Ten years later, localities still hold most of the decision-making power. Litt is director of community development for the city of Lacey in western Washington. In 1990, however, he was a planner in Douglas County, a mostly rural locality in central Washington best known for the presence of Grand Coulee Dam. People in that county of 30,000 were concerned the state was trying to take away their property rights and stop growth. Litt spent a lot of nights in the early 1990s selling the state Growth Management Act to the people of Douglas County and helping craft a plan.
Public involvement is taken seriously by local and state governments in Washington.
It's a tradition that people insist on continuing. At many of those meetings, there was a crowd of 100 to 200. Litt's first task was to convince residents of the city of East Wenatchee and Douglas County that the Growth Management Act is not a no-growth idea. It's purpose is to accommodate growth. The issue of property rights constantly came up, Litt says.