Ed Sullivan concentrates in matters involving planning, administrative and municipal law. In addition, he has edited all five editions of the Oregon State Bar's Continuing Legal Education Publications on Land Use and has written numerous law review articles on land use, municipal and administrative law, has been the associate editor and a writer for, the Oregon State Bar's Real Estate and Land Use Law Digest since its inception in 1979. He has taught Planning Law and Administrative Law at the undergraduate, graduate and law school levels since 1972. In addition, Ed serves as Regional Vice President for the Land Development Planning and Zoning Section of the International Municipal Attorneys Association. Ed has also been a member of the Council of, and officer for, the American Bar Association Section on State and Local Government Law and chairs the Comprehensive Planning Subcommittee for the section.

Steven W. Abel is a partner with Stoel Rives LLP, concentrating his practice in the areas of land use, natural resources and development law. For the past 29 years Mr. Abel has represented private and public sector clients in the permitting and developing of major industrial, commercial, residential and mixed-use developments. Steve regularly seeks approval for development projects on behalf of clients before local governments, the State of Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA), the Oregon Court of Appeals, and Oregon Supreme Court. He has a long and distinguished record of service on behalf of the city of Portland and the Oregon State Bar, including serving two four-year terms on the Portland Planning Commission and serving for six years on the Oregon State Board of Bar Examiners. He is a frequent speaker on current land use legislation and case law impacting urban and rural lands in Oregon. In addition to numerous private sector clients, Steve serves as general counsel to Home Forward, formerly the Housing Authority of Portland, which manages 14,000 units in the metropolitan area, with an annual budget of over $600 million. Mr. Abel is listed in Best Lawyers in America, 2006-2012 and selected as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” (Oregon) by Chambers USA, 2006-2012, and is rated Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Abel received his B.S. at Portland State University and his J.D. cum laude at Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College.

Alma Flores has been with the City of Beaverton serving as the Economic Development Manager since 2010 overseeing all functions of the Economic Development division. Alma, in her short tenure, has instituted an Economic Development Strategy that reinforces a target industry approach in the daily business recruitment, retention, and expansion activities as well as serves the small business community through a Main Street program. Alma was recently successful in instituting an Enterprise Zone in the Beaverton and has successfully assisted well over 175 businesses through the City's Business Assistance Program, formerly the Economic Gardening Program. Prior to working for the City of Beaverton, Alma worked for close to 7 years as one of two Economic Planners with the City of Portland's Planning and Sustainability Bureau overseeing the Commercial Corridors Project--working hand and glove with the 36 business districts of the city; the Economic Opportunities Analysis, and of course, Food Carts. Alma holds a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA in Chicano/a Studies with major coursework in sociology, immigration studies, and history; Alma holds her Master's in City Planning from MIT with an emphasis on Housing, Community, and Economic Development.

Brian Martin, AICP, LEED AP, is an associate planner with the City of Gresham’s Urban Design & Planning Department. He is currently working on separate but related projects to update rules for food and beverage carts and temporary uses. His past work in Gresham has focused on updating residential development rules and Downtown planning, including creating design guidelines and standards and managing the Downtown Storefront Improvement Program. Brian has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Michigan. Prior to working in Gresham, Brian was a project manager at a Chicago consulting firm that specialized in land-use planning and urban design.

As an attorney, Ed Sullivan concentrates in matters involving planning, administrative and municipal law. In addition, he has edited all five editions of the Oregon State Bar's Continuing Legal Education Publications on Land Use and has written numerous law review articles on land use, municipal and administrative law, has been the associate editor and a writer for, the Oregon State Bar's Real Estate and Land Use Law Digest since its inception in 1979. He has taught Planning Law and Administrative Law at the undergraduate, graduate and law school levels since 1972. In addition, Ed serves as Regional Vice President for the Land Development Planning and Zoning Section of the International Municipal Attorneys Association. Ed has also been a member of the Council of, and officer for, the American Bar Association Section on State and Local Government Law and chairs the Comprehensive Planning Subcommittee for the section.

Carrie MacLaren Esq. is the Deputy Director of the Department of Land Conservation and Development. She has a long tenure working with the Oregon’s land use program, both in the private sector and with public-interest organizations. Prior to joining DLCD in September, Carrie was an attorney at Black Helterline LLP, representing clients in all phases of the land use entitlement and development process. She also worked as a staff attorney at 1000 Friends of Oregon, where her primary focus was farm and forest land protection, and as a real estate attorney with Miller Nash LLP. Throughout her legal career, she has served on local and state workgroups concerning land use policy and development. Carrie received her law degree from University of Oregon School of Law in 1999, where she later taught the first course on green building and sustainable development as an adjunct professor.