Mastering my own plan

Had I known what a attention-grabbing issue it would be, I would have written something about dating this week. Although, having been with the same person for six years, it would have been more of a retrospective.

Maybe someday. In the meantime, I intend to talk about the exciting world of master plans.

Still reading? Great. At least a few people must find them interesting, because everyone is writing one these days. The City of Whitefish, downtown Whitefish, Kalispell, Bigfork, Flathead County, Big Mountain… the list goes on.

All this master plan talk has left me feeling a little disorganized, as if it's somehow dangerous to wander through life without the benefit of an overriding vision governing my personal growth. So, I've decided to begin hearings on my own master plan.

Honestly, I wouldn't say my life is exploding like a Californian suburb right now, but the idea is to plan ahead so that my future isn't pocked with abandoned Super Wal-marts or snarled with clogged arterial highways.

When creating a master plan, it is typical to solicit input from all interested parties living within the jurisdiction.

In my case, this consists of my wife, dog, cat, co-workers and a few friends.

In order to have some control over my own future, I will treat myself like a city or county, with several departments: recreation, planning, finance, public works and health.

I foresee negotiations over my master plan becoming a battle royal.

The conflict between recreation and finance is likely to be a bitter fight to the death. The recreation department has already asked for a new snowboard, a vacation and a pass to The Wave.

The problem for both finance and recreation is that there are many petitions for funds, but few actual dollars. The scene will be akin to a pack of wild dogs fighting over the carcass of a field mouse.

Unfortunately for these mongrels, the finance department has a strict policy of not taking on any new debt.

The public will probably pull my master plan in several different directions also. Time will likely be the biggest point of contention with them. Like money, there is much more demand than supply.

I expect the fur to fly between my cat and dog, who only want time when they see the other getting it.

Fortunately, there seems to be consensus on at least one policy towards time.

This policy gives the recreation department absolute control over weekends, starting Friday night. Parties interested in weekend time must petition directly to the recreation department. All petitions must be recreation oriented. Of course, all time with my wife is considered recreation.

There is also consensus among nearly all interested parties on the direction of future growth. The ground work is currently being laid in the direction of graduate school, continued education in Spanish, and an overseas reporting job.

The dog and cat haven't yet learned about the possible long stay with my parents, and for that matter, neither have my parents.

Finance, as usual, is wondering where the money will come from to support this plan, and public works is a little daunted by the effort it will take to get there, but otherwise, it enjoys wide support.

In the future, I would like to set up a long range planning board, as well as a joint planning board between my wife, dog and cat, so that we can better coordinate our efforts.

But for now, I believe the plan will only work if it is balanced and flexible. If any one party feels it is getting a raw deal, it could likely grind the planning process to a halt. (Besides the cat, whose favorite flavor is raw.)

Things like growth and finance are notoriously hard to predict. Flexibility is necessary to ensure that any radical change in these areas can be met and steered in the right direction.

If at all possible, I would like keep my budget in the black, and to plan for good growth, rather than react to it as it happens.

Who knows? Maybe I'm on to something here. Remember the big craze over writing your own mission statement? Next thing you know, everybody will be writing a master plan.

In fact, if this does catch on, my plan may involve writing a self-help book: "Master plans: Not just for municipalities anymore."

Paul Peters is a reporter for the Whitefish Pilot