OPINION: If only the comprehensive plan had a sexier name

July 05--Getting the public's opinion on matters of municipal concern can be difficult.

Look at three issues in Pullman.

The Planning Commission is trying to figure out where future development should occur, where the city should invest in water lines, sewers and streets and what laws and rules developers should follow to get that done.

The fire department wonders if it should ask the City Council to spend more money -- and maybe raise taxes -- to upgrade the city's fire insurance rating from a 4 to a 3.

And Pullman Regional Hospital, which is a public agency, is trying to figure out whether to allow a doctor associated with its Palouse Surgeons practice to perform sex reassignment surgery there.

Guess which one got the most public response.

It wasn't the fire department. Four people came out to the department's first of three community meetings a week ago. From their questions, it seemed they were a little bewildered about why they were there.

It wasn't the Planning Commission. It held a series of workshops on the Comprehensive Plan in April. After that, 30 people answered a questionnaire about their preferences. A week ago the commission reviewed those comments. Planners spoke as though the thoughts of those 30 people represented the city population. But the commission also seemed to recognize the limits to this feedback. When it came to deciding what plan to recommend to the City Council, the commission relied more on its own judgment than on the majority of those responding.

If the commission really wanted a sense of what development Pullman wants, it should have engaged the services of Washington State University's excellent pollsters in the Social & Economic Sciences Research Center.

Of course, Pullman Regional Hospital's board got the most action. It was so overwhelmed with responses to its request for pubic input -- no that's not a typo -- it cancelled a public hearing last week. The commissioners will discuss it among themselves during their meeting at 6 p.m. today.

Ironically, this is the one topic among these three that should be decided by medical professionals, not general public opinion inflamed by religious disagreements.

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