Today is another full day of work and challenges. In a weird way I’m looking forward to it all. In another way my brain is saying “for goodness sake, you should be in your garden. What is all this stressful working nonsense?”  

Working at the city is a huge challenge.

The biggest adjustment and most painful is noting that the entire job, whatever it is, must be performed in cauldron of criticism. Those outside the city are conditioned to think that heaping abuse and criticism upon people who work there is their right and that the people who work there deserve abuse. Somehow it becomes easy to sell the idea that a bunch of people go to work every day to squash your dreams and plans. Yours, in particular.

We are a city of almost 2.5 million people and for the most part each person contacting us acts as if we are a city of one. I understand.

I hear my colleagues patiently explaining cumbersome processes and gnarly constraints to frustrated and outraged people. We open our doors to an avalanche of needs and demands that can never be fully satisfied.

What we don’t get to say:

We didn’t create these cumbersome processes.  The people you elected did. Every time you had a bone to pick and railed and demanded something be stopped or prevented you added another barnacle to this giant “City of Houston” ship. Slowing it down.

Encumbering it.

We love to pass “stop, prevent and deny” legislation and ordinances. Rules to prevent what we don’t want rather than enable what we do want. We load up our institutions of government with these rules and the related responsibility to inspect and monitor adherence. So many rules and laws are ginned up out of spite and vitriol. Focused on political payback and financial wins. Slows down every project and initiative.

Democracy is very messy and designed to be slowly evolutionary, not revolutionary. Very very unsatisfying. The worst, except for all the alternatives.