Guest contributor Anaiah Matthew, former city planning manager for Austin, shares how he helped tackle institutional inertia to create a department of yes
Little bits add up, don’t they, Abby? In professional settings, it’s easy to forget the human behind the transaction. Bringing the humanity back into the equation makes it easy to bring the genuine caring back into the equation.
Jul 15, 2023Liked by Michael Moore, Anaiah Matthew
I am blown away at what you’ve done here. You have managed to take the concrete out of the jungle and return to it a beating heart and an exacting mind. To compose and implement such an effective and proactive process that eases the burdens of all engaged parties in a matter of most basic human needs takes a level of “give a darn” that most people simply don’t possess. Whether that widespread deficit is by choice or by ignorance, I don’t know. I find myself constantly going back to this simple fact when teaching my children—you’ve got to care. Even the tiniest bit truly does change everything.
This is wonderful work and very well written. I'm excited as an Austinite to hear about the positive thought being put into the permitting and building processes.
Here's 2-thumbs up thank you for your work with the city. The frequent refrain I hear from policy wonks is that bureaucratic processes make infrastructure projects, big and small, too damn expensive to build thing. I imagine organizational management seems boring to a lot of people, but smoothing over bureaucratic processes is such a helpful aid for decreasing building costs and helping us build the things that are needed in the city.
Props to you for contributing to a workplace culture that reduced some of that burden! Hopefully it helps out connect projects move along so I don't need to wait 2 decades for decent transit down south. A man can dream :)
Thanks for the kind words, CJ. I moved on from the department a couple of years ago. I know that some of the official processes I championed are still in place, but culture is a fluid, ever changing thing. I agree with you about the infrastructure projects and hope that Project Connect finds its way through the permitting process smoothly.
Little bits add up, don’t they, Abby? In professional settings, it’s easy to forget the human behind the transaction. Bringing the humanity back into the equation makes it easy to bring the genuine caring back into the equation.
Yes! Absolutely!
I am blown away at what you’ve done here. You have managed to take the concrete out of the jungle and return to it a beating heart and an exacting mind. To compose and implement such an effective and proactive process that eases the burdens of all engaged parties in a matter of most basic human needs takes a level of “give a darn” that most people simply don’t possess. Whether that widespread deficit is by choice or by ignorance, I don’t know. I find myself constantly going back to this simple fact when teaching my children—you’ve got to care. Even the tiniest bit truly does change everything.
Well done, Walkist!
This is wonderful work and very well written. I'm excited as an Austinite to hear about the positive thought being put into the permitting and building processes.
Here's 2-thumbs up thank you for your work with the city. The frequent refrain I hear from policy wonks is that bureaucratic processes make infrastructure projects, big and small, too damn expensive to build thing. I imagine organizational management seems boring to a lot of people, but smoothing over bureaucratic processes is such a helpful aid for decreasing building costs and helping us build the things that are needed in the city.
Props to you for contributing to a workplace culture that reduced some of that burden! Hopefully it helps out connect projects move along so I don't need to wait 2 decades for decent transit down south. A man can dream :)
Thanks for the kind words, CJ. I moved on from the department a couple of years ago. I know that some of the official processes I championed are still in place, but culture is a fluid, ever changing thing. I agree with you about the infrastructure projects and hope that Project Connect finds its way through the permitting process smoothly.