Albany’s Development Code does not require a property owner to reveal who the user of a building will be after it is constructed.  The City regulates land uses but does not have the authority to exclude businesses by name.  Some communities have limited the size of commercial buildings which effectively keeps out companies that only locate in extremely large structures.  Albany’s City Council, like the overwhelming majority in the U.S., made a decision some years ago not to do this.

The Council heard testimony from a small number of citizens about the development in East Albany, with some speaking in favor of the project and several in opposition.  A few, but not all, who opposed the shopping center were concerned about the possibility of a Wal-Mart in Albany.  While the City Council can deny approval for reasons such as traffic congestion or infrastructure capacity, they cannot deny a proposal because they think the anchor tenant will be a Wal-Mart.  The argument about whether Wal-Mart is a force for good or evil in the world cannot be considered in a quasi-judicial land use proceeding if the local decision is expected to be upheld on appeal.

Recently, a developer met with staff about another proposed development.  Near the conclusion of the meeting, the developer said something to the effect that it was good to know that staff would be an advocate for the project.  I assured him that staff would not be an advocate.  Our role is to make as objective a determination as possible as to whether the project conforms to the requirements of the Development Code.  If it does, staff is obligated to recommend approval; and if it does not, we will recommend denial.  The large policy questions about whether development in general is good or bad need to be made by elected officials in close consultation with the community.  Unfortunately, when elected officials hold hearings to consider broad changes in the Development Code, very few people choose to attend.  People understand and relate to immediate development plans in their neighborhood.  Most of us have a more difficult time getting excited about zoning designations that may not occur on the ground for many years.

I do not know if the new development in East Albany will include a Wal-Mart, but there’s a good possibility that it will.  I do know that the development will meet the requirements of the Albany Development Code and the Oregon Department of Transportation.  If Albany residents feel that the Code is too permissive, or too restrictive for that matter, then that message needs to be delivered to the City Council for their consideration.

This week, I’m making some presentations about community development in Zahle and Tripoli, Lebanon, on behalf of my professional association, the International City-County Management Association.  Many friends have asked me why I choose to work in the Middle East, given that there is so much hostility against Americans.  I’m sure my ego plays a part in the decision because I’m flattered that people are interested enough in what I have to say to invite me back to this part of the world.  I also like to travel and see what’s going on outside of Albany, Oregon, and the United States.  Finally, I think the best thing I can do to help change attitudes about my country is to be willing to talk with and get to know people who might have those attitudes.

Part of any visit is negotiating transportation systems which provide great opportunities to see people at their worst.  The flight from Frankfurt to Beirut included Lebanese families and relatively few Europeans or North Americans.  It should come as no great surprise that families look a lot alike no matter where they’re from.  Language, clothing, and customs may vary; but children and parents seem to share many similarities.  The parents I’ve seen on this trip have been concerned about how their children are behaving on long flights or in crowded airports.  Most of the children I’ve seen have been very good, and even the smallest ones were pretty quiet under circumstances that would try most people’s patience.  It occurred to me during the trip here that the nature of the traveling public does not seem to change much from place to place.

I have a nice room in a good hotel in Beirut.  I stayed here in March and have always been treated well. I’m meeting a friend this afternoon and will be doing workshops throughout the remainder of the week.  My friend and many of the people I will be working with are Muslim.  Being Muslim does no more to describe a person’s attitude toward me or the United States than being Mormon does to define how someone feels about the Middle East.

The “situation” in Beirut is much better now than when I was here a few months ago.  I’ve seen many more Americans and Europeans, and my friends tell me that there is far less anxiety over violence.  I’ve even heard that Lebanese banks followed a conservative course in recent years and have avoided many of the problems experienced in the U.S. and Europe.

I know that I do not see the whole picture as an occasional visitor to the Middle East; however, I think it’s a mistake to promote fear and misunderstanding about people here.  My experiences have generally been positive, and I’m grateful for the latest opportunity to be here.

