ABSTRACT
Athens expects every citizen to take an interest in public affairs. The role of the planning commissioner in the planning process is very often not well understood by the elected officials who appoint commissioners, the staff planners, or the commissioners themselves. Perhaps the most important role the planning commission can play in improving the planning process is in helping develop and then working from a sharply defined set of goals and objectives. The planning commission and other citizens participating in the planning process should not accept the packaged rhetoric with which staff or consultants often preface their technical reports. Any plan worth doing must have specific means to the ends that will be adopted. There are many tools for guiding growth and change, and the list grows longer with each new technique created by planners and upheld by the courts.
