Dysfunctional Prisons

To whom it may concern,

The United States has the largest prison population and the highest rate of violent crime of any country in the world. While the causes of these alarming statistics are many and varied the real tragedy of this broken system are its high rates of recidivism. 68 percent of people released from prison are re-arrested within three years. This fact points to the ineffectiveness of our penitentiary system to rehabilitate criminals. Instead, prison is merely a punishment where we let criminals become more criminal, instead of pro-actively engaging, healing, and then preparing these people for their return to society. The most shocking aspect of this problem is the growing use of private prisons. If a private business owns a prison, then to maximize profit, it must retain and even grow their inmate population as they are paid per prisoner. There is no incentive in this equation to rehabilitate and reintegrate these prisoners. In fact, it profits from America’s high rates of recidivism. And a growing prison business equates to growing economic and political influence over criminal law, and more importantly punishment. With decreasing budgets and increasing prison populations, how will this administration handle crime and punishment, and the restructuring of our prison system to promote rehabilitation over incarceration?

GUNNAR HAND, AICP

World Population Growth

To whom it may concern,

The primary driver of change in this country is population growth (natural and immigration). As the United States continues to grow demographically, every aspect of our lives will continue to evolve and change. These changes are both positive and negative. But like the world, the United States does have a specific carrying capacity, and in many areas, like Los Angeles and Phoenix, it has already exceeded that threshold. Importing over 60 percent of a region's water needs is not sustainable. A growing population requires more resources and space. It creates more waste and pollution. A growing population also diminishes the value of a single vote, diluting our democracy. However, a larger population also fosters greater diversity, specialization and interaction. This all expands tolerance, understanding and knowledge. A growing population also forces change through adaptation. As the population grows, so must the services, programs, and governance that serve that population. This begins to add layer upon layer of complexity and the expanding bureaucracy breeds mediocrity and inefficiencies. Population growth in the third world use to be foreign policy, but now it is rarely a topic of discussion. With clear connections to the economy, climate change and consumption, will population growth again become a major policy issue for the United States and the world?

GUNNAR HAND, AICP

Climate Change's Missed Opportunity

To whom it may concern,

With the change in policy over climate change, there has been little evidence toward its meaningful implementation from your administration. While the economic downturn is of critical importance, something as imminent as a shift in global weather patterns will certainly disrupt international commerce. In the same way that the singular source of all planning issues can be derived from population growth, the sustainable stewardship of the planet is critical to our established economic patterns. If productive farmland turns into deserts, cities run out of water, or areas with productive farmland shifts, there will be serious social and political ramifications. Living within our ecological constraints is an increasing concern for the America's sprawling metropolitan areas. Opportunities to improve air quality combat climate change are nearly endless. A whole new economy is waiting to be developed by maximizing efficiencies and conservation. Why is dealing with climate change not a pillar of your economic recovery plan?

GUNNAR HAND, AICP

A New Governmnet

To whom it may concern,

This administration is reshaping the role of government, and hopefully this will result in a renewed focus on enabling and encouraging local engagement. By empowering individual citizens and grassroots community organizations to change their own neighborhoods, local, state, and federal governments can all begin to effectively work towards a single, common good. As the administration has said, every government program should be judged not by its intent, but by its results. Over time, the government programs have begun to overlap and create redundancies. One program after another has layered so much bureaucracy on every level of government that there needs to be a concerted effort to simplify virtually every aspect of the system. This requires broad consensus, leadership, and effective management. Progress and change should not have to result in an increasingly complex machine. As your administration begins to force a dialogue and rethink almost every aspect of life (economics, transportation, foreign policy, energy, financial structures, etc...), how will the government as an agent of this change be retooled in order to implement your message?

GUNNAR HAND, AICP

A Second City Beautiful Movement

To whom it may concern,

As you look out across America's urban landscape, some of the most functional as well as beautiful areas are those designed and built during the City Beautiful Movement. Many of these projects were flood control and sewer upgrades and expansions through the Works Program Administration. In this previous government driven economic recovery, a focus on urban design and beautification are enjoyed to this day. The outline of infrastructure projects in your administration seems to concentrate primarily on upgrading the energy grid and rebuilding highways. Will urban infrastructure (sewers, under grounding utilities, streetscapes, parks, and stormwater management) be addressed in any of these new recovery projects? With an increasing urban population, these local initiatives become vital not just to economic development, but the quality of life for the majority of the population. The federal government must begin to shift its programs and funding to local grassroots city beautification projects that combine community service, beautification, and economic recovery. Will this administration ensure quality as well as efficiency and transparency in the implementation of the Reinvestment Act?

GUNNAR HAND, AICP

Save Not Spend

To whom it may concern,

The focus of the economic recovery efforts have been on restoring credit and spending levels. This strategy seeks to revive the same economic policies that just imploded. What I have failed to see from this administration is a real vision for our economic future, other than investing in energy, education, and health care. I think all of these things are certainly a part of a new economy, but they are about developing new economic sectors, not how we do business. The government needs to foster a new economic behavior. Government programs and policies should be encouraging individuals to do the same thing that the Treasury Secretary just proposed; A plan to increase capital requirements for large financial instructions. We should be focusing incentives on savings and checking accounts, while limiting lines of credit. Why not value consumer savings over consumer spending? It is this over-leveraging of credit and debt without capital requirements that will only lead to more trouble in the future. How will this administration encourage the economic responsibility of individuals?

GUNNAR HAND, AICP

Conservation Legislation

To whom it may concern,

Today the US Congress passed a sweeping bill that expanded conservation efforts across the nation. While it went relatively unnoticed, it is being heralded as one of the largest conservation efforts in recent history. Over 2 million acres of land has now been set aside as permanently protected open space, and an additional 26 million acres currently administered by the Bureau of Land Management would also be set aside. While some detractors warned that this move would deny future access to oil and gas deposits, proponents declare that it will protect the dwindling open space that provides connectivity between significant ecological zones. The often academic debate between conservation and preservation continues in America. While this is heralded as a conservation bill, leaving the land as nature intended is more accureatly referred to as preservation, whereas conservation seeks to find a balance between nature and human needs. What is most unfortunate about this bill is that it is a carry-over package of legislation from the Bush administration, and environmentalists feel compelled to act quickly before another Presidency puts industry above the environment. This fear has and will continue to lead to vast, unfocused preservation efforts without targeting the most critical and threatened areas first. How will this administration ensure that future preservation and conservation initiatives will focus on critically endangered habitat and restoration projects?

GUNNAR HAND, AICP