Mayor Ridicules Planning At Land Use Conference

"'Land Use and Smart Growth' was the serious topic of the annual conference put on at the University of the Pacific...the speakers were diverse...Most wrestled with the challenges of building consensus among those interested in environmental conservation, traffic mitigation, farm land preservation, infrastructure construction, home building and job creation. Brown's approach was to begin by laughing at the impossibility of the endeavor. 'I don't like planning,' he said. 'The fact of the matter is, stuff just happens ... then you put a frame around it and pretend you're in charge.'"