I was reading, last week, “How to Get Fired From a Volunteer Job,” Bill Hudson’s articles about the “hastily organized” Town Planning Commission meeting “with one agenda item… the removal of one of its ‘alternate’ members,” Mr. Hudson.
Mr. Hudson notes that he has been active in “a citizen effort to provide the town taxpayers with some measure of control over… the Urban Renewal Authority.”
Advocating for a citizen effort – for citizens to be able to weigh in on matters involving, in this instance, property development – seems reasonable enough. When, for example, you consider this news in the magazine, The Week… that while serving as the London mayor, prior to becoming British prime minister, Boris Johnson had several meetings with a property developer who had been a media mogul. “Despite objections from planning officers” regarding a proposed property development, the one-billion-British-pound proposal was approved.
Evidently, citizens of London had no say, either, in the matter?
Another article in the news and opinion website, Vox, describes real estate developers in the US engaging in “transactional politics” that may not necessarily reflect “deep ideological commitments.”
A billion-pound project in London approved, “despite objections”.
And US “transactional politics” perhaps not reflecting “deep ideological commitments.”
That’s just interesting. Those insights.
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.