American Planning Association Exam AICP Topic 8 Question 53 Discussion

Before consulting ethical guides, one must examine the relevant charter of enabling legislation to ensure that no specific or implied requirements for public review are being ignored. If such is the case, the planner should move immediately to inform others of the need to operate m compliance with the law. In this instance, we are assuming that the issue is not one of failing to meet the legal requirements. The public has the right to participate in public decision-making. The Code is quite explicit in urging that planners strive to provide full, clear and accurate information and to give citizens the opportunity to have meaningful impact on the development of plans and programs. However, the Code does not state at what point in the planning process that public participation should occur. In some communities, there is little participation in CIP planning as opposed to setting community goals

You should first begin with alternative 2 and collect a little more information about the process. Investigate the situation to see if there has been a public participation process in the past. Perhaps you could sit in on a meeting of the review committee and find out if the decisions being made follow good planning practice and publicly adopted plans. If so, there may be no ethical problems.

If you are not permitted to join the committee or if people are not forthcoming in their responses, you should raise this issue with your supervisor and be prepared to act upon alternative 3. This course of action needs to be undertaken within the context of your responsibilities to fairly treat the views of colleagues. In this case, your newness may mean that you do not understand what is a well understood and completely accepted process. On the other hand, your fresh perspective may be just what is needed to remind the planners of a trap they may have fallen into as they substituted their role for that of the Commissioners m an effort to make the Commissioners' job a little more easy. There are many other ways that community participation can be solicited absent the presentation of a laundry list of capital projects. A 'call for projects' could be issued to all the relevant citizen boards and commissions in your community. The Planning Commission meeting at which the CIP report is to be discussed should be advertised. You can suggest these and other alternatives to your director to help structure a more participatory process

Reject Alternative 4. This is hardly the type of problem that merits resignation. Your newness may mean that you do not understand what is a completely accepted process within your new community. You also may have learned an important lesson in that not all the information you need to do your job will be handed to you. You need to be prepared to gather additional intelligence from your colleagues, files, and other records about how to oo your job. Keep in mind that the Code is not the place to seek information about how to 'get the hang' of a new job You should be cautious about jumping to conclusions. A conversation with a more experienced planner can help you work through such circumstances. You could also talk with the Professional Development Officer of your local chapter.