This year we are also on the verge of a critical national election.  We face grave economic challenges; our country is at war; and we must make choices that are likely to have a profound effect on our future.  I think it’s fitting that Halloween falls so close to the election.  The celebration should serve as a reminder that human beings are not entirely rational and neither are most of the choices we make.

Whether it’s dressing up in strange costumes or picking a candidate because we like something about him or her that we can’t really define, our choices are a reflection of the fact that there are many things about the world and about ourselves that we don’t fully understand.  As a city manager, I think part of my job is to push for rationality in how we conduct city business.  We devote many of our resources to this effort, and we are always working on ways to do it better.  As much as I believe in the importance of rational, evidence-based decision making, I also realize that it’s not a bad idea to recognize the importance of feelings, crazy impulses, and having a little fun.

I think that’s how I will deal with any results from the upcoming election that I don’t like.  I will never control all the variables in life and make it conform to a rational model.  I remind myself that my challenge (and a big part of what I am paid to do) is to make sure the model gets to the table.  I think the other part of my job is to reconcile the rational with the irrational.

So Happy Halloween and best wishes for Tuesday’s elections.  Regardless of the outcome, I plan to remain hopeful and continue working for my family and my community.  My attitude may not be entirely rational; but it feels right, and I think it beats the alternative.

My response to political leaders is that I’m less concerned about taxes than I am about the value I receive for my investments.  Some of my limited wealth has been going into retirement plans for a number of years which means I’ve lost a fair amount of money in the past few months.  I have never complained about the amount of money going into my retirement funds or how that money was invested, probably because I’ve had a lot to do with how the funds were spent.

A fair amount of what I earn is invested in taxes that support a huge array of purposes.  Some of it is invested in national security, and some of it gets spent to pick up dead animals on Albany’s streets.  I occasionally grouse about spending priorities at the national, state, and local level, although I generally recognize that living in Albany, Oregon, USA, is a pretty rare privilege, where the benefits greatly exceed the liabilities.  I also know that when I am dissatisfied with the apportionment of my tax dollars, there are things I can do to make changes.  My ballot arrived last weekend, and I’ve already made most of my selections based on my beliefs about who and what will deliver the greatest value to my family, my community, and my country.  Our form of representative democracy is far from perfect, but it is one of the few things that distinguishes the United States from any other place on the planet.

I would rather hear more discussion from candidates this year about increasing the value of my tax investments and less about lowering my tax expenses.  A prosperous life in a good community with real opportunities for growth and satisfaction is worth a lot to me.  I chose to work in local government because I believed it was a place where you could have a direct effect on making people’s lives better and still make a living.  My belief has not changed over the past 20+ years; and, in fact, it has only grown stronger.  My opinion is reinforced almost every day when I visit a library filled with patrons of all ages or see a professional ambulance crew respond to a medical emergency.  I also know I can call someone at the City to pick up a dead nutria on a given day; and, thanks in part to my tax investment, it will be done.

We are now in the midst of an important election at all levels of government.  I am grateful for this chance to mark my ballot and contribute to a process that has, thus far, delivered great value to my family and me.  With so much at stake, it is the least I can do.

I dutifully put in more personal information than I wanted to and even downloaded my picture from the City’s Web site that makes me look fatter than I really am.  I shipped all this off into cyberspace; and, although I’ve had no response from my Iraqi friend, I now have made new friends with a whole bunch of very young people.  My home e-mail account contained messages from several of my children’s friends declaring that I’m now their friend, too.  I guess Facebook opens up intergenerational communication in ways that I never imagined.  I enjoyed seeing pictures of a number of young people I hadn’t seen in years and learning about what they’re doing.  Most of them have children of their own and seem to be doing well.  I suppose it would be inappropriate to list bad things about yourself on the Internet.  None of this may seem weird in a world where mores change as frequently as the weather, but I don’t know how I would even begin to explain Facebook to my grandmother.

