Sep 20, 2023·edited Sep 20, 2023Liked by Russil Wvong
What if somebody asked to do a "deep dive" into the permitting process, and interviewed the city staff who actually make these demands, on camera. This isn't a request for harassment; I'd really like to know what the heck they are THINKING, when they know how badly this is needed.
Why are they so cautious? What terrible punishments have been levied in the past upon staff who approved things that somehow then became criticized?
I was working at City of Calgary when the development news got all ugly, because it turned out the Development Approvals people had been whipsawing a couple of developers with different proposals for Calgary's "East Village". (Think "Yaletown", whole non-residential district on the edge of downtown, redeveloped as condos.) They finally took what they liked from Proposal A and handed it to the guy making Proposal B, told him that if you add this, you win. This got out, and a couple of Director-level people, not actually involved but aware, had to be forcibly retired, and most of the DA staff were fired.
That was actual malfeasance, though, not just an incautious approval. There must be SOME History of awful consequences for staff, or they'd respond to all the pressure with some approvals of anything that appeared non-flammable.
Avi Barzelai had a Twitter thread talking about the city of Vancouver's requirements to get a permit to renovate a bathroom. Sounds like it's mostly defined by municipal law. https://morehousing.substack.com/p/barzelai
What if somebody asked to do a "deep dive" into the permitting process, and interviewed the city staff who actually make these demands, on camera. This isn't a request for harassment; I'd really like to know what the heck they are THINKING, when they know how badly this is needed.
Why are they so cautious? What terrible punishments have been levied in the past upon staff who approved things that somehow then became criticized?
I was working at City of Calgary when the development news got all ugly, because it turned out the Development Approvals people had been whipsawing a couple of developers with different proposals for Calgary's "East Village". (Think "Yaletown", whole non-residential district on the edge of downtown, redeveloped as condos.) They finally took what they liked from Proposal A and handed it to the guy making Proposal B, told him that if you add this, you win. This got out, and a couple of Director-level people, not actually involved but aware, had to be forcibly retired, and most of the DA staff were fired.
That was actual malfeasance, though, not just an incautious approval. There must be SOME History of awful consequences for staff, or they'd respond to all the pressure with some approvals of anything that appeared non-flammable.
Avi Barzelai had a Twitter thread talking about the city of Vancouver's requirements to get a permit to renovate a bathroom. Sounds like it's mostly defined by municipal law. https://morehousing.substack.com/p/barzelai