There are as many formulas (perhaps formulae if your town is too big) for answering that question as there are citizens in your town. It is that question’s implications that prompt change and resistance to change, urge moving out and moving in, and elect new political candidates along with their attendant appointees and staff. I will take the liberty to suggest Orem City, Utah as a model for discussion and I will recommend as the criteria the front counter of the Community Development Department.

This department in many cities can include Planning, Zoning, Building, Engineering, Ordinance Enforcement, Public Works and other phases of government that deal with the physical aspects and growth of the municipality. Question: Does the number of hats that the Community Development Director wears indicate the relative size of a town? Orem City has many specialized departments that operate under or with Community Development, each having a department head and appropriate staff who understand their special facet of administration. Does the number of specialized departments reflect the size of a town and does that number translate into your determination of the town being too big or too small? If the specialization and departmentalization goes so far that people at the front counter of each department can’t speak about the jurisdiction or issues of any of the others does that indicate that the town is getting too large?

If you like specialization for the sake of encouraging extraordinary expertise in each person at their respective front counter you may think that no town is too large…until the department reaches that point of saturation when staffing also includes those notorious ones who leap to the front counter with great zeal to be helpful in exercising their authority that is limited to the answer, “No” for all development questions. The town may be too large also if the front counter personnel become so specialized that their expertise can only be applied to a narrow field of citizenry. This can squeeze their career down to routine and squelch personality along with politeness, sincerity and helpfulness. Orem City isn’t that big.

What can make a town seem too small? If the front counter person represents several departments and has the authority (or hats) of each, enabling them to make determinations affecting multiple facets of the city’s development, their expertise may only include qualifications in one field of application. Front counter decisions may be dubious or insufficient for your particular need or issue. While their authority may allow them to say, “Yes,” to your request, their lack of knowledge may be as good as a “No.” Orem City is not that small.

While you are thinking about these ideas, think about your town or towns where your experience at the front counter of the Planning Department or Zoning, Building, Engineering or whatever aggregate of departments they may have. Is your town too small or too large or just right? Send me a response with your opinion and the name of your town. This will be a fascinating survey.