In his NCJ Setlist column (“Into the Void”) on Nov. 5, Collin Yeo writes “it’s hard to imagine much stopping the machinations of the buffoons and assholes in the Planning Department in their gross effort to ignore the public will.”
I’ve never worked for the Planning Department and I don’t know anyone who works there now. But on the occasions that I’ve dealt with the planning staff, sometimes to point out things I think they’ve missed, I’ve never gotten the sense that I was being ignored, or that I was talking to a “buffoon” or an “asshole.” I may have disagreed with them, but I was aware that their job involves looking at issues from more than just one point of view. As a member of the public, I didn’t feel my opinions were being ignored.
I know tensions are high about Amazon’s proposal to build a local warehouse, a proposal I don’t support. But Collin, can you tone it down a little? The Planning Department staff aren’t villains.
Patrick Carr, Arcata
This article appears in El Niño is Here.
