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ZONED OUT IN DEBRISVILLE
ABOVE LEFT: Mr. Bingler. ABOVE RIGHT: Mr. Bingle.
There was a puff piece in this morning's Picayune about UNOP/Concordia honcho, Steven Bingler. Once again, the front page reflects TP editorial policy: they've endorsed the process so everything about it must be praised slavishly. I don't know Mr. Bingle personally but the people we have in common do not think of him as either modest or a consensus builder. But, of course, the Picayune/Comus/Rex cabal know best. I'm certain of one thing: Mr. Bingle dismissed the complaints of neighborhood groups about FUBAR Fest 2 being held in competition with Night Out Against Crime. He waved away criticism by saying: "There's an event every night in New Orleans." So much for being Mr. Consensus Builder. I liked Mr. Bingle better when Al Shea was involved...
I also loved the man of the people touch conferred on Mr. Bingle by the Picayune: "A native of Charlottesville, Va., Bingler has working-class roots. His father is a retired plumber; his mother ran a child-care business at home, and neither one had more than an eighth-grade education. Bingler thought he would become a car mechanic, but discovered architecture at the University of Virginia."
Has Picayune man Coleman Warner met many plumbers? They may chain smoke and have snake tattoos but they make good money. You gotta pay someone well if you ask them to fix a clogged toilet. I also loved the "I wanted to be a car mechanic" bit. If so, he went to the wrong school: I don't think UVA graduates many grease monkeys. It's a Biff-n-Buffy preppie kind of school, y'all. It may be a public university but it's an Ivy League school in everything but name. Just ask Dr. A if you don't believe me. Wahoo fricking wah...
Enough of planning. It's time to zone out on zoning. Zoning is a very important and very dull subject. That's why it begins with a Zzzzzzz. My friends and colleagues in the preservationist/neighborhood association network are worried that the UNOP process may open the door to all sorts of mischief with the zoning ordinances. We need to be very vigilant if this process moves forward to make sure that the zoning baby isn't thrown out with the planning bathwater. I don't know about you but I don't want to live next door to a bar or see high rise condos sprout uptown, downtown or anywhere else in town.
Remember the campaign? The new reform minded members of the Council all pledged to remove the politics from land use policy. That, of course, meant curtailing their own powers and deferring to the CPC (City Planning Commission.) Citizens will still have the right to appeal but they can do it the American way and sue the bastards. Like so many other campaign promises, that one seems to have fallen by the wayside. I think that the issue needs to be revived. If you want to reduce graft and corruption at City Hall, get the pols out of the zoning process. Zoning issues, large and small, make up some 80% of the Council's docket. It's one reason they never get anything done; that and Cynthias Windy-Lewis and Hedgehog-Morrel.
The BGR (Bureau of Government Research) recently issued a report calling for zoning reform but its appeal seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Why? The Council has lost so much power in the last year that they're reluctant to get out of the Zone; as it were. They need to recuse themselves. The fat cat developers who bankroll many campaigns won't like it and that's why the average Joe and Josephine should support change.
Bingler has been taking too much advice from his Burkley friends as to how
this process should be run. This "democratic process" is riddled with
opportunities for fraud and marginalizes the importance of neighborhood
associations in the process of rebuilding our communities. Like with the
meeting that conflicted with Night Out, countless residents offered
recommendations to Concordia staff about the “voting process,” which is, in
reality, merely a list of recommendations and will count for little if
anything. Bingler thinks he has hoodwinked the community but those closest
to this process know the reality of the situation. We need to point out
these faults and make clear what our neighborhood associations want from
this process… and to proclaim our wants not only to the def ears of
Concordia but also to our elected officials, who can hopefully bring this
unwieldy process back to reality.
Land use deals have for years been the nexus for councilmanic power and
authority. No significant reform in city governance can take place without
this process being radically altered. This is as good a time as any to seek
to effect change, especially since the BGR has given policy makers a road
map to reform. But even with the weight of the BGR behind it, I expect that
the impetus to implement these recommended changes will be an underfunded
grass roots effort, and not one initiated by organized groups like those
that have sought reform in the schools, the levee boards and the assessors.
This proposed change touches a little close to home for many reform-minded
folks, especially those who have profited from the chronic planning
dysfunction, or those who while recognizing its shortcomings have learned
to deal with the devil you know than the one you don't know.
Jingle, jangle, jingle
Here comes Mr. Bingler
With another message from LRA
Time to launch your Planning season
Rockefeller makes Planning pleasin'
Gifts galore for you to see
Each a gem from MB!
Deep blog. You are right as rain on the "democratic process". By saying
that the voting would determine the three planners from which the UNOP
could appoint for a specific neighborhood, Bingler set off a frenzy of
deliberation and meetings at the neighborhood level. I somehow doubt that
he did this on purpose, he seems to like the word "democracy" is all.
I know Steve Bingler, I believe he is sincere in his beliefs. You may
disagree with him and his approach, I know I have serious problems with
this whole process. I also firmly believe that for the most part the
professionals involved are trying to do what has been asked of them. The
problem lies elsewhere.