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Cast your vote for the 2010 Puget Sound Section Elections
All Puget Sound Section members will soon receive a Survey Monkey ballot from the State Chapter office via email for the 2010 Spring Election of officers. The election will be held during a two-week period between April 26 and May 7.
Please participate by submitting the ballot survey form no later than Friday, May 7. If you believe your email address on file with National APA and the State Chapter may not be accurate, please contact the national office at www.planning.org or (312) 431-9100. If you would prefer not to use an email address to vote, please contact Kent Hale at pugetsoundsectionapa@gmail.com to obtain access to an alternative ballot.
You will be asked to review the candidate statements and use the Survey Monkey link to cast your ballot. Thank you for your participation. Candidates for open positions are pictured below and you can view their statements by clicking here.
President Elect,
Michael Booth |
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King County Representative,
Salina Lyons |
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Pierce County Representative,
Emily Terrell |
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Treasurer,
James Colburn |
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Secretary,
Carol Lumb |
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Secretary,
Alex Cohen |
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President's Message
By Julia Park
As we enter the second quarter of 2010, the impacts from the great recession continue to be felt by the planning community. Although there are signs that economic conditions are improving, budget woes and lack of vigor in the housing market and construction sector continue in the region. This in turn paints a bleak picture for many, especially for those entering the planning field for the first time.
This is the year we mark the twentieth anniversary of the Growth Management Act (GMA). The GMA is considered to be the most significant land-use/environmental planning statute adopted by the state legislature since the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and Shoreline Management Act (SMA) were passed in the early 1970s. Twenty years ago, the most urgent need was providing a statewide framework for managing development through coordinated comprehensive planning. Through comprehensive plans, local governments addressed pressing land use challenges, which culminated in provisions for more efficient and compact growth patterns.
Taking the bottom-up approach, regional coordination resulted in better understanding of the unique character, strengths, needs and aspirations of local communities, as well as the region as a whole. Collaborative partnerships among stakeholders within the region made progress possible - especially in economic development, environmental and natural resources stewardship, and public facilities and services planning. More opportunities have become available to locally based NGO's and advocacy groups to participate in public sector planning policy and regulatory arenas. From farmland preservation and stewardship of local streams to Buy Local programs, affordable housing, recycling and clean energy sources, there are now numerous "third sector" groups working to make good things happen in local communities.
Twenty years of growth management planning work has taught us that the process is as important as the outcome. Work remains to ensure that GMA plan updates provide consistent, open, fair, and effective processes to help the public make sound choices to meet current and future needs. The GMA amplified the importance of respecting our planet's ecological capacity and function when accommodating human activities and settlements over time, building on earlier advances made through major environmental legislations such as SEPA and SMA. These lessons are more relevant than ever before.
The APA Puget Sound Section is mindful of the role it plays in making resources and networking opportunities available to its members. Our section's planners work to help the region's communities grow in healthy and sustainable ways. Our organization continues to find ways to deliver high quality programs with reduced resources. We will renew our efforts in the coming months to strengthen support we receive from the planning community for the brown bag series, biennial planning law conference, and our holiday event. We urge you to participate in the spring election.
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Employment options are humbling for planning grads too
Getting your foot in the door of a planning office is tough work these days. That won't make the news, but the shortage of paid opportunities for prospective planning grads continues to raise the question - how can young planners survive in this region?
Most graduates will have to look outside permitting and other stepping stone positions to launch careers in the new Puget Sound economy. For some, that might include additional graduate degrees. Others may journey outside the state, or even the country to pursue planning work.
"You have to jump in with both feet and see where you land," said David Blum, a King County Metro project planner and moderator of a February University of Washington Professionals Council meeting.
That landing pad might not be Seattle, he told the group of approximately 40 planning students, as the panel's four professional planners prepared to offer their advice on building career experience in the murky climate.
Think of all the other catchy things you've heard on the career path and re-calibrate them for today's economy. Career advisor staples such as "it's not what you know, it's who you know" continue to anchor planning employment discussions. But other common themes, such as "it's the breadth of experience that counts," might make the difference between getting in or not in this highly competitive employers market.
"A lot of people are going out there and offering their skills and experience," said Talia Henze, associate planner for BHC Consultants. "You can build professional contacts that way. You'll be well-positioned, maybe even better than if you go back to school."
Job qualifications are stiff
If you haven't looked at qualifications posted for positions an entry-level or slightly more experienced planner might be looking at, "minimum" requirements versus "desirable" requirements present a growing divide. It may seem like the ultimate weed-out process - assuming an open planner position exists for a given week. Regional regulatory know-how increasingly separates top candidates in states like Washington that are known for state-level environmental policies like SEPA and Shoreline Master Programs as well.
