Some, especially small hamlets, said they did not understand the process or lacked the resources to hire professional planners.

Even the professional planners have never been able to completely agree on answers to such questions, except perhaps with a noncommittal "yes/but" or "both/and."

Scarlett Doyle, a professional planner, talk recently about the ranch she and her husband are starting.

In 1925 John Nolen, a professional planner, was hired to develop a plan for the downtown of the city.

"We're the largest town in Westchester County, yet we do not have one full-time professional planner," she said.

That raises a fiduciary issue, as more investors are relying on professional planners who lack the information they need to do the best job possible.

And where are our professional urban planners, whose duty it is to act as custodians of the growth of the city?

The School's programs and courses provide students with skills and perspectives necessary for successful careers as professional planners.

Rebuilding a city, it seems, is too important a task to be left to professional planners.

Finally, I would appeal to professional planners to use their common sense by taking account of the views of public representatives and community groups.