Planning August/September 2018
Intersections
Association and APA Member News
Members on the Move
Tracey Corbitt, AICP, was named the director of planning and development of the village of Ossining in New York.
Aletha Dunston, AICP, was named the executive director of the Fort Harrison Reuse Authority in Indianapolis.
Tim Gustafson, AICP, has joined Chicago-based Epstein, a multidisciplinary design and construction company, as senior planner.
Mike Flynn, AICP, is the new director and Ben Rosenblatt, AICP, was named an associate of Sam Schwartz Consulting, LLC's new City Strategies service area.
Lucy Kempf was promoted to executive director of the Metropolitan Planning Commission of Nashville/Davidson County in Tennessee.
Kari Svanstrom, AICP, became the new planning director of Sebastopol, California.
Mark Miller, AICP, was hired as the managing director of planning and design for Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. in Michigan.
Kudos
Irene Aceituno, a master of urban and regional planning student at University of California, Irvine, received the MURP Diversity in Planning Fellowship, the MURP Impact Award, and the APA Latinos and Planning Division Scholarship.
Clement Lau, AICP, a planner with the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, has been named a member of the National Recreation and Park Association's Health and Wellness Advisory Committee. The panel serves as a sounding board for new ideas and practices and provides oversight, feedback, and subject-matter expertise for NRPA's health and wellness programs and initiatives.
APA members are a busy bunch. For additional kudos, comings, and goings, see the APA News blog: www.planning.org/apanews
Utah Students Research Latino Housing
ChicagoLAB 2018 participants at the 2018 Housing Summit: (from left) Michael Baker, Bryan Luu, Anders Rauk, Ivis Garcia (program administrator), Logan Hunt, Lauren McKenzie, Alexander Jacobs, and Samah Safiullah. Photo courtesy Chicagolab.
Early this summer, eight students from the University of Utah spent six weeks in Chicago working on community-based projects as part of the ChicagoLAB program. ChicagoLAB 2018 focused on maintaining housing affordability in Chicago's Latino neighborhoods. Participating in this year's program were city and metropolitan planning masters students Michael Baker and Lauren McKenzie; urban ecology undergraduate students Alexander Jacobs, Anders Rauk, Bryan Luu, Logan Langston Hunt, and Samah Safiullah; and architecture undergraduate Jimmie Gray.
APA worked with ChicagoLAB administrator Ivis Garcia, PhD, AICP, assistant professor of city and metropolitan planning at the University of Utah, to host the students at its Chicago office. Students presented their work to APA staff, who provided feedback on their projects as well as information on the association.
The program culminated in the 2018 Housing Summit: Strengthening the Puerto Rican and Latino Presence in Chicago, which the students cohosted with Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation, Hispanic Housing Development Corporation, Latin United Community Housing, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, and the Puerto Rican Agenda. There they presented preliminary findings of a report that will provide a compendium of data and analysis about Near Northwest Side housing and Latino demographics.
APA congratulates the students and Dr. Garcia on a job well done.
We Plan CLE Promotes Equity, Engagement
Participants on the Climate Equity Jane's Walk discuss a community pocket park along the route. Photo by Matthew Schmidt, AICP.
Malo A. Hutson, director of the urban community and health equity lab at Columbia University, addresses luncheon attendees. Photo by Michaelangelo's Photography.
In June, the Cleveland Section of APA Ohio hosted its third annual We Plan CLE, a week-long series of public events and conversations designed to encourage citizen engagement and facilitate the discussion of innovative ideas for urban planning and development. We Plan CLE 2018 focused on the theme of equity and sought to build awareness of the role equity plays — or should play — in shaping the places where Clevelanders live, work, and invest.
More than 250 participants — local APA members, professionals, citizen planners, and community residents — attended the events, which included two Jane's Walk mobile tours through Cleveland neighborhoods, a storyteller night featuring local poets speaking on equity, and a keynote address and luncheon.
Keynote speaker Malo A. Hutson, PhD, associate professor and director of urban community and health equity lab at Columbia University, led a conversation on community development and urban equity, racial and ethnic inequalities, and urban policy.
