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Lessons learned as City Planning Commissioner

Contributed by: DR. SEAN REIF D.C. on 3/17/2008

1. Always hold a fair hearing. Everyone must have the opportunity to speak and make suggestions. Applicants should always be given the chance to correct flaws in their proposals.

2. Never grant special favors, or appear to grant special favors, to an applicant. The public has a long memory for such actions.

3. Always make and keep a record. Never trust to memory or notes Zoning matters.

4. Never tolerate sloppy presentations. Applicants should always be required to bring consistent information to hearings, be prepared to speak, and be prepared to answer questions.

5. Never establish a rule that attorneys may NOT be present or speak at zoning hearings. Every person has a right to legal assistance.

6. Never hold an executive session. Say everything that must be said on a proposal in front of the public. Never discuss a zoning matter in private with an applicant or discuss the proposal with other members of the commission or governing body until there is a final resolution. The public has a right to hear everything that is said about a public matter.

7. Do not cut corners and do not bend the rules. If a proposal must wait 13 days, then do not consider it on the 12 th day. It may have worked in the past, but eventually it will cause trouble.

8. Be honest! If there is a personal, business, or financial conflict with a particular rezoning, then a person should disqualify himself.

9. Always ask yourself, "If this use were located next to my property, would I be voting the same way?"

10. Always consider the rights of the applicant along with the rights of the neighbors and the public in general. There are many beneficial uses of property; but there is not excuse for reducing neighboring property's value and endangering public health and safety.


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Submitted By: DR. SEAN REIF D.C.
posted on 4/21/2008 @ 6:09:14 PM
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He’s currently in a cell in a state of shock waiting foraday for the circuit judge because he’s charged with battery on the tube. Although he conducts himself well and offers no resistance, he refuses all food and asks, “Wire my insulate? I want to go ohm. Watt have I done? It wasn’t my volt.”
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Submitted By: DR. SEAN REIF D.C.
posted on 4/9/2008 @ 7:56:30 PM
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"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
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Submitted By: DR. SEAN REIF D.C.
posted on 4/7/2008 @ 5:44:30 PM
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IGLOO - Material used for keeping an ig from falling apart.
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Submitted By: DR. SEAN REIF D.C.
posted on 3/31/2008 @ 12:22:55 PM
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PARLIAMENTARY LAW - rules and recognized usages governing the procedure of legislative assemblies and other deliberative session such as meeting of stockholders, directors of corporations, town meetings, and board meetings.
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Submitted By: DR. SEAN REIF D.C.
posted on 3/20/2008 @ 3:53:21 PM
Rated Story
“Now is the time to think about getting some awards for our accomplishments. This may be a 3- 5- 8- year campaign. You can not win if you do not apply, or have others nominate you. View this campaign as different from GRANT WRITING applications. There are also Grant applications which are their own prestige awards if you receive them. I have found that writing such applications helps me think through projects, so even if I do not win, it serves the agenda. There is always next year.”
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Submitted By: DR. SEAN REIF D.C.
posted on 3/19/2008 @ 7:46:09 PM
Rated Story
Barriers to communication include preconceived expectations, prejudices, cherished beliefs, the need to control, and the need to solve on anothers’ problems. In a dark time, the eyes begin to see.
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Submitted By: DR. SEAN REIF D.C.
posted on 3/19/2008 @ 12:09:03 PM
Rated Story
A healthy community affirms itself and builds morale and motivation through ceremonies and celebrations that honor the symbols of shared identity and enable members to rededicate themselves. Formal ritual serves as a sort of transformer of powerful archetypal energy. The most obvious is our man’s “right of passage” from boyhood to manhood. Ritual affirms the value of any transition. When we celebrate life changes together, we create strong bonds of intimacy and trust that can generate new culture. Where there is no vision, the people perish.
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Submitted By: DR. SEAN REIF D.C.
posted on 3/18/2008 @ 2:40:43 PM
Rated Story
“Whatever you can do or dream you can begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now. If the community is lucky, it will have a shared history and tradition. It will have a story, legends and heroes. Social cohesion is advanced if the group’s norms and values are explicit. Whether one chooses to a daily retreat or a formal sabbatical one has access to one’s own soul and imagination, and one can truly reflect on experience, and learn from it, and emerge renewed and refreshed.”
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Submitted By: DR. SEAN REIF D.C.
posted on 3/17/2008 @ 7:34:33 PM
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“Some people think they are in community, but they are only in proximity. Community is a willingness to extend yourself too encounter and know the other.”
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Submitted By: DR. SEAN REIF D.C.
posted on 3/17/2008 @ 6:46:38 AM
Rated Story
Eloquence is the transfer of THOUGHT and EMOTION from one heart to another. There is no less in the VOICE, the eye, the gesture, than in WORDS. It consists in the MAN, in the SUBJECT, and in the OCCASION. Honesty persuades others by being in earnest ourselves. Elegant in a freedom of awkwardness and restraint. It implies a polish and a precision which is spirited.
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Showing 1-10 of 10 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

DR. SEAN REIF D.C.

THORNTON , CO

DR. SEAN REIF D.C. has posted 1079 stories and 1248 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. DR. SEAN REIF D.C. 's average story rating is 2.98.
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