by Phil Goldstein | NorthFortyNews.com

My February 26, 2025 column focused on the work of the Town of Timnath Planning Commission, the Town Council-appointed governmental entity responsible for reviewing residential and commercial development proposals and related rezonings, annexations, and long-term planning. I’ve served on the commission for 15 years, the last 12 as Chair.

Several readers inquired about the work, many presuming that it must be complicated and stressful. However, as I explained to them and you, while the work is indeed difficult, it also has its lighter aspects, for instance:

• For meetings, we seven Commissioners sit up on an impressive-looking dais with lots of cool toys at our disposal—big screens, little screens, graphics, cameras, microphones, pointers—all while getting live-streamed to the entire world. However, that fun is often tempered when the rest of the room is filled with dozens of residents with torches and pitchforks, upset over some issue on the evening’s agenda.
• In order to do our job competently, it’s often necessary to digest 200-page agenda packets before meetings. It’s also necessary to ask several questions to prove that you’ve actually read everything… and hope that your colleagues don’t ask them first.
• Public comment is a necessary component of our meetings. Responding tactfully and respectfully, as we must, can be challenging, however, particularly with circumstances outside our purview (My neighbor’s dog barks incessantly.) or matters beyond any consoling after-the-fact advisement (Our realtor told us nothing would ever be built on that adjacent land.).
• As a Commissioner, you’ll learn why the town can’t just say ‘no’ to more residential and commercial development, a not uncommon opinion. You’ll get good at patiently explaining how developers’ rights trump ‘pulling up the drawbridge’ and not letting anyone else in.
• Like a bureaucratic secret agent, you’ll often have to say, “I can’t talk about that,” which seems pretty cool. But it ticks people off and means you won’t get invited to many parties. 
• We get nice town-logoed gear—shirts, hats, and jackets. But wearing it makes you a target for anybody with a complaint. I’m hoping they give us underwear or socks next year; the logo’s not visible, and I need those things more.
• And regarding hearing complaints when out in public, you’ll quickly learn that patronizing retreat is your best recourse.
• We get to work with a highly capable staff. But we always hope—especially when we’re in a tense public meeting where decisions must be made—that they’ve done their homework and can answer the questions we’ll ask. In other words, what we don’t want to hear is, “That’s a good question, let me get back to you.”
• Finally, as a Planning Commissioner, you learn to take rejection. Not only are you just one vote among your colleagues, but the commission is primarily a recommending body, with Council having final say on most matters. And since I usually get outvoted at home, having it also happen on live TV is just something I’ve humbly accepted.

Meanwhile, all humorizing about a difficult and stressful job aside, what makes it worthwhile is playing a role in the responsible and forward-thinking growth of our community. When the work’s good, it’s really good, and when it’s not, making it good is even better. Thank you to Mayors and Councilmembers past and present for giving me this opportunity. 

Phil Goldstein is in his fifth year writing Tales from Timnath for North Forty News. Phil is a 15-year Timnath resident who is finally using his West Virginia University journalism degree after getting sidetracked 52 years ago. The views expressed herein are Phil’s only. Contact him with comments on the column at [email protected].