Want to make a difference? Get in the know.

People like to gripe about the Haves and the Have-nots.

The special treatment, the small considerations the Haves enjoy even in our relatively humble Iowa communities.

And it's true to some extent. Kirk Ferentz and I may work in the same town but we live in vastly different worlds. I suppose there's a little “Upstairs, Downstairs” anywhere you go.

But often, it's not some red-carpet conspiracy that prevents local decisions from going residents' way. When it comes to city government it's usually not so much a matter of the Haves vs. the Have-nots, but the Knows vs. the Know-nots.

Take the recent dust-up in Iowa City over the demolition of several buildings on the 500 block of East Washington Street to make way for a new dime-a-dozen retail-residential building, the likes of which are popping up like mushrooms all around the city center.

A lot of folks are up in arms about the change, which has displaced two beloved local businesses. They swarmed a recent City Council meeting, 5,000 signatures in hand, in an 11th-hour plea for council members to block the move.

Longtime activist Caroline Dieterle spoke for many when she said, “Getting rid of things that are this nice in favor of building a soulless apartment building is wrong.”

Accusations flew, explicit and implied: Council members and city staff just “don't get” the quirky charm of Iowa City's older neighborhoods. They don't care about local business. They're so deep in developers' pockets they can't see they're destroying the very fabric of our community.

But if you want to make a local developer spit in her soup, just try telling her the City Council is a tool for her trade. No, the reason developments like the one on Washington Street go through isn't because the boss plays golf with the mayor. It's because they know the rules.

They have to - it's their business. If local residents want to be heard, they have to make it their business, too.

Starting next week, the Department of Planning and Community Development is holding public workshops to discuss the city's long-term approach to economic, environmental and social sustainability issues - part of a very public process of updating the city's comprehensive plan. They've even set up a website to collect and showcase residents' ideas: www.icgov.org/goodideas.

You just can't raise a loud enough hue and cry to save a beloved building two weeks before the wrecking crews arrive. But that's the great thing about getting in the know - you're all ready for the next round.

Comments: (319) 339-3154; jennifer.hemmingsen@sourcemedia.net