In an interview yesterday, Buck Showalter offered the following answer when asked "what is the toughest managerial job in baseball?":


"Probably managing in Triple A. Believe it or not. It's not to go away from the Major League's, but I think one of the toughest jobs in our sport is Triple A because everybody is unhappy there. We got guys on their way back. You got guys going down. You got guys thinking they should be up. I mean nobody is really happy there and we got a great guy in Triple A in Ron Johnson, who was the first base coach for Boston last year. He has done a great job for us down there. We are really lucky to have him."


I can't help but compare this view of Triple A to the attitude at the Planning Department.  Our jurisdiction believes itself to be the poor sister in a metropolitan area of rich and famous superstars.  Developers talk about the county's cheap land and proximity to downtown, but drop the idea because of bad schools and corruption.  Banks redline the area.  Jobs go elsewhere.  And the politics bears down hard on the Department to make it all stop.


That mentality of "stop" rubs off on our staff.  We have plenty of new planners who are ready to work hard to make a name for themselves, but can't find worthwhile projects in this Department.  Then we have graybeards who stay mute out of exhaustion or anger.  No one wants to be here. Everyone thinks they deserve to be somewhere else.


How to be a happy planner in this situation?