Hume's prescription for Elk Grove's future - scrap long term planning goals

Welcome to 'Humeville'?

If nothing else, you have to give Elk Grove City Council Member Pat Hume an "A" for his tenacity in advocating for his political financiers and his personal quest to add more residential rooftops in Elk Grove. This was up front and center during last night's regular city council meeting.

Hume's plan for Elk Grove - more of this.

Hume's comments were made following the presentation of the market study program. That study provided a laundry list of things, many of which have long been identified as challenges Elk Grove faces. They include the crushing job-home imbalance, the preponderance of retail jobs in the community and the perception that Elk Grove is a "bedroom community with an unfriendly business climate."

After the public comment portion of the hearing where several people called out everything in the market study from the old SACOG growth assumption to the city's proposed sphere of influence expansion, Hume took his stand. He essentially said that the solution to Elk Grove's long-term growth is to scrap long-term planning goals.

One of the wonderful things about politicians and their various handlers is how language is used to code their words to their prime audience. Richard Nixon used his famous "law and order" stance to appeal to scared white voters in the "silent majority." 

Likewise, Hume's language in his lengthy dissertation during council deliberation directly expressed his disdain for long range planning. Hume said  the following:

"I have a real problem with a market study that looks at 2029," he said. "I have a real problem that looks at x date."

Hume then said "What I think you do is you set your goals of what type of community that you want to become."

What exactly does that mean? 

We are not exactly sure, but given Hume's push for the expansion of the city via the sphere of influence application and given his track record of pocketing big residential real estate developer money, it probably means this: let's give up long-range planning and plan willy-nilly because that means there will be fewer restrictions on residential home developers.

No long-range plan means no restrictions which means more sprawl and more money for developers. Goodbye Cosumnes River and hello more traffic, houses, and pollution.

If we were to apply Hume's philosophy of abandoning long-range planning, we will get the type of city that developers want, not the people of Elk Grove.

As Council Member Davis said in his support of long-range smart planning "you can't hit a target unless you know what it looks like."