We lost a visionary Planning Director When Paul Farmer was discharged over
Sharon's and Jim Niland's objections. Spot quiz: who were the three votes
that gave Farmer Das Boot?
Now we have testimony about the curmudgeon approach to citizen service -
reminds me of the bad old days of the 1970s when the city's bureaucracy had
to be pummeled repeatedly before they would let citizens affected have a say
in what happened to their lives and their neighborhoods. The story content
has changed but the possessive planning bureaucracy has an all too familiar
ring.
Managing digital assets is yet another playing field in the planning
profession and you may notice the emergence of resources and initiatives in
21st-century Minneapolis that leave an increasingly marginalized planning
department leadership grasping at vestiges of power.
Get rid of the old wood, say I, or get rid of the department itself if the
dinosaurs won't go quietly into the good night.
Fred Markus, Horn Terrace, Ward 10
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2001 3:09 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Mpls] Access to Planning Department Files
I've been advised by the List Manager to bring this story to your attention.
Two weeks ago, my employer sent me to the Planning Department to look at and
photocopy Heritage Preservation files for a project my firm is working on. I
am former employee of the Planning Department and used to manage these very
same files; therefore, I know them well, and my current employer thinks it
best to send me.
I was confronted right at the file cabinet by the current HPC supervisor (he
used to be the supervisor in charge of the New Zoning Code). Even though I'd
made an appointment and received HPC staff permission, the supervisor fired
questions as to why I was there, what project I was working on, who had
hired my firm for this and what they were going to do with the information,
were NRP dollars involved, was the HPC included in my firm's contract, etc.
I couldn't answer every question and this man became angry.
After I left, he apparently grilled HPC staff about why I was there and
asked the same questions. They smoothed it over as well as they could and
told me that the next time I should just say what this guy wants to hear.
I was also informed by the Planning Department management that they were
concerned that I was photocopying files "for an inappropriate purpose" and
that I was not allowed to be in the Planning Department looking at files
unless I was working for the HPC. (?) I said, "I don't work for the HPC
anymore, I work for my boss." The answer I got was, "You know what I mean.
Only if you're gathering information on a project that the HPC is also
working on. Any other reason is not appropriate for you to be here."
I do believe I have been suspected of theft. But, aren't these files PUBLIC
INFORMATION? Even if I were there for my own purposes, don't I have that
right as a citizen?
I've mentioned this insulting and humiliating episode to other researchers,
inside and outside my firm. No one reports being confronted or challenged as
I was. No one else reports having this new policy (if that's what it is)
with its bizarre restriction placed on them. Everyone expresses horror that:
1) this could have implications for other researchers requesting gov't
information,
2) that I would be treated so shabbily after all my hard work in that
department.
I wish to thank these researchers for their advice and for their defense of
my character.
Ironically, the position I vacated at the Planning Department almost a year
ago has not been filled. Anyone out there got nerves of steel?
Kristine Harley
Sheridan Neighborhood
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Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
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_______________________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
http://e-democracy.org/mpls