Shortly after the Facebook experience, I found an e-mail message in my inbox asking me if I would be willing to travel to Beirut for a few days to do a workshop.  I travel enough to know that you can get around the world in fairly short order, although I’m still amazed at how quickly you can get from one place to the next.  My first trip abroad was aboard a ship headed to England in 1959.  I think it took about five or six days to travel from New York to South Hampton.  I can now travel to Beirut, engage in a series of meetings, and return home in less time than it took to make the trip across the Atlantic 49 years ago.  It also seems strange to me that anyone would want me to go to Beirut to help conduct a few meetings.

I guess we all know that the world is changing rapidly; and, if we didn’t, we only have to read a newspaper, watch television, or scan the Internet to have it driven home.  Everyone’s attention is directed to the current economic crisis, and it’s easy to get depressed thinking about what might happen.  The best reassurance I can give myself is that weird is normal, and it’s not necessarily bad.  Most of us have the tools, not just to cope, but to flourish in a world where threats and opportunities routinely appear in equal measure.  Our greatest challenge is keeping our own attitude afloat in a flood of changing circumstances.

Today we are honoring one of my local heroes by planting three trees at Lexington Park in memory of Dick Ebbert.  It’s hard for me to think or write about Dick without some sadness over the loss of his steady influence for good at the City and in the community.  I know he would have appreciated the trees, and I’m glad that a small plaque will remind park visitors that his many contributions were appreciated.  I am equally pleased that when I take my grandchildren to our neighborhood park, there is a sign that recognizes Doug Killin for all that he did to make Albany a better place.

Sometimes I learn more about people I thought were heroes and have come to realize that they don’t meet the practically perfect standard.  I’ve also learned enough to know that everyone can be a hero at a given time and no one can be a hero all the time.  Recognizing these limitations, one of my heroes who has stood the test of time is Ernie Banks.  Ernie played shortstop and first base for the Chicago Cubs from the mid-1950s through the early 1970s.  He is a member of Baseball’s Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a player, but he reached my Hall through unfailing optimism and good works in his community.  Little boys look up to sports figures for many reasons, and I’m grateful that some great athletes have also shown enduring great character.

It’s rare that you hear about a local elected hero.  I have acquired one over the past decade who is pretty well-known in some circles but probably would not make a People Magazine list of the 1,000 Best Known Celebrities.  Joe Riley is the Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina; and he has served in that office since 1975.  Mayors in other cities have managed to stay in office for long periods of time, but Mayor Riley hasn’t just held on to his office; he’s magnified it.  Charleston was a seedy city with some charming areas when I visited there in the 1970s.  Under Mayor Riley’s leadership, the town has been transformed into a prosperous, attractive regional center and a really nice place to be.  The Mayor is a Charleston native who probably could have been highly successful in state or national politics but chose instead to make his hometown his life’s work.  I admire him for his rigorous commitment to quality and for acting on his passion for Charleston.

My personal list of heroes is too long to put in a blog entry, or at least too long to put in one that people would actually read.  I am most grateful for the many simple acts of heroism I see on a regular basis and for the great example that so many people provide.  You never know who might be watching and what they will take away from watching you.

I was happily surprised.  We originally planned to stay at the park from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., but the children and adults were having such a great time we didn’t leave until 9 p.m.  Even little one-year-old Owen was happy being rolled around in his stroller while taking in the sights.  I don’t ever recall seeing a bigger pair of eyes than Owen’s during the Nemo’s Adventure ride.  Toward the end of the day, my wife bought Madelyn a pair of Cinderella slippers, and she literally danced through the streets of Disneyland proclaiming, “I’m a princess.”  At least one observer will confirm that she truly is.

I always seem to learn something when I travel or take on an obligation that makes me a little nervous.  I’ve come to realize that the older I get, the more likely it is that I will mistake education for a process that merely confirms my biases.  I can build a pretty resilient shell around my opinions and “knowledge” simply by reading things that support my views, listening to others with similar outlooks, or going only to places I want to go.

