Planning Commission Physics
by Ric Stephens

Does the "physics" of your planning commission reflect a mechanical or a systems model? How understanding of these models can help shape decision-making.

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We create models of the world to understand how things work and to predict how they will work in the future. The better our model; the better our ability to forecast and shape the future.

Models that are universally accepted are paradigms. There is a significant paradigm shift occurring in physics -- the science that deals with matter, energy, motion, and force -- that has a direct correlation to planning commissions.

The Renaissance saw the creation of a new model of the universe which has an analogy to a watch: the world is comprised of millions of parts that collectively form a working mechanism. This analogy is often used in describing the need for species protection. If a critical part is removed, the entire mechanism stops.

A newer model is replacing this mechanical view. It focuses on the relationships between parts and not the parts themselves. It views nature as a series of systems. An analogy often drawn is to the "Butterfly Effect," first postulated by Edward Lorenz, which describes how a seemingly insignificant action -- like the beating of a butterfly's wings in one place -- can trigger an unexpected chain of events -- perhaps resulting in a tornado in another part of the world.

Whew! But now it's time to stretch our minds even further, and consider how these two different models -- the mechanical model and the systems model -- relate to public bodies, such as planning commissions.

Several years ago planner Frank Wein suggested tongue-in-cheek that most public hearing bodies followed the "Rule of Five." They were comprised of five distinct personalities:

The Reader: Reads everything, understands nothing. Comments often like: "On page 32, second paragraph, I believe you meant a colon and not a semi colon. Also, on page 45, third line from the bottom, I believe it should read 'effect' and not 'affect.' Just some of my thoughts about the report."

The Sleeper: One of the highest attendance records. Responds to roll-call, "Here," but that may be the last sound from this member for the entire meeting. ...

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