Coronavirus is really bad. But there’s always a silver lining! Here are three things that I think constitute it. And how we can keep them going after our long national nightmare is over.
1. Zoom City Government Meetings
The single greatest thing to happen in the last 25 years to democracy as it exists in Kirkwood is the Zoom council meeting. This might sound like hyperbole but I think its true. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that participation in government as it exists in the form of the public comment is among the least representative things we do. A group of researchers at Boston U. analyzed who spoke at city council and committee meetings. You should really read the book they wrote about their findings, Neighborhood Defenders, but in summary what they found was that an overwhelmingly disproportionate number of “public comment givers” were older, whiter, and more likely to be men (basically those with the most free time on their hands). These commenters were also overwhelmingly more opposed to development compared to the public writ large. New developments have concentrated costs and diffuse benefits, (i.e. lots of people are benefited a little bit, a select few are pissed off a lot and the people who are most emotional about the decision in question are the most likely to show up to the meeting.) Finally, those who benefit the most from new housing most likely do not currently live in the community (and as such don’t show up to its meetings). The combination of these factors leads to a selection bias towards those opposed to new housing/development. While moving the meetings to Zoom has not resolved all these problems, it certainly does help level the playing field.
Once meetings move back to City Hall, I am hopeful some legacy of our virtual experience will persist. Ideally public comments will still be available to remote attendees (giving people the option to comment in person or virtually) but at the very least, live streaming the meetings has to keep happening. It’s too easy it provides to much easy transparency for it not to continue. (Plus it makes blogging about this stuff a lot easier).
2. Streets for People, Not Cars
I’ve long been a proponent of bringing open streets to Kirkwood. I have previously suggested closing a couple streets in Downtown Kirkwood one Sunday a month, closing the streets in Kirkwood Park permanently, and once the pandemic started in earnest I wrote a piece calling for us to close both to give people more room to distance. The single, fleeting sense of happiness I have felt in the last three months (kidding) came when I took a walk up to Kirkwood Park and it looked like some of these things were actually happening: the streets in the park had been closed to vehicular traffic. I was hopeful that this change would prove so minimally disruptive to traffic and so overwhelmingly popular that the change would become a permanent fixture after this thing was over and also lead to more street closures or lane diets in other parts of town while it was still going on. Now I don’t know if the closure was exactly overwhelmingly popular, at least not yet, but it did seem to be decently popular. Apparently others thought differently. Instead the powers that be bailed on the change within two weeks (and before anything at changed with regards to the city or county’s level of official openness).
But hope is back in big way! At their Thursday, May 21st meeting, city council passed two ordinances to improve access to outdoor space for both businesses and their customers. The first of these streamlines the process to gain approval for outdoor operations. Whereas previously a city council vote was needed to approve each request, the city’s Chief Administrative Officer, Russ Hawes, can now approve requests independently. This should make the approval process move much more quickly as it eliminates the need to wait for the next public city council meeting, events that only occur every two weeks.
Even more impressive however was the second ordinance which allowed both streets and public parking spaces to be used by businesses and their patrons (and not by cars). When asked for clarification on whether the ordinance could be used to close streets not for explicit use by businesses but just to give people more room to distance as they walked around Downtown Kirkwood, the mayor, city attorney and administrative officer all agreed that that was their intent and interpretation.
Of course I’m taking this as a pretty clear indication that we have way more space for cars than we need and not nearly as much space for people as we should in our downtown but I should probably quit while I’m ahead. (We really should issue some requests for proposals on a few of these lots though, especially if it means getting the boutique hotel we keep saying we want).
3. Low Interest Rates
Kirkwood’s budget is going to take a massive hit from this. Anyway you cut it, this is an unmitigated disaster if you are someone who wants Kirkwood to be a better place in in any way shape or form. I plan on writing a piece on some ways we can dig ourselves out of that hole but until then I want to mention one small silver lining here: Interest rates are really damn low right now. Now, capitalizing on these low interest rates would probably take a comfort level with risk —or at least perceived risk— that is unlikely to exist in small suburban government but wishful thinking is sorta my specialty!
If Kirkwood were to issue some bonds right now, we could have infrastructure week all year long. Whatever your own personal pet project is, fully fund the train station, widen sidewalks, add bike lanes, speed up the street repaving timeline, renovate/construct a new recreation center and/or extend Grant’s Trail to downtown, with rates this low it has suddenly entered the realm of the possible so long as we’re willing to think big enough on this. There is a decent chance that the economy absolutely craters in August. There is also a significant chance that some point soon after, the Jay Powell and the Fed will drop interest rates below zero. Negative interest rates. Free money to make our town better. Let’s not miss the boat.
[Editor’s Note: I was a little worried that this was a historically bad finance take, but I’ve done a little research and I don’t think it is. At least not blatantly so. While the temporary collapse of the bond market in March was not encouraging, the bond market has rebounded significantly since then. Kirkwood has a strong rating (AA-AA+), and muni bonds are tax exempt (I have no idea how tax exemption works in a negative interest rate environment though), both of which would keep our bonds a decently attractive option for investors in an uncertain time. Issuing bonds on things that will generate their own revenue when complete (widespread introduction of paid parking downtown via parking meters/mobile apps & a new recreation center that could generate revenues from memberships and event rental) are the projects that best support my argument for issuing bonds in the manner I’ve suggested but the case could even be made for projects that are reasonably likely to generate a return via secondary effects (like increased tax revenue via increased tourism via an improved train station). Still feel free to roast me in the comments, an undergraduate degree in econ is a dangerous thing!]
A Look Ahead
Based on the searches people have made on here, we’re clearly pining for some coverage of the election that is rapidly approaching, (ya know, the one I keep saying is super important). That coverage is beginning in earnest next week, I promise and I’m pretty excited about it, so check back soon! Until then, a very happy Memorial Day Weekend to all member of the swarm! (Even if you’re reading this out of spite, you’re still a member. Sorry, I don’t make the rules).