The Certified Priority Criteria, explained.
Step One: Set up a baseline.
I chose Shoreline Management as the baseline. For another goal to outrank this goal, it had to be assigned more points than I assigned this goal.
Since Shoreline Management doesn't appear in the list of goals in the GMA itself, it made the most appropriate candidate for a baseline. Its absence from the list, and the lack of a description in RCW 36.70A.020 prevented it from being evaluated consistently with the other goals anyway. So, I ended up assigning a value to Shoreline Management and then ranking the other goals relative to that.
I didn't start with a value. I just knew my baseline.
Step Two: Find the notes that aren't being played.
Or in this case, the words not being used.
I looked for qualities that the goals possessed that were so obvious that they required no words. These would be the qualities that would have the most impact on the order of priority for this series.
One of these qualities whether or not a goal had to be considered under all circumstances with no room for exceptions. This quality makes a goal Ironclad.
One of these qualities is whether or not a goal had to be considered under all circumstances, even if there was room for exceptions or qualifications. This quality makes a goal Universal.
One of these qualities is whether or not a goal had a direct impact on the entire local community when it was considered, as opposed to a goal that would tend to have a direct impact on only a portion of the local community. This quality makes a goal Encompassing.
These would be the defining factors that set the order of priority of these goals apart. The rest of the system just had to serve as tie breakers.
Step Three: Find the notes that are being played.
I found five words that were being used with some consistency that also had measurable imperative tone to them. I used these words to break most ties.
Encourage
The least imperative word. A weasel word. This word was so lacking in imperative that it imposed a penalty.
Enhance
The second least imperative word. This word may call for an action, but it is wide open to interpretation.
Protect/Conserve
The baseline imperative words. Protect and conserve both have reasonably understandable meanings, and have the same effect for this system.
Ensure
The second most imperative word. It goes further than protect or conserve, but not as far as the highest ranking word
Shall
The most imperative word. This word has an unambiguous meaning when it appears in statutory law. It means mandatory. It is assigned the same rank as most of the 'unplayed' notes of this system.
By now some of you may have noticed that the only words that are used for this system are verbs.
Step Four: Assign a value to the notes
I needed a system that would make it clear what order of priority was suggested in the language. Assigning a single point for each quality wouldn't make that clear, so I went for a higher point value system.
I aimed for trying to set the baseline goal (Shoreline management) at 100, but this called for massaging the values too much. So I decided that the implied qualities (the unplayed notes) of the goals would be worth by far the most and explicit qualities (the played notes) would be assigned values small enough to break ties within those ranges.
The Unplayed Notes Point Value
Ironclad (100 points)
Universal (50 points)
Encompassing (50 points)
The Played Notes Point Value
Encourage (-25 points)
Enhance (10 points)
Protect/Conserve (25 points)
Ensure (35 points)
Shall (50 points)
Once I had this sorted out, I applied it to my baseline goal. (Shoreline Management)
Shoreline Management is Universal (it has a profound impact on every jurisdiction in Washington. However, since there are options for exceptions and variances and such, it is not Ironclad.)
Shoreline Management is Encompassing. (It has a profound impact on every citizen in the state, regardless of where they might live and what they might do for a living.)
And since Shoreline Management has its own portion of the RCW, it is definitely has a Shall somewhere within it.
So, this Goal is assigned 150 points as the baseline goal.
Step Five: Determine a final tie breaker.
Since there was still a lot of opportunity for ties in this system, I needed a final way to break a tie that was based on something that was arbitrary but measurable. Like a coin toss, with less random silliness.
I decided that the tie breaker would be brevity.
A goal that had the same point total as another goal, but used fewer words would be be given a higher priority. I'm sure that shows some sort of bias, but I'm not exactly sure what bias that really is.
I did a word count of the description of the goal, minus the title of the goal itself. This wasn't elegant enough by itself so I divided that word count by ten and then subtracted that number from the goal's score to determine it's final rank of priority.
The Shoreline Management goal has literally zero words in RCW 36.70A.020. So its word count isn't used. This is consistent with its status as a baseline goal.
Yes, this is what I do with my spare time. No, I don't recommend it to anyone else. Yes, it irritates my spouse to no end.
[Disclaimer: This series is written for edu-tainment value, and should not be mistaken for an authoritative or official evaluation of the 14 goals of the Growth Management Act.]
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