Making Change on the Planning group

As a member of the Planning Group, I always invite constructive feedback on our activities. Mr Mervich’s comments regarding the ‘black hole at the County Planning Department’ is indeed a concern….however, Mr, Mervich has not invented the wheel. The issue of project tracking has been a regular item of discussion at meetings of the Planning Group Chairs as well as at the full Planning Group. Mr. Mervich has not been aware of this since he has not attended meetings since his term as a prior Planning Group member expired. He has started attending meetings again since he decided to run again. The problem with the Planning Department and project tracking is that projects are assigned to different managers and therefore tracking is not automatic. Jim Loge, Secretary of the Planning Group has set up a tracking system for internal control, but until a [project is approved by the County, tracking is in limbo. It is imperative to remember that the role of the Planning Group is limited to MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS to the County on any given project. We have no authority beyond that. We are an ADVISORY GROUP only. It must also be clearly understood that some projects, depending on their nature, can take years to complete the permitting process with the County. This is beyond the scope or the control of the Planning Group to monitor or control.

Steve Brown