Don't Trust The Consultants!

Does anyone in Austin think a nationally respected comprehensive planning firm might be able to teach Austin a thing or two about inclusive public processes that work?

City council has pushed back to April 23 its selection of a Comprehensive Planning Consultant, due to an outcry from some Austinites who want more input now. Last night (March 4), three council members – Laura Morrison, Randi Shade, and Lee Leffingwell – fielded comments from Austinites. They suggested questions for council to submit to the three finalist teams, led by ACP Visioning+Planning, HNTB, and Wallace Roberts & Todd. City staff covered the city’s process to date. Leffingwell commented that it was important for community-wide comprehensive planning to get off on the right foot – and that it seemed the city hadn't done a very good job of foot-getting so far.

The biggest issue of concern was process: Specifically, how exactly will the community be engaged and included? Tim Mahoney, who advocates using representatives from five sectors of the city, asked for council to create a task force to vet the process. Mark Yznaga, representing Liveable City, submitted a list of nine questions for the consultant team, and 10 for the city. (“Why didn’t the city convene a community advisory committee before the consultant was chosen, as was done for the Envision Central Texas planning effort?”) I didn't catch much more (had to go support Restaurant Week by dining out!) but we all can watch it later on Channel 6: Friday, March 6 at 6pm, Saturday, March 7 at 4pm, Sunday, March 8 at 9am.

Much suspicion seemed directed toward local subconsultants - and their existing local ties and loyalties – and toward the city itself, rather than at the national consultants.

Next steps: Council will cull a final list of questions, and submit it to the finalists. Their answers will be publicly available March 27. A second public forum is set for April 7. (For more information, see the city's page here.)

Here's a question for council to submit to the consultants: Can you possibly do your best work if Austinites have already structured the public-input process, before you even begin? (It’s not like our existing processes here in Austin are so swell, or make anybody happy.) What new approaches might they suggest?