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Q&A
Commissioner Goodridge addresses silos in city planning
1:15:53
ยท
130 sec
Commissioner Leah Goodridge responds to Council Member Brewer's question about silos in city planning, acknowledging their existence and discussing the challenges faced by commissioners in addressing larger urban issues.
- Goodridge candidly admits to the presence of silos in city planning processes.
- She explains the dilemma commissioners face in deciding whether to simply vote on proposals or to actively engage in broader urban issues.
- Goodridge expresses her preference for a more engaged approach, including public outreach and community conversations.
- The discussion highlights the limitations of the commissioner's role in effecting systemic changes and the need for advocacy beyond the commission.
Leah Goodridge
1:15:53
So I I'm gonna be brutally honest, there are silos.
1:15:58
I know.
1:15:58
There there are silos which which is kind of why I had a very strong response.
1:16:02
Hope, you know, you felt it was respectful, but this is kind of why I had a strong response because this is something that as a commissioner, I would say that is my biggest challenge and this is part of why I've become like very public facing to just go out into the community and have these conversations.
1:16:20
You know, there there is the and and and the question is like, well what do you do as a commissioner?
1:16:24
Do you just go and say I'm just gonna vote and purely look at this as like text amendment and let me see if the building is tall enough and let me just rubber stamp and if there was a fight then the city council will take it over from there.
1:16:37
And I've just decided that that's not the approach that I wanna have.
Gale A. Brewer
1:16:42
Yeah.
1:16:42
I mean, we do operate in silos and and you're supposed to be the planning agency, so you'd think that the silos could in fact be stopped to a certain extent or curtailed at CPC.
1:16:52
I'm not saying it happens.
1:16:53
I'm just saying that would be the wish.
Leah Goodridge
1:16:55
Well, I think, you know, the agencies do work with one another.
1:17:00
DCP, HP and HPD and DOT, Aldberry, the agencies do work with one another.
1:17:08
When I say silos, just want to just clarify, then there's the commission and then there's sort of the expectation of like what do you do if you want to address these sort of larger issues that are part of city planning like the AMI, then there's sort of there's a stuck part there of like what do you do other than raising hell about it on the commission.
1:17:29
What do you do?
1:17:30
What can we do?
1:17:31
We would have to advocate for there to be some change apart from the commission.
1:17:37
So I think that's the part where I'm because the big the big part for affordability and a host of other issues, and then there's this sort of like sentiment of well, we'll just you just vote on them and that's it.
1:17:48
Okay.
1:17:48
So I I to address the silos, I think it would be great if there would be an effort between the commissioners,