Chapter 35: Lafayette Plaza, 2017

Working for the clampdown.

Lafayette Plaza

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I answered the phone and it was Conor Dougherty, a New York Times reporter who had written articles about California’s housing crunch. Conor and I had spoken a year earlier when he interviewed me about a project in Lafayette that had become a focal point for the rising Yes-In-My-Backyard (YIMBY) movement. But when that piece was published, the Lafayette content was buried so deep that it hardly registered. I figured I’d never hear from him again, but here he was on the other end of the line now, telling me he was taking a year off to expand the earlier piece into a book. He said he felt bad about how Lafayette had been cut from the newspaper article and wanted to revisit the story.

Queasy at the prospect of presenting a higher profile than my elected-official bosses, I suggested he speak with the mayor instead. But Conor persisted, saying he wanted the staff member’s view – the professional’s view – from city hall. Plus, he said, “You’re a California guy. You’re an experienced city manager. You’ve been at this a long time. I want to hear your version of what happened.”

So we talked.