We are being jerked around
There are jerks in every business. There are some bankers who are jerks. There are some teachers who are jerks. There are some doctors who are jerks. There are some professors who are jerks. There are some insurance people who are jerks. There are some lawyers who are jerks. And there are some developers who are jerks.
The vast majority of the other folks in their professions are reasonable, fair and concerned.
The same goes for public officials. There are councilmen who are jerks. There are commissioners who are jerks. There are regulators who are jerks. And, of course, there are politicians who are jerks.
Again, the vast majority of these individuals are concerned, reasonable and caring. The public consensus is that there is a higher concentration of jerks in the politician area than in others. Still, the majority are fair, reasonable, and caring.
In America today, we respond to the jerk. We address the exception.
As a result, we have a massive proliferation of laws designed to regulate jerks but truly punishing the masses. It used to be, “ignorance of the law was no excuse.” The phrase is now better stated as, “good luck in knowing all the laws.”
A great example in our community is Columbia’s new storm water and stream buffer ordinances. Nobody knows what they really mean, nobody knows their real impact, nobody knows their real costs, and most of the population has no idea their land has just been taken. The law of good intention is in full force and effect on this issue. Now the promoters, including the mayor, want Boone County and its citizens to jump on board in order to “protect the hinterland.”
It has been reported that recently a group of citizens, all taxpayers and all contributors to the community, requested the City Council evaluate the financial impact of these ordinances prior to implementation. Not too big of a request for ordinances that may prohibit your use of property that has been in your family for years for your intended purpose. Not unfair to citizens who are even willing to pay for the analysis.
The purported response from the mayor, according to Columbia gossip central, was that he did not care what the cost of implementing this major ordinance would be. This was going to be implemented. In fact, the mayor came out a week later and demanded that Boone County implement the same type of ordinance without any financial analysis or any consideration that county residents may not concur with the “urban” philosophy.
Needless to say, a large block of the community believes the ordinance is government taking land, stops development in its tracks, is arbitrary and capricious, and will cost Columbia’s economy greatly without disclosure to the public. Apparently, some on the City Council do not think those causes are appropriate and that full disclosure of the impact of ordinances passed by the council are important or necessary.
Meanwhile, you can stay up next Monday night and watch council debate the exact details of the subdivision de jour or the width of the Pedway on the Providence Road Extension.
If these are good ordinances, they will stand on their own two feet. They could be publicly debated with a true presentation of their financial and acreage restriction costs.
Columbia is doing everything in its power to drive off the fourth largest industry in our community – construction. It’s an industry that generates substantial sales taxes. The city’s coffers reflect the poor strategy. But as those coffers get smaller – because of the loss of sales taxes generated by the lack of construction, the lack of purchases of housing stock, appliances, lumber, nails and concrete – “they” should not be asking for parks and trails.
Cops, streets, water, fire, sewage and garbage are a city’s true job. Parks and trails are luxuries. I like parks and trails, but they are creatures of a wealthy town, not a town with declining revenues and a declining average incomes.
The construction industry in this community is a major reason why we have the ability to build parks and trails, public golf courses, football fields, softball fields, soccer fields, nature areas and other amenities that we desire. All are signs of prosperity.
Some regulation is always necessary. Some changes to development rules are necessary. It is time to treat people who build homes in this community like the part of the economy that they are, rather than pariahs. Boone County should think long and hard about a public policy that is certain to buy a lawsuit, especially without evaluating its financial impact and its restrictions on the use of acreage.
The question is: Which set of jerks really require control?
David Shorr practices environmental law, regulatory law, and government relations at Lathrop & Gage in Jefferson City and Columbia. He can be reached at (573) 761-5005 or [email protected]