Agendas

Critical to the policy process is an understanding of decision makers, their preferences and objectives, and how solutions are negotiated among these individuals and groups. It is important to distinguish between individual decision makers and organizations as decision makers. Indeed, all organizations, regardless of their missions, are run by individuals who have authority granted to them in some form. This is to say that they become primary agents of their organizations, with the ability to commit the resources and efforts of those organizations in ways that suit them. This condition is known as the agency problem, in that some such agents follow their own personal priorities, not necessarily the stated objectives of their organizations.

In Northern Utah, we are not immune to effects of the agency problem. There are plenty of examples of personal agendas of leaders that outweigh those of our institutions. This has an effect on the de-facto agenda that holds sway in our region. The net result is that we tend to have small plans, small agendas. Such plans tend to be reactive rather than proactive, as agents with overriding personal agendas tend to be less dynamic, progressive leaders than those who fully commit to the missions of their organizations.

Apart from organizations are networks, who are combinations of like-minded individuals or organizations that interact in some meaningful way to them. Networks can come to the rescue with respect to the agency problem. This is particularly the case with the kinds of tools and facilities that are available to support cohesive, committed activities of network members. Cohesive network members can lay out agendas and carry out supporting activities in ways that encourage agents to be more open and responsive with regard to the public interest than would otherwise be the case. Network participants can evaluate the performance of public agents and call attention to conceptual and behavior-oriented gaps. Network members can provide insights to the public and to agents of the public interest using technologies coupled with proven strategies.

Here are five areas in Northern Utah, centered on Cache Valley, where agendas need to be focused:

1. The economy. We need a thriving growth sector based on high contribution products and services with meaningful ties to global capital markets. We need to educate policy makers and the public as to what the aforementioned means and what opportunities and challenges would result from a stronger economy. I was informed by one downtown Logan businessman that Logan's income patterns match those of Appalachia, a factor that encourages more and larger federal grants by the city. He indicated that he expected to see food drops over town from military planes any day as a part of some low income block grant. This disconnect between the product of higher education in the region and the economy needs to be addressed.
   
2. Higher density housing. Considering Logan's demographic problem and the festering challenge of rural/urban sprawl, we need to develop a compelling higher density housing solution in Logan. Possibly this would entail conversion of some pioneer blocks to well-designed family living communities with common services and facilities. We need to stop filling the benches and our farmland with ranch houses and grass.
   
3. We need leadership by Logan with regard to traffic. We need an overpass south of town to classify and direct traffic in a safe, efficient manner. The key to our traffic woes begins in College Ward, where the main sign should start, showing drivers of all kinds where to go in and around Logan. There needs to be a legitimate belt route as soon as possible. It is silly to stop out of town traffic along 10th West for school crossings.
   
4. We need to lure people to downtown Logan with shops, museums, zoos, fountains (including crystal fountains that freeze in the winter like our crystal trees), walkways, gardens, canals, and musical and entertainment venues (in addition to the world class ones that we already have) using the land freed up from through-town traffic. Speeding cement trucks are not an attraction.
5. We need a train to Salt Lake City, preferably from the university and downtown to the south through Ogden Valley. We need this not only for our purposes, but unite us with the resorts. This would provide opportunities for downtown businesses and for entertainment. In this sense, we were better off about a hundred years ago with the Bamberger line.
   

Is this a different agenda from that of prevalent city and regional leaders? Yes, of course. Please comment on them as you like.

Differences are as follows: There is little or no acknowledgment by leaders of the low income problem in Logan. The lack of deal flow from the universities is not noted, nor is it addressed by any party. Low income is the underlying issue with regard to blighted neighborhoods much more than where cars are parked.

There is no expressed interest in learning of the benefits and requirements of a new technology development sector and the benefits of matching up with capital markets in support of new enterprises. This is a statewide problem, though there is some "pomp and squeak" on the subject.

Little effort is evident with regard to resolving Logan's demographic implosion. Young families move to the county after their schooling. Environmental problems result from urban sprawl throughout the region, but they are not addressed in ways that would create alternative models.

Traffic in Logan, coupled with the downtown problem, demonstrates the lack of action in either case. As to the idea of a train -- which worked well for many years prior to the Great Depression and the wholesale commitment of the country to motor vehicles -- there has been no open discussion of the issue. Efforts have been directed at upgrading the local airport, for example, which may be a good thing, but wouldn't do much to address the fundamental problem of getting us in and out of the valley in safe, efficient ways en route to our most common destination, Salt Lake City. Nor would it have the parallel benefit of tying us to the resorts to the south for mutual development of tourist and entertainment markets.

In the past several years, I have provided materials, including at least one op-ed article and many letters to the Herald Journal on these and similar subjects. With time, I will post some of them on this blog. The process started out with a bang, as the editor welcomed thoughtful input and encouraged submissions. The invitations were downgraded from op-ed pieces to letters to the editor. A recent letter, similar to this blog entry, was ignored altogether by the paper. I have a sense that the point of ignoring the letter is that it detracts from the agendas that have been laid out by prevailing leaders.

Well, of course, this is the point. The objective here is to establish an alternate policy framework, one that I feel is more responsive to the needs of the populace in the coming decades. Living off the perquisites of low income coupled with urban sprawl and soft leadership in transportation is not much of a plan.