WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. June 13, 2005: A reader draws a comparison between the Mayor's role and that of an architect in planning a person's home, and finds the Mayor fails the architect role:

========================================================
Architect or Mayor?


What would you expect from an architect that you hired to help you remodel your home?

Wouldn’t you expect him to stop by and talk with you and the family to get a feeling of what you wanted?  You might not do a very good job of articulating some of your wishes, but that is why you hired an architect: so that he can draw on his training and experience to turn your vague desires into a detailed plan.  Some of your ideas might not accomplish what you wanted, might have unintended consequences or costs, or might just be totally impractical.  The architect’s job is to guide you to a practical plan that accomplishes what you want, in a legal and cost effective manner.  

You would expect him to inspect the house to insure that any modifications would be safe.  You would expect him to insure that structure would support the proposed changes, and to include correcting any unsafe or marginal conditions into the design.

You would expect him to understand the house’s history so that he could take advantage of what was already there, and so that the changes would complement the existing building.

You would expect him to look at the rest of the neighborhood to see how the house relates to its surroundings so that the changes would improve the whole neighborhood.  It is only fair to your neighbors, and you would expect the same from them.

You would expect him to offer suggestions, to explain the options and to insure that any proposals meet any applicable codes.  But mostly you would expect him to honor your wishes; he is after all working for you.  If you want shiplap siding even after he as explained the advantages of brick, then you should get shiplap and not find the house covered in brick because he just knew that you would eventually thank him for it.

You would not expect him to start work without ever talking to you because he just could not find a convenient time.  Even if as an alternative he held meetings with several contractors, drew up several proposals based on studies of what was currently popular in the region, and had the partners in his office vote on what they thought you would want. 

You would undoubtedly be upset(?) if the upgrade of your Queen Ann unexpectedly turned it into a Manhattan style Brown Stone and cost more than you had budgeted.

You would brush off explanations that studies had shown that in 20 years the resale value of the Brown Stone would be higher than the Queen Anne, that you could rent out the bottom floor to help pay for the remodeling, or that the associate at Home Depot thought that the Brown Stone was a good idea.

You had, after all, bought the house because you loved the Queen Anne style, your furniture -- collected over several decades  -- went with a Queen Anne home, and, because, damn it,  you are a Queen Anne type of person.

Isn’t it the same with remodeling a city?  Doesn’t the Mayor work for us?  Shouldn’t the city put our wishes above those of the planners?  And shouldn’t the city bend over backwards to get citizen input even if it is inconvenient?

Maybe not.  Maybe you just bought the place as an investment, aren’t planning on living in it, and don’t really care what the neighbors think.

dhughes