"It's not the big cities that are going to make a difference in the world," he said. "It's the everyday cities like Cleveland where people work, and they work real jobs, that are going to make a difference."
To listen to Hutson's speech in full, go to http://bit.ly/2KDKie7.
Association News
Farm Bill Update
Over the past several months, APA has kept a close eye on Congress's progress with the 2018 Farm Bill, analyzing proposals for members and promoting key planning priorities on Capitol Hill.
With the current Farm Bill set to expire on September 30, Congress is moving quickly to finalize new legislation. After a stinging defeat on the House floor over a disagreement on immigration, in late June the House managed to narrowly pass its version, which makes significant changes and cuts to local food system planning, food access, conservation, and nutrition programs.
APA supports several provisions in the Senate's version of the bill, which was approved by a strong bipartisan majority and includes important provisions for mandatory funding for local food programs, expanded urban agriculture initiatives, renewal of the healthy food financing initiative, and rural development and conservation programs.
The two bills differ sharply on work requirements for nutrition assistance and changes to existing land conservation programs.
At press time in early July, a House-Senate conference committee was working on a compromise version. APA urges planning advocates to encourage Congress to maintain the important planning, urban agriculture, and conservation provisions included in the Senate-passed bill.
Water and Planning Connect
Contamination, drought, irrigation, rising sea levels, algal blooms, fish die-offs, water supply, and use rights: When it comes to water management, planners get their feet wet every day. Water and Planning Connect, APA's first-ever topical conference, will take place over two days in Kansas City, Missouri, starting on September 11. It's a chance to collaborate with other planners and water industry professionals and brainstorm better ways to manage water needs and respond to water crises, all while earning AICP Certification Maintenance credits.
2018 Policy and Advocacy Conference
On September 23, planners from around the country will gather in Washington, D.C., to learn about legislative issues that impact planning, develop engagement and advocacy tools and techniques, and speak with their congressional representatives during Planners' Day on Capitol Hill. This year's conference puts the focus on the fiscal health of communities, state issues, and solutions for the nation's housing affordability crisis via APA's new Planning Home initiative.
Congratulations to APA's Newest Crop of AICP Members
More than 500 APA members passed the American Institute of Certified Planners Certification Exam this past spring, and 24 AICP members earned an Advanced Specialty Certification, which recognizes certified planners for their expertise and leadership in their chosen specialization. View the full list of successful examinees at www.planning.org/blog/blogpost/9152693
Of the 537 members who earned an AICP certification, 137 were enrolled in the AICP Candidate Pilot Program, APA's newest effort to help students and graduates of Planning Accreditation Board-approved programs get a head start on the AICP process. To learn more about the AICP Candidate Pilot Program, go to www.planning.org/aicp/candidate/#details.
Tools of the Trade
From August recess to midterm elections, this fall is full of opportunities to connect with elected officials. In preparation for Policy and Advocacy Conference in September, look for new state and federal resources that will help you be an effective advocate for the planning community.
And with National Community Planning Month in October, these resources will prime you to tell your best planning stories. Join the Planners' Advocacy Network and reach out to your chapter legislative liaison to get more involved — and in the meantime, check out these tools at www.planning.org/policy:
Planners' Advocacy Network
Legislative Priorities
Policy Guides and Principles
Legislative Action Center
Planning Month Resource Hub
We Ask, You Answer
This Month's Question
Which climate change issue is impacting your community the most?
Let us know at surveymonkey.com/r/Intersection0818.
Last Month's Question
What is the biggest water challenge in your community?
Here's what you said:
Dates to Remember
August/September
August
5 The 2018 Western Planner Conference.
September
5 APA Georgia Chapter fall conference.
11 Water and Policy Connect, Kansas City, Missouri; APA Florida Chapter and APA North Carolina Chapter fall conferences.
23 APA Policy and Advocacy Conference, Washington, D.C.
26 Fall conferences for the Hawai'i Congress of Planning Officials/APA Hawaii Chapter; APA Illinois Chapter; APA Upper Midwest Chapter; and APA Tennessee Chapter.
30 APA Oklahoma Chapter fall conference.
Intersections is compiled and edited by Planning editors. Got something you'd like to share? Send info and photographs to intersections@planning.org.