Planners Advocacy Week

December 5-9, 2005

Join your local APA chapter for the launch of a new policy advocacy program: Planners Advocacy Week in Congressional district offices. This program builds on the terrific success of the annual Planner's Day on Capitol Hill which brings hundreds of planners to Washington, D.C., for meetings with members of Congress on important planning-related legislation. Now it's time to take the planning message home, while your Member of Congress is back in your district.

What is Planners Advocacy Week?

This December, APA is coordinating meetings between planners and their congressional representatives back home in the district office during recess. This means that while Congress is away from Washington, we have a great opportunity to influence public policy. What better place than at home to highlight and demonstrate the local importance of planning for safe and secure communities?

During the week of December 5-9, 2005, APA members nationwide will conduct meetings in their congressional district on behalf of the policies that make great and safe communities happen. This is your opportunity to get involved and be part of this landmark effort for APA and good planning. Congress is now considering a range of disaster mitigation and pre-disaster planning proposals. Planners Advocacy Week will focus on actions that the planning community and elected officials can take in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

During Planners Advocacy Week, APA members will promote the Safe Communities Act of 2005 (H.R. 3524) which provides grants through the Department of Homeland Security for incorporating disaster mitigation and emergency preparedness into comprehensive land use planning and urban development. At the same time, APA staff will be working with congressional offices to reinforce our message, highlight our organization-wide involvement and provide substantive briefings to lawmakers and staff here in our nation's capital.

Want to participate?

APA makes it easy to be a part of the planning movement. We'll give you all the information you need to set up a meeting. We'll coordinate interested members from the same area so that you can conduct a joint meeting. We'll provide you with training and talking points in advance via our website. We'll send you packets of material to leave behind with your representative. We'll even make sure that you have thank you notes to follow up after the meeting.

Many ways to get involved

If you can't conduct a meeting during the designated Planners Advocacy Week, don't worry! We'll help you set up a meeting as close to our advocacy week as possible, at a time when you are available. Meeting with your member of Congress in their district office during recess is just one way to get involved. In addition, or alternatively, we encourage you to coordinate a site visit with your representative — preferably to a site that demonstrates successful planning for hazard mitigation. Why not team up with other professionals in your field? Planners Advocacy Week is a great time to reconnect with your friends at the American Society of Landscape Architects who we worked with this May to conduct a joint Advocacy Day during the Legislative & Policy Conference in Washington, D.C.

Get creative! Other ways to get involved include media outreach, whether in the form of an op-ed article, press release, interview, or a town hall meeting. There are numerous ways to advance APA's policy agenda and stay active through our local advocacy programs.

Be an active part of the planning movement

Think of the value of a consistent message being delivered simultaneously nationwide in support of legislation that ensures planning for safe and secure communities. It's easy to get started. Just contact APA's government affairs staff at govtaffairs@planning.org.

What's next?

APA will hold its annual Planner's Day on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., as part of the annual Legislative & Policy Conference January 29-31, 2006. You have the chance to be part of APA history twice ... once during Planners Advocacy Week this December, and again at the 2006 Legislative & Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., the following month. PLAN members will receive a registration discount for January's conference, so remember to sign up today! APA's advocacy is only as strong as your commitment. Join us to help ensure communities of lasting value.