinance.