did he approve anything today? there was a proposal before the ZBA today to demolish four structures and put up a 23 story hotel. all inga did was whine about an apartment tower.

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"You down wit OPM?"
Fumo: "Yeah, you know me!"

One gets the information from (1) the people involved, or (2) people they've told, or (3) people who work in the office (or serve on the board) of the people involved, or (4) people who've talked with someone in categories (1), (2) and (3).

There's been plenty of debate over Janice since her appointment. She may be a perfectly nice person, but she's not a planner, has little or no administrative experience, has alienated her staff, doesn't respond to calls/emails (even on significant projects) and -- after so many months --still just doesn't seem to "get" zoning issues.

Prior to her appointment, she was a mid-level employee at the Capital Program. And before that, she was a solo architect working on relatively minor projects. Other than her friendship with someone high in the Street administration, it's difficult to see what qualified her to be the City's top planning official.

Wow. I've only had good experiences with her.

Count yourself lucky.
To be fair, I think she tried very hard. But she was in over her head from day one.

You have just made my new year. This is the best news this area could hear in quite some time. Now I can kick Auspitz in the shins without major ramification.

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olympics rule

Uh, yes, I can certainly speculate and imagine how one MIGHT get such information. But there is no credible reference here for either claim made in this post, and the only reference one has found yet is a hokey jokey reference on a cheesy website. Furthermore, it just doesn't make any sense, unless it's a simple formality.

Please provide some references to this 'plenty of debate.'

Uh, she's not a planner? Damn, I guess I will have to contact the American Planning Association to tell them they need to revoke her AICP certification.

Perhaps some of these departments and long-time employees NEED to be shaken up. From: http://changingskyline.blogspot.com/...-new-head.html

"As for Woodcock- best wishes as she is truly a visionary and has done great work in the city. However, remember that Maxine Griffith had the same credentials and kept hitting brick walls with bureaucracy. Griffith also had five years and had difficulty maneuvering around antiquated ideas of what city planning was supposed to be."

She doesn't? I've seen her present and proactive at numerous public meetings, have never had a problem talking with her, and she's always been responsive to me.

What is there to get? I've been to many zoning reform meetings. I've read a great deal of the zoning code. Tons of exceptions and overlays? Yes. Buildings and uses that are currently illegal under the code? Yes. But the code is not that difficult. Nor is understanding basic human, cultural, social, political and economic desires.

The zoning code, and zoning issues are really not that complicated. Building code and L&I? Now that's a real mess.

That's the opinion of a primarily self-taught layman; I have to imagine that someone whose actually trained and experienced on a professional level, well, I'd have to think she "gets" it a lot more than I do.

Besides the details in the above skyline article,.. here's a bit more.. http://www.planphilly.com/node/1923

hearings are still going on.
He did approve at least a couple of projects today. But others, including the project Inga wrote about, were continued.

Cause I'm in the know.

As for the news agency, funny you should say that ...

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update. The hearing on the hotel was continued.

As of a half hour ago, the board hadn't yet finished its 2:00 cases. And there are matters on the 3:30 and 5:00 agenda still to go. Looks like Auspitz's last night is going to be a late one.

If you insist on verification of sources, perhaps you should stick to the NY Times. This is a blog.
You will, in any case, be able to get the information from the mainstream press soon enough. If the posts in this thread are inaccurate, you can come back and gloat on Monday. But I wouldn't count on that happening.

See my response to your first comment.


AICP certification doesn't a planner make. It's not even necessary to have a college degree. Take one exam, have some experience in a related field, pay your dues and you too can be AICP certified. Doesn't mean you should be heading a major city's planning commission.
Maxine was a planner. Janice isn't.
And I notice you didn't mention her lack of administrative experience.

Right. because destroying morale in one's office is the perfect way to increase productivity.


Great. My experience has been quite different.
Could it be that you didn't have any controversial, difficult issues to work out with her?

There are few things worse than someone who doesn't know what they don't know.
If you did "get" zoning, you'd understand what a relative piece of cake the building code is.


She isn't trained and experienced on a professional level, at least not so far as zoning is concerned.

You are of course entitled to your opinion.
I've had quite a few "have you heard the good news?" calls today from friends and colleagues who share my view. I'll take that as evidence that my experiences aren't unique.