[Echoes]

Unfortunately the way that leadership is structured at City Hall means that the head planner doesn't have a very strong or independent voice. Unless things have changed, the head of planning answers to a GM above them and then the City Manager above the GM. They do not get their own seat among top officials in the Council chamber and they're seen as little more than the manager of a department of staff that carries out the wishes of Council. Sure, they're looked upon to give recommendations or provide advice -- but no head planner that wants to keep their job would go to the media to tell them that Council is making a huge mistake about something (say, the Traffic Bridge). To add to that, the transportation planning and land use/development planning arms of the City reside in different departments, so I'm sure they come out at odds over things that we don't see publicly.

Larger cities have more of a defined Chief Planner role that has the autonomy to take strong positions on issues that may be at odds with Council or perhaps the rest of City Hall. Jennifer Keesmaat in Toronto is the perennial example of late, who took a vocal position against Mayor Tory and Council regarding the reconstruction of a section of the Gardiner Expressway. Her tenure, about to end after 5 years, was not without controversy, and one wonders how long someone can last in a role like that if you're antagonistic to the powers that be.

I like Mr. Wallace, and I'm glad he's sharing his views on the development of Saskatoon. I'd love to see him with a weekly civic affairs column.