Fortunately, I have a wife and grandchildren who seem to realize that I’m not as smart as I sometimes think I am.  They expose me to feelings and ideas I probably could not experience if I simply did what I wanted to every day.  I appreciate that I’m also surrounded by people at work who aren’t afraid to broaden my horizons.  The City Attorney seems to take special delight at this task.

Next week, I plan to sign up for another year as a lunch buddy to a young friend at Calapooia Middle School.  This is another one of those experiences that sometimes makes me uncomfortable, and I can think of a number of legitimate excuses to forego the obligation this year.  My recent tour of Disneyland was just another reminder that many good things happen, and I tend to learn the most when I stretch myself a little to be of service to someone else.

Challenges come to all of us in one form or another every day.  Life gives us a daily quiz which we generally pass by relying on what we’ve learned from past experience.  Occasionally, we get tough midterms that require additional study and more of our mental resources.  I think we are confronting and will continue to face a particularly tough test in the months ahead.

Much of life is a continuing search for resources to satisfy basic needs and fulfill accumulated wishes.  Most of us are not accustomed to real scarcity in meeting the basics, although we all know what it’s like to have unfulfilled wants.  I don’t see an immediate threat to either individual or the City’s basic needs, but I am concerned about finding or creating resources to finance important things we would like to have.

Internationally, trillions of dollars in available capital have disappeared in a very short amount of time.  Just as less money is available for individuals to buy houses, fewer dollars will flow to businesses and government to invest in desired projects.  We are already seeing this effect in bond markets, and how long it will last is anybody’s guess.

The City of Albany is in reasonably good condition to weather the current storm.  We have sufficient resources to continue providing high quality services and meet current obligations.  We have reserved funds to help meet unanticipated expenses or declines in revenue, and we have avoided taking on new financial obligations.  Our past prudence puts us in a position to deal with problems and take advantage of opportunities presented by current economic conditions.  Declining land values, for example, may allow us to find the property we need for new fire and police facilities at a more affordable price.  Selling bonds to construct the facilities, however, may be more of a challenge.

The media is filled with daily doses of pessimism and crisis; and for reasons I don’t understand, it is seductive to many people to join the chorus.  The real challenge is to maintain the balance between the optimism we need to get out of bed every morning and the pessimism we require to protect ourselves from the many dangers of life.

Albany has had its share of fights in the past, and there is still some lingering resentment over things like annexation, water rates, and utility service.  Most of these disagreements have been resolved to some extent, and the town is still able to accomplish important goals.  I think the reason that’s true has something to do with good examples.

The most recent one that comes to mind is a developing project to turn what has been a proposed subdivision into a natural conservation area and park.  I don’t know if the project will ultimately be successful, but I do know that the people who have been working on it are setting a great example in how to deal with community conflict.

It’s easy to complain or fight about an idea you don’t like or that you think will harm your neighborhood.  It requires more effort to think of alternatives that address the concerns of both parties to a dispute.  Mark Azevedo and a broad group of supporters have been working for several months to develop a plan that would replace a proposed subdivision with a natural reserve while providing the property owner with fair compensation for his land.  Regardless of how anyone might feel about the plan, it’s hard to fault the honest effort and sincere desire to do something good for Albany that has gone into this work.  No one is paying Mark or other volunteers to spend long hours corresponding by e-mail, attending meetings, and developing grant proposals.  The individual benefits of the proposed natural area almost certainly do not correspond to the individual effort that is working to make it happen.

I am very hopeful that the plan for East Thornton Lake will succeed for a variety of reasons.  Healthy communities need natural, unspoiled places.  The plan offers benefits to both the owner of the property and neighbors who live nearby.  I would also like to think that so much good effort will be rewarded.  The world around us offers too many examples of disagreements that spiral into hatred and violent conflict.  Albany is a much better place when people are willing to invest themselves in finding creative and productive solutions to difficult problems.

Thank you, Mark, and all who have contributed to setting a great example for the rest of us.