Public Participation Helps (Of Course)

Thanks to Francis Bula for pointing us to this article from last November which I would certainly not have seen otherwise.

The article refers to a theory that shows including public participation, what we like to call community engagement, speeds the implementation of new ideas.

Creighton’s theory compares two types of decisions: Unilateral and Public Participation. Unilateral decisions result in a quicker decision being made, but implementation time can take significantly longer because of legal issues, controversy, or other delays. Conversely, a decision made with public participation increases the amount of time it takes to make a decision, however, that time and much more is made up in the implementation process. Thus, including more voices at the table results in a more efficient and timely process compared to unilateral decisions.

 

They include a graph to illustrate the point:

 

The example they use in the article is about bike share in Los Angeles.  But the theory seems to be useful for all development and planning decision making.

The Citizens’ Assembly Talking Points

Tonight is the second of the two City-organized Info Sessions about the Grandview-Woodland Citizens’ Assembly. If it is like Saturday’s, there will be strong resident pushback against the limited nature (in both scope and size) of the Assembly that the Planners appear to favour.

I have written my piece about Saturday’s session and, more importantly, I have heard a large number of similar comments from members of the GW Ad-Hoc Committee.  This morning, Bruce Allen on CKNW chimed in:

https://soundcloud.com/cknwnewstalk980/reality-check-visions-citizens   (Thanks for the call out, Bruce!)

Tomorrow morning at 7:50am I will be speaking on Co-op Radio (100.5FM) to Jane Bouey about this and other issues.  Politics in Vancouver is hotter than the winter weather, that’s for sure.

Turn, Turn, Turn

Pete Seeger (1919-2014).  He will be remembered so long as there is singing in the land.

Vancouver Sunset