Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Too much vision.

I don't know how many times over the years I've heard the accusation that politicians don't have enough "vision."

If you ask me, they have too much "vision." If by vision you mean ambitious, pie-in-the-sky public projects that are ambiguously financed and based on projections that are self-serving or worst, serve the entities that would profit from the project.

Especially in Bend.

There was a time perhaps when Bend was lacking vision. A small town mentality. We probably weren't adequately prepared for the influx of population and retail and developments. I'm not sure there was any way to be prepared; and the newcomers pretty much overwhelmed the old-timers.

We should have had challenging fees during the run--up, and if it ran off a few of the more shaky developers, that probably would've been a good thing. A bunch of things we should have put in place, we did try: 4 year colleges, etc.

But over the last few years, it seems that we're stuck in a mentality that was incubated during the boom years -- and we're unwilling to let it go.

Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing. Sometimes it makes sense to sit back and see what happens. I know this from my business. There are times to invest, and there are times to save, and there are times to just run the business.

There seems to be a problem of relying on old plans, a destructive stubbornness to stick to old projections and throw good money after bad, and a lack of perspective and history on the part of our local politicians.

Sure, we want them to plan for the future.

But then again, no one knows the future. So it's best to approach it with humility and caution.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This comment belongs two posts down, but c'est la vie.

Check out this response to the new Starfire:

http://www.shortpacked.com/2011/comic/book-13/04-remedial-adulthood/math/

and

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/09/22/starfire-catwoman-sex-superheroine/

Duncan McGeary said...

Yeah, I've stayed out of that controversy. I have an overall attitude of "if you don't like it don't read it."

But it does testify the more mature orientation -- Vertigo-ish -- of the New 52.