Re: Thanks for some dignity
mugbub1 said:
I've taken steps to get out of this of a job/career, but it's going take awhile. No need to bash me Mastiff, I've got a feeling you're in the same boat- sorry about the AICP remark (albeit true) I'm sure you an somewhat ok planner. The retard jokes and homophobic sabaotge of my account really sets a new low, but I'm willing to forget it. I feel like saying a Rodney King quote.
I was working on templates earlier today, and I discovered that I broke a couple, one being the user profile template. Nobody was able to change their user profile today. However, as on most vBulletin, UBB, phpBB, and similar boards, the mods here have a lot of power, and when you don't play nice ... they won't either. (Fortunately, they didn't have to use the dreaded VW Cabriolet avatar on you!)
Anyhoo ... I don't know if other planers will agree with me, but it seems af if your first job as a planner will typecast you into a certain role. If your first job is as a development review planner, it's very difficult finding work that's not related to reviewing subdivisions and shopping centers. Once a transportation planner, always a transportation planner, or so it seems.
Code enforcement isn't exactly planning per se, but often it's a job function that's cast on current/development review planners. For some reason, you'll see CE ads mixed in with planner ads online. In smaller agencies, a planner may be responsible for a particular aspect of code enforcement, such as zoning or sign code enforcement. In small towns, the planner often does all code enforcement; junk cars, overgrown lawns, the shed built without a permit. If your "planner" job places a heavy emphasis on code enforcement, and it begins to occupy the majority of your job functions, you're typecast. The mold is set.
I don't know if there is a way out or not. How does a development review planner become a comprehensive planner? Maybe start from scratch, but employers may see a resume filled with years of development review, and think "overqualified." Move horizontally, if you're in a large agency? Hard to do, since it seems like comp planners are more entrenched than current planners. The only surefire way I can think of is to get into a smaller agency where planners have to take on a wider variety of roles, comp planning isn't farmed out to consultants, and there's a full-time code enforcement officer.
CE sucks. I'm the acting CE officer in my tiny agency, and it sucks up a disproportionately large amount of time. Public contact ... watch it triple or quadruple if you go on a sweep. I'd had to deal with women crying for Jesus, threats from lawyers, threats from rednecks who believe that taking away their three or four "projects" is the equivalent of chopping off their manhood ... it's frustrating as hell, and it's hard to leave at the office when you go home, especially if you live in the same municipality where you work.