Other available positions may seek a BA or BS in planning and business administration, for example. Some might require "at least three years of land use experience"; at least two years of experience working for a municipal government agency; and supervisory experience is preferred."
How about this description for range of experience:
"Three to seven years of professional experience are required. Experience and technical knowledge in a variety of planning projects including livable communities, urban planning, sustainable regional growth management, comprehensive plans, land use zoning, permitting, SEPA/NEPA, military planning, and climate change adaptation. The qualified candidate should have good business development capabilities. Relevant planning experience in the Pacific Northwest and the Puget Sound is preferred."
If you hadn't jumped on the GIS wagon by now, you better have a good working knowledge of that interface as well. Throw in LEED accreditation - "highly desired" and AICP - "preferred" - and you might be more competitive than other young colleagues.
"You need the skills more than the knowledge," said John Owen, a registered architect and partner at Makers, Inc.
Basic command of Microsoft Excel may be a prerequisite, for example, but finding direct ways to integrate data and visualization at public meetings might really impress an employer, Blum said.
Be direct and concise, Blum suggested of young planners making initial contacts with planning employers. "You have to learn that time does matter. Bring energy, enthusiasm and orderliness."
By the numbers
While some job descriptions and employment statistics are humbling, do they offer accurate employment projections for local planners?
On one side, several mainstream economists have proclaimed the recession is over. Others say that most development-oriented job markets will languish in the recession's aftershock, possibly for years to come.
According to an April 13th Seattle Times article, Washington state added 1,600 jobs in March, but the jobless rate inched up to 9.5 percent. Full recovery in the local job market won't occur until the end of 2012, projected Dick Conway, a local economic expert featured in the article. Recovery in Puget Sound would be closer to the 4 percent unemployment rate it experienced in 2007.
The article hinted at optimism, however, citing that employers plan to hire about 5 percent more college graduates this spring than last, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). That would mark the first predicted increase in college hiring since fall 2008.
A March 2010 feature in the Atlantic Monthly offered a more humbling outlook, however, suggesting the national unemployment rate won't decline much in 2011, 2012, even 2014.
Even more humbling, the article cited that as much as two-thirds of real lifetime wage growth typically occurs in the first 10 years of a career. After that, as people start families and their career paths lengthen and solidify, jumping the tracks becomes harder. Professionals essentially cannot close the wage gap by working their way up the company hierarchy. While they may work their way up, the people who started above them do too, and they don't catch up.
While a comprehensive study of the local planning market is beyond the scope of this article, several months of qualitative data gathered from public and private sector planners, including the Professional Council panelists, indicates that the hiring stagnation will continue for prospective planners.
Value of graduate education
"It's just chaos out there. It's just hard to predict what's going on. That means opportunity for you," Owen said.
Outside of going door to door and offering planning services for experience or a handful of contracted hours, the panel offered few specific places to search, however.
Perhaps the education route is a safer bet?
"Stay in school. It's dismal out there. Maybe when you get out, there will be jobs," said one panel presenter.
The panel had mixed thoughts on strategic advantages additional education may or may not provide in the planning marketplace.
"If you've gone through a class and all you do is sit, that is not going to work," Blum said. "This is a fabulous laboratory here in the Seattle area and it's critical that you take advantage of some of the planning initiatives that are aligned with what you want to do and get up and go do it."
Just 'try harder'
Of course, there's another crowd that suggests 'just do it' as the recent Seattle Times post indicates below:
"Go back in the Seattle Times and P-I archives and you will find (economic) stories like this EVERY Spring for the last 30-50 years.
College (and HS) grads have always had a hard time finding work right after graduation because they have entered the dreaded "real world" where they have to compete with grown-up, intelligent, experienced adults for the same jobs."
These sorts of posts and 'pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps' perceptions are common in blogger space. They, too, splice random data and projections with personal anecdotes across the generational spectrum. Pounding the pavement doesn't add jobs, however.
The reason unemployment remains so painfully high is clear: it's not the inadequacy or laziness of workers or the long-standing mismatch between workers' skills and employers' needs, said Christina Romer, chair of president's Council of Economic Advisers in an April 17th Wall Street Journal article. "It's the old-fashioned Keynesian diagnosis: too little demand in the economy..."
It doesn't have to be this way, Romer argued, essentially making the case for more government stimulus to help the economy. Her comments contrasted with a recent flurry of optimism among some forecasters that the recovery may turn out to be stronger than the lackluster one many anticipate.
Small steps forward
For the moment, even a strategic visit to a local planning outfit of any kind might be difficult to crack open.
Tony Mazzella, a strategic advisor for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) discussed how he wound up in the Puget Sound planning scene. He discussed his "gradual co-optation" here that involved taking several small steps in the direction he wanted to go as a planner.
Mazella waited tables, completed a variety of internships, and led volunteer groups, for example. "It's a marathon, not a sprint," he noted. "You've just got to trust yourself."
Young planners might contemplate a trip overseas to make a go at the profession. One graduate student I spoke with after the meeting said his contingency plan was to pursue planning work in New Zealand or Australia if Puget Sound aspirations don't pan out.
For those that will vie for jobs here, it's a tough road, evident in a recent conversation I had with a local consulting firm:
"Your resume looks good. What is your experience bringing in work?"
(After you've landed a job, this might be the only way to keep it, I thought.)
"We find people all the time that are passionate about planning and doing good projects," the consultant continued, "but you need to really embrace the entrepreneurial spirit to succeed in this kind of environment."
That is, if you haven't already become an economic refugee.
"You can go all over the world," Blum said. "I mean we're not talking Kirkland, we're talking Iceland."
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PLANNER OF THE QUARTER - STAN MAY
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Stan May |
All ten sessions from the fall 2009 and winter 2010 brown bag series were approved for AICP Certification Maintenance (CM) credits. As a section member, all you have to do is show up and enjoy these great lectures to receive credits - and maybe spare a few bucks if you want the sack lunch waiting for you at the door.
Totals of 287 and 181 planners attended the fall 2009 and winter 2010 brown bag series, respectively.
How does that stack up for a super-sized value?
Although Stan May, a senior planner at BHC Consultants won't take much credit for shaping one of the section's most notable programs, he wants to see the brown bag series continue to provide high quality content and continue to provide CM credits.
Because the ability to earn CM credits falls under the state chapter's umbrella, there is no monetary roadblock - "we don't have to write thousands of words to credits approved," May said.
Four years into his volunteer brown bag coordination role, May added that the CM credits have "added purpose" to an initiative he'd inherited from fellow PSS member, Steve Ladd.
To sustain the brown bag program, May said he is always interested in finding APA members who are interested in making a long-term commitment to assist coordination efforts. Initiatives include researching Puget Sound planning topics, recruiting presenters, coordinating sack lunch orders, and helping him "break up the work in any other way."
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SPRING 2010 BROWN BAG SERIES
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Puget Sound Section Spring 2010 Brown Bag Series of Continuing Education
Come to the FREE session you need to do your job better. Gourmet lunches, only $5. RSVPs are not required to attend or to buy a lunch. RSVPs are used to estimate the number of lunches to order. Please RSVP before 9:00 am Monday morning each week to Stan May: stan.may@bhcconsultants.com or (206) 505-3400.
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Speakers! |
Developing a Climate Action Plan
Topics covered in the discussion include: Qualitative and quantitative objectives; Developing a GHG inventory or a meaningful emissions profile for your “organization” including boundary issues, management systems, data needs.; Projecting future emissions; Setting goals and targets; Identify reduction opportunities; Quantify emissions reduction potential of individual measures; Implementation: building support; identifying priorities, responsibilities, and funding mechanisms; and Monitoring success; |
Noon to 1:15, Wed., May 19 |
Mercer Island City Council Chambers, 9611 SE 36 th St. |
Jeff Caton, ESA |
Housing and Community Development Grants
Guidelines and tips to successfully securing federal and state housing and community development grants, such as CDBG, HOME, Energy, Transportation and related sources of funding. |
Noon to 1:15, Wed., May 26 |
Renton City Hall, 1055 S. Grady, 7 th floor |
Jim Carney, PMC; Emily Terrell, PMC |
Coastal Revitalization in South Korea - Lessons for Puget Sound
A presentation about coastal planning effort and the contrast between Puget Sound and South Korea based upon a recent trip to South Korea. |
Noon to 1:15, Wed., Jun 2 |
Mercer Island City Council Chambers, 9611 SE 36 th St. |
Nicole Faghin, Reid Middleton |
Health Impact Assessments
This session will bring together planners and public health professionals on the topic of health impact assessments (HIAs) – what they are and how they are used in decision-making. Case studies of local health impact assessments will be presented. The discussion will also focus on how planners and public health professionals can integrate their efforts in building healthy communities. |
Noon to 1:15, Wed., Jun 9 |
Renton City Hall, 1055 S. Grady, 7 th floor |
Karen Swenson , Blumen Consulting Group; Julia Walton, AHBL; Julie West, Seattle & King County Public Health; Kadie Bell, Seattle