Minor Irritants Can Become Major Problems
by Elaine Cogan

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PCJ columnist Elaine Cogan on what to do to prevent minor irritants from becoming major problems.

From PCJ #42, Spring 2001
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It would be extraordinary if planning boards or commissions, whose members rightly are chosen for their particular talents or backgrounds rather than their compatibility or congeniality, were to function smoothly without real effort. Most likely, you were not fast friends before you were appointed, and you may not have social or political relationships outside the commission.

Still, the public has the right to expect that you get along with each other. Several minor irritants, however, can add up to major problems and impede the smooth functioning of a planning board. Unfortunately, board members themselves often (sometimes unwittingly) trigger the problems by:

  • regularly arriving at meetings late and/or leaving early.
  • holding side conversations during the meeting.
  • purporting to speak for the board as a whole, even when no official vote or stand has been taken.
  • talking to each other and/or the public in rude or patronizing tones.
  • expounding with a long-winded opinion on every subject.
  • demanding excessive amounts of information.

    If there were to be a diagnosis of the problems in all these circumstances, it is that this behavior shows the perpetrator either lacks respect for the other planning commissioners, the public, and for the process itself -– or is uninformed about the norms of behavior at planning board meetings. ...

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