Citizen Journalist: In an act of preservation, councilman flags a foul

by Mike Martin

February 8,2008

The handling of a historic preservation ordinance at a recent Columbia City Council meeting afforded a rare glimpse of the local government's inner workings.

The Planning & Zoning Commission, a legislative body, approved the ordinance, but the Planning Department's executive branch, more commonly known as "Staff," subsequently changed a key word. The word change came after the P&Z Commission's unanimous vote—and without the commission's knowledge, advice or consent.

The P&Z vote followed a vigorous debate and something you don't see much at public meetings in council chambers. Historic Preservation Commission chairman Brian Treece reached across the aisle—literally, over the handrail—to planning director Tim Teddy, rewording and reworking the ordinance as issues arose during P&Z's discussion. To "Council," they sent a minor miracle: with few changes, a major revision of a longstanding city law that had the unanimous support of commissions and departments.

Then, Staff changed a word, and Council received a different new law.

Public Good As historic preservation has become a wellrecognized public good, communities nationwide have created commissions, tax incentives, protections and special recognition for structures or landmarks of cultural or historical significance. Columbia, for instance, yearly selects 10 "notable historic properties" to honor at a February gala.

To keep pace with local preservation, the city's Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) and Planning Department revised the city ordinance that enables the commission to do its job. It was a first-time change that took 14 months, more than a decade after the commission's creation.

A virtual copy of a State-of-Missouri template, the ordinance stopped at P&Z for debate, revision and, most importantly, a yea or nay recommendation for the Columbia City Council.

Advice and Consent
Legislative branch commissions like P&Z and HPC “advise” our city's legislators-our councilpersons.

“To advise Council” sounds like a one-onone relationship between commissioners and councilpersons. But what happened at the Dec. 17 Council meeting spotlighted a potent nuance that can cloud the relationship: Commission advice is channeled and filtered-through Staff.

The executive branch -our city manager and his “cabinet” of department directors- controls the commission recommendation timeline (the date advice finally arrives at council, 14 months for the HPC ordinance); the information flow and the route it takes; and, in this case, key wording.

In the revised historic preservation ordinance, the words “to administer” left P&Z, somehow becoming “to advise” when the ordinance arrived at Council.

Fourth Ward councilperson Jerry Wade was not amused. “I am very uncomfortable with Staff changing language that was forwarded to us by Planning & Zoning,” he said. Wade explained that council members need to see commission language alongside staff recommendations, not have the language replaced by staff recommendations.

Perhaps seeing shades of good ol' boys in smoky back rooms, 5th Ward councilperson Laura Nauser wondered aloud whether recommendations from City Attorney Fred Boeckmann were ordinance-driven or “just the way we've always done things.”

It was an uncomfortable moment on a public stage.

Pop and Fresh - Turnover!
The ordinance P&Z approved granted historic preservation commissioners the power to administer certain preservation programs. Staff apparently took issue with the word “administer,” but after the P&Z meeting. Between the city attorney and planning director, “administer” became “advise” in the interim.

By replacing “to administer” with “to advise,” the executive branch was preserving its ability to filter and control information from one legislative body to another, an ability it should not rightly have.

As a historic preservation commissioner and chairperson of the city's finance commission, I enjoyed serving as a council adviser and working with Staff. But Staff filters did make commission service feel like a football game at times: the Staff block; Staff interference; and the Staff foul, which Councilman Wade flagged on Dec. 17.

Staff filters are leftovers from a paternalistic executive branch that worked well when Columbia was small and needed Ray Beck's unobstructed visionary hand. But now, nearing the 100,000-population mark, the city needs a turnover. More people mean more complications and an increasing demand for effective power sharing and labor division among executives and legislators.

Council needs its own legislative-branch administrative assistant to facilitate communications among commissioners, constituents and councilpersons; its own office space; and a stipend, at least, for meetings and time spent poring over pending legislation.

In short, our council representatives need a level playing field.

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