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In addition to these functions,a good planning commission <br /> has many other functions that justify its existence.A few of <br /> the most important are: <br /> a.A planning commission is a splendid training ground for <br /> future officeholders.The one in my town has graduated <br /> knowledgeable people familiar with the major problems of <br /> government into council seats for years,and it continues to do <br /> so. Experienced commissioners also make fine civic leaders, <br /> because they've taken the heat on major public issues.They've <br /> not only made tough decisions; if they've done their job <br /> properly,they've established clear grounds for those <br /> decisions. <br /> b.A planning commission that is doing its job is looking into the <br /> "futurity" (defined by Peter Drucker as the impact that actions <br /> taken now will have on the future)of the actions that may be <br /> taken in contrast to most elected officials,whose long-range <br /> concerns may not extend beyond the next election.A corollary <br /> to this concern for the future that marks the good commission <br /> is respect and awareness for the traditions and heritage of the <br /> past. In many communities the image of the place is projected <br /> by the irreplaceable structures and spaces of earlier times.A <br /> good commission should be and has been the community's <br /> first line of defense against mindless visual pollution and <br /> destruction of the values of the past. <br /> • c.The good commission, having no political axes to grind,can <br /> work toward consensus solutions for problems requiring a lot <br /> of technical study,and can send up an objective course of <br /> action that the more politicized elected officials might never <br /> evolve. <br /> d.When politically"hot" issues arise,the commission can and <br /> should act as a lightning rod to draw out and clarify the <br /> positions of people on all sides of a question. Once this is <br /> done,the politicians upstairs can more safely and rationally <br /> make"statesmanlike" decisions. <br /> e. It has been widely held that the commissioners, rather than <br /> the council members or supervisors,are a better group for <br /> achieving intergovernmental cooperation,such as joint <br /> planning with school districts, utilities,and neighboring <br /> jurisdictions.This is because commissioners are not <br /> authorized to(and should not)fly the flag of local sovereignty <br /> or elected authority or carry on the manipulative pushing and <br /> pulling that characterize"playing politics." 7 <br />