Roger Riga

Partial Transcript: Could you please state your name and spell it out?

Segment Synopsis: Roger Riga introduces himself and provides a timeline of his work and titles with the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC). He held the titles of planner and deputy director for comprehensive planning, spanning 1971-1976.

Keywords: MVRPC

Partial Transcript: I was wondering if you could give us a bit of background, and tell us how you got into planning, and specifically how you came to MVRPC?

Segment Synopsis: Roger describes his educational background at the University of Cincinnati, and his cooperative education experiences while there, and how his education and subsequent work prepared him to work in planning and with the MVRPC.

Keywords: Ann Shafor; Cincinnati, Ohio; College; Community Action Commission; Dayton Plan; Downtown Progress; Fair Share Housing Plan; Flint, Michigan; MVRPC; Washington, DC

Subjects: City Planning; Education, Cooperative

Partial Transcript: The plan had been passed by twenty-six and eventually all of the commissioners, but then the hard work of implentation was going to start?

Segment Synopsis: Roger describes the process of formulating the Dayton Plan and the fair share concept, and his role in the process. He states that there was a basic agreement upon the concept, but that the task remained to perfect formulas for defining a "fair share."He expresses a necessity among the Miami Valley communities for a plan that would allocate funds appropriately and equitably to the various areas. He talks about how he advocated for a political solution to the plan, while still supporting the plan with scientific evidence. He also explains how the emergence of the 1970 census helped shape the development of the plan.

Keywords: Ann Shafor; Cincinnati; Dayton; census; formula; implementation; low-income housing

Subjects: Low-income housing; Resource Allocation; United States--Census, 1970

Partial Transcript: Do you remember what some of the changes were to the 1970 plan?

Segment Synopsis: Roger describes the changes he helped make to the original 1970 Dayton Plan in 1973, specifically regarding changes made to the way measurements were made, which changed from rank-based to standard unit-based.

Keywords: A-95; Dayton Plan; MVRPC; Richard Nixon; units

Partial Transcript: My primary assignment was shifting into working on the comprehensive plan and land use projections for the community.

Segment Synopsis: Roger says that around 1973, when the plan revisions were made, his primary focus shifted to the Comprehensive plan and land use projections, and waste treatment planning, while still assisting with certain aspects of the Dayton Plan. Through his work, Roger says that he and his team were able to receive a grant - one of only twelve awarded by the Federal Government nation-wide - to move forward with waste treatment planning. He then goes on to say that this participation in one of the original area-wide waste treatment plans allowed him to transfer his skills to California working on a similar project.
Returning to the topic of his work on the comprehensive plan, Roger describes the process by which he and his colleagues constructed a system to predict where development would be, first by cataloguing what already existed, and then figuring out where new development was likely to occur based on the surrounding structures.

Keywords: Comprehensive Plan; Dayton; area-wide waste treatment; outsourcing; suburbanization

Subjects: Land Use--Planning; Water--Pollution--Law and Legislation; Zoning

Partial Transcript: Was there a trend toward suburbanization of industry at the time in Dayton?

Segment Synopsis: Roger explains the suburbanization of industry in Dayton in the 1970's. He says that the cost of land was one push for this shift. He connects it to outsourcing of industry that we see today. He also cites the necessity of an existing infrastructure to support new industry without additional costs.

Keywords: developed land; outsourcing; suburbanization; vacant land

Subjects: Offshore outsourcing; Urban renewal; Vacant lands

Partial Transcript: Could you explain a bit more about the competitive nature of industry under Ohio law?

Segment Synopsis: Roger explains how regions compete for developments and industry in order to increase the revenues of their area, while maintaining low taxes for their taxpayers.

Keywords: development; industry; jurisdictions; tax base; taxes

Subjects: Taxation

Partial Transcript: I was just wondering also if you had any other anecdotes from your time at MVRPC?

Segment Synopsis: Roger comments on the leadership of Dale Bertsch, making a point about Dale's consideration for those who had different opinions than him. He discusses Bertsch's balance in representing the various communities in affected by the MVRPC, and the freedom he gave to his workers to focus on their areas of interest, such as Ann Schafor, who held a particular interest in housing reform.

Keywords: Ann Schafor; Dale Bertsch; Dayton; MVRPC; Miami Valley

Partial Transcript: During your time at MVRPC and other consortia, did you perceive that the federal government under various HUD (US Department of Housing and Urban Development) directors changed their support or approach for regional solutions to problems.

Segment Synopsis: Roger describes the inconsistency of the position the federal government had towards regional solutions, like the work of the MVRPC. He says that regional organizations were able to use federal programs to benefit their regions, but that these programs changed when there was turnover of agencies in charge of such initiatives. Roger says that originally the work of the MVRPC was overseen by HUD (US Department of Housing and Urban Development), but that changed over at one point to the EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) and then the Transportation Agency.

Keywords: EPA; HUD; federal government