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Corporate behavior
“The Process” as rubber stamp
Developers and big-box stores seem to think that going through “the process” should automatically qualify their proposals
By Kevin Potvin
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Bob Lenarduzzi, local soccer legend and front-man for local rich guy Greg Kerfoot’s cockamamie scheme for a waterfront soccer stadium, was interviewed a couple weeks ago by Don Taylor on The Team sports radio. They talked about the proposed stadium, introduced as a “no-brainer” by Taylor, usually a smart guy, but hey, everybody has their blind-spots.
Lenarduzzi confessed to great frustration with the proposed project. He had, after all, gone through “the process” and, he noted, he understands the need for “the process” and he has been very co-operative in going through “the process.” Still, after years, the stadium proposal has not yet been green-lighted by City Hall.
The interviewer shared in Lenarduzzi’s exasperation, repeating that “the process” had been far too long and arduous and surely, by now, after having shown great willingness to “put up with the process,” Kerfoot and Lenarduzzi should be allowed to get on with the building.
This isn’t the first time I have heard “the process” recently described by developers as some kind of necessary evil they must put up with on the road to building whatever it is they want to build. At City Hall hearings last year, WalMart officials, anxious to build a superstore on Marine Drive, described how they had co-operated in every step of “the process.” Canadian Tire officials, also interested in a massive store on Marine Drive, similarly described every step of “the process” they had gone through as part of their argument that they now deserved to get their store. Even City planning staff testified to City councilors that both WalMart and Canadian Tire had invested a great deal in “the process” to date, and that this kind of co-operation should be noted favourably by councilors in deciding how to vote on their proposals.
“The process” all these people are referring to, however, is not just hoops they must jump through to earn their expected reward at the end. What none of them seem to grasp is that “the process” they grudgingly “put up with” is not just a more convoluted rubber stamp but in fact is supposed to be the means by which the representatives of the citizens of Vancouver decide if a building will or will not be allowed.
Kerfoot, WalMart and Canadian Tire, as well as just about all other developers, seem to think that their proposals are foregone conclusions and that all that City Hall elected officials are there for is to extract some benefit for citizens as the projects go ahead, or to be recruited as salesmen for the proposal.
Not all councilors see “the process” as anything more than that either. Councilor and mayor wannabe Peter Ladner last year spoke up in favour of the WalMart proposal citing the company’s “willingness” to go through “the whole process.” He also spoke up in favour of Kerfoot’s waterfront stadium proposal also by noting how the poor developer had done everything asked of him to that point “in the process.” In both cases, attention was drawn to the investments already made by these developers in moving through “the process,” as though that willingness somehow further qualified the proposals.
But of course, they don’t have a choice. Just because someone does something they have to doesn’t speak to their character or to the benefits of their proposal. It only indicates that they know how to do their job. If someone proposed to build a stadium but neglected to go through “the process” of acquiring permission to do so from the City, they wouldn’t be able to build anything, would they.
It’s the automatic right to build what they want to build these developers think they earn by going through “the process” that rankles. They don’t seem to realize it’s possible “the process” might produce a negative result. It may be that, during “the process” the City decides the proposed development is not good for the citizens. That is the purpose of “the process”: to allow the citizens, through their elected representatives, to decide the matter.
It reminds me of a friend who tried to argue his way out of a speeding ticket by earnestly explaining to the cop that he dutifully slowed down the moment he saw the cop car. Respecting “the process” at City Hall doesn’t mean just going through its motions, it means understanding that City Hall makes the call and “the process” is how those decisions are made. That’s the no-brainer, Taylor.
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