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(September 18, 2002) Recently, I received a letter from someone needing to vent his frustrating experience with the County Planning Department. It’s a sad story which simply underscores the arrogant, cavalier reception which citizens often receive when applying for a building permit.

Next to getting married and having a family, what should be the most important and happiest event in one’s life is building one’s dream home. Here, more often than not, it is an aggravating, oppressive, and very expensive nightmare.

This restrictive attitude by planners, who take their orders from their bosses – the supervisors – who allow the rights of the long-toed salamander to overrule the rights of taxpaying county citizens, is nothing short of incongruous lunacy.

This treatment is by design (no pun intended). A process which elsewhere in the state and country is expedited in a timely manner, here usually takes many months and sometimes years; one is forced to jump through many hoops, each time paying more and more fees.

Now for the frustrated applicant’s letter:

“Dear Kay,

This letter commends you on your letter to the Aptos Times in the September 1, 2002 issue.

The county expenditures have indeed become outrageous and I agree 200% with you that things should be different. Hardly any citizen knows how high the employees’ salaries have become, especially the management salaries.

Your attention is invited to the liberal benefits of such employees in our county, especially the retirement pensions. It is my understanding that if one stays around long enough, they can retire on about 95% of their salary. In the last year or so, I know of several people in planning who did just that. This is found nowhere in private industry.

Wouldn’t you like to get 2-1/2 months vacation each year if you work only 15 years? Again, this is found nowhere in private industry.

The county’s spending habits have irked some of us for years. The Board of Supervisors must take responsibility for this, for the Supervisors are the CEOs of the organization. We can complain about the proposed closing of libraries in recent years and everyone gets upset and holds car washes, bake sales, etc. to raise money for libraries. But no one looks to see what the county is spending money on instead of libraries.

While you properly described the sad story of the management greed, the Planning Department has caught the attention of many citizens. For many years, nearly anyone who has applied for any permit in the Planning Department has met with frustration. Why does the Planning Department have more employees per capita than any other county in California except L.A. County?

I can’t sign this letter because I have an application pending. I am a simple citizen, not a developer. I know full well that if I become known as a resister, my name goes on a black list informally maintained in Planning and I will be hit with even more unreasonable demands to any of my plans. Many property owners have this problem, especially those with property which might be developed. We are at the mercy of the planners who hold all the authority over us. We can’t negotiate but must submit to whatever they demand, which already costs us many thousands of dollars for no purpose.

Many of us will donate toward the cost of an ad or other actions if we are not identified. (Isn’t this a sad state of affairs?)

Again, thank you for publicizing the facts as you did. The public needs such facts to judge our government. I’m sorry I can’t stand up and identify myself.

~Unsigned for fear of reprisal”

So my friends, remember again, the planners take their orders from the supervisors, the ones on top. And when the fish stinks, it starts from the head down.

So now, what can We the People do about this sorry mess? For starters, come November 5th, let us express our anger and disgust by voting out of office each incumbent supervisor who is running – and hope that the new supervisors will be more reasonable and responsive to the needs of the people.