An overwhelming majority of Side Streets readers say they’re “uncomfortable” with the past president of the Housing and Building Association running the city’s Planning Department.
According to an online poll, 81 percent of respondents said Kyle Campbell, of Classic Consulting Engineers, “knows who pays his salary” and “can’t help but favor the industry.”
The other 19 percent said Campbell “is a man of integrity and will not favor the industry or mistreat neighborhoods.”
If you haven’t voted in the poll, click here.
The mayor’s office announced last week that Campbell will serve as interim planning director. He will be paid $175 an hour.
According to the announcement:
“With over 20 years of private sector experience as a planning/engineering consultant in Colorado Springs, Kyle will bring practical business experience to his 6 month contract efforts.
“He will work with (Director of Public Works/ City Engineer Helen Migchelbrink and Transportation Manager Kathleen Krager) in transforming the publics’ experience with the City in the processing of plans and permits. As a strong believer in excellent customer service, Mr. Campbell will bring that mindset to the city as he evaluates procedures and processes with the ultimate goal of removing barriers to residents and businesses as they navigate complex government regulations.”
This is a bad choice for several reasons…
But first let me say that is is nothing personal against Kyle. He is a good and decent fella who’s earned a very good and solid reputation in the development community.
However, he is boring engineer in a department that needs vision more than drainage plans.
His partime fee is absurd, sickening , unjustifiable, an affront to those already in the department and to us citizens who believed Bach was about fiscal responsibilty!
If you like sprawl and the HBA, you’ll probably be happy. For those of us who believe this City has been almost irrepairably harmed by the wild , undisciplined growth for the past 40 years, it is another shameful example that our leaders are just plain stupid.
Trying to shepherd a proposal through this city’s planning department causes many who have tried to wonder why the existing steps and process have come to become what they are. Generally, the reasons have been to maintain orderly planned growth while protecting the value of surrounding properties by regulating with guidelines how approvals will occur. It is difficult to predict how Kyle will perform, but his experience and credentials are relevant criteria for overseeing this process. As an interim position, his actions will draw plenty of scrutiny. If he does not appear even handed, he will not succeed. Prejudging without fully understanding the process is shortsighted. He is still bound by the existing, very extensive development code and projects still fall under the purview of the Planning Commission and the City
Council. I predict he will understand and perform better than someone without building experience.