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+--- Thread: Local Government Policy and Planning: (/showthread.php?tid=2281)
Local Government Policy and Planning: - james weatherford - 06-14-2008
[something I wanted to say...]
Local Government Policy and Planning: Outsource, In-house, Grassroots
Local government administration has come to rely on non-resident consultants to conduct the people’s business.
What now passes as local government policy and planning is often done by top-rate-plus-expenses experts. County funds are paid to non-resident consultants who arrive with a predetermined, off-the-shelf solution, and proceed to demonstrate minimum knowledge of the local community and even less regard for what local residents have to say. These experts are from and will return to somewhere else with county revenue in their pocket, unbothered about how it is living day-to-day with the outcomes of their own counsel.
How did it get this way?
Perhaps a combination of, first, Community Development Block Grants and associated surge in local government activity beginning in the 1970’s, and then the hollowing out of all levels of government that took place in the 1980’s.
Whatever the origin of broadbrush outsourcing of local government policy and planning, this paradigm has, at best, become stale and ineffective. A harsher assessment, to which I subscribe, is that the paradigm has become corrupted and principally serves interests other than those of the local community.
What to do?
One approach is based on interests of the local community being best served when the residents of the local community have charge of their own local government policy and planning.
The expert-from-somewhere-else paradigm is based on an underlying implication that people in the local (particularly rural) community are not capable of managing their own public affairs.
Before government agencies or consulting firms, community residents relied on their own talents and resources to do what needed to be done. In the 21st Century, what needs to be done is more complex, and, at least in Hawai`i County, the residents are also more competent than ever at dealing with complexity.
A second approach is to hire public employees so that policy and planning is done ‘in-house’. This brings forth questions about long- and short-term commitments to costs of salaries and benefits, overhead costs of office buildings, and more. These issues deserve a fair evaluation to determine what the impacts would be.
A fair evaluation would also recognize that outsourcing of local government policy and planning has direct costs, and, it is submitted here, outsourcing of local government policy and planning has substantial indirect costs in the form of corruption and an inherent absence of compulsion to serve local community interests.
Among the residents and ohana of this island, there are talents and resources sufficient in quality and quantity to accomplish policy and planning tasks now outsourced to nonresidents whose relationship to the community is only transactional.
Residents with local knowledge and professional expertise have demonstrated through the Community Development Planning process to have the ability to join in a voluntary effort to identify priorities and proposals for policy and planning.
The residents and ohana of this island, as grassroots community volunteers and as in-house public employees, are the experts best able to do the work of local government policy and planning for Hawai`i County.
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park
RE: Local Government Policy and Planning: - Seeb - 06-14-2008
I agree with a lot of this. especially planning consultants they come in 3 types.
1)ignore the local residents and copy it out of a book ( you can get the book from P&Z news)
2)ignore the local residents and collect a check from the developer there going to be workig for next week
3)ignore the local residents and try to impose there utopian fantasy
The devil is in the detail
RE: Local Government Policy and Planning: - james weatherford - 06-14-2008
quote:
Originally posted by Seeb
I agree with a lot of this. especially planning consultants they come in 3 types.
1)ignore the local residents and copy it out of a book ( you can get the book from P&Z news)
2)ignore the local residents and collect a check from the developer there going to be workig for next week
3)ignore the local residents and try to impose there utopian fantasy "
4)...any combination, or all, of the above.
The devil is in the detail
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park
RE: Local Government Policy and Planning: - gtill - 06-18-2008
Mabe the reason goes back to the 1970s,when Academics and economists from UHH Honolulu came to the big island to do good, totally failed, leaving the Island bleeding for a lot of years, while they scammed work on Geothermal in Puna, OTEC in Kona, and worst yet Kohala Task Force in Hawi!
Try to find any information about any of these projects and it's buried public information!
Better trust a person from the outside than the state inhouse, it's proven! Multi millions were squandered in the former projects, no one was even disciplined ove it.
RE: Local Government Policy and Planning: - Carey - 06-18-2008
Utilizing consultants is being done by state, county & local governments all over.... Most are put out for bid process... most are open bid... most are not by local firms... there are many reasons why, most of them hinge on the fact that no government official really wants to be totally responsible for any decision (and most at least realize they don't have expertise on many of the issues that are handled by consultants...)
One of the big things that helps keep local controls is local involvement.... this is something you hear all of the time, but by & large, public participation in government is minimal... Think to yourself, how many policy meetings have you sat in on? how many public forums have you attended? Do you know your local public officials? Did you vote for any? Do they know you & your views? Are you involved in your local government &/ or issues that you feel are important?
Utilizing non-local consultants should be one tool in a toolbox filled with informed local residents, if the local residents are not present, usually there is only one tool to choose from... that is the price of indifference...
RE: Local Government Policy and Planning: - james weatherford - 06-18-2008
gtill, your response is the same-old, same-old, UH is the source of all problems.
Carey, as you point out, outsourcing is not unique to Hawaii so the UH b.s. is just that, b.s.
Involvement? Yes. The best way for people in the local community to be involved is to be in charge.
We can't accept being a colonial station waiting for instructions from somewhere else!
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park
RE: Local Government Policy and Planning: - Guest - 06-18-2008
Everyone needs to remember... the Reps only vote on the issues. Very rarely are they the driving forces behind any of the issues.
If are reps are "Confused" on the issues, then the cast and crew behind their rep didn't do enough to inform the rep of the issues.
Reps can be very easily influenced [8D]
-------
"...confuse people. People are already confused..."
Emily Naeole
RE: Local Government Policy and Planning: - gtill - 06-24-2008
Dr W, you call me bs, but you have
to know how badly those state initatives went or you were sleeping in class. The only one that was hugely sucessful was an out of town operation (PGV), to whom you show no respect.
And you want people to follow you???
Degrees and money don't make a knowledgable leader.
RE: Local Government Policy and Planning: - james weatherford - 06-25-2008
"how badly those state initatives "
All I said was you only and always cry about UH, and then without any details.
"want people to follow"
huh? don't know what that is about; but it sure is not about me.
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park