August is basically done and with it the best summer months for construction. The entire summer passed and I wasn’t able to get a permit for my upcoming construction project. This annoys me in a way that people who have jobs with guaranteed salaries that are paid every two week despite non performance couldn’t possible fathom. Without getting too deep into the details, the reason I don’t have a permit is due to the mistakes of city staff. I’m considering issuing an invoice to city hall for my inconvenience and lost time. About $20k would suffice. What is the likelihood of the city taking ownership of the impact it has on small business owners? I’d estimate near zero. The city as an organization doesn’t understand the needs of business and the planning department is to me a heartland of this disconnect of reality and practice. The same bureaucracy that can promptly reassess and issue supplemental tax bills at the speed of light can’t get it together to approve new house plans that would employ dozens of hard working people and circulate seven figure sums within the local economy. The city needs to evolve from an organism that perpetuates itself, offers high wages above industry and better benefits as well as security into one that serves those who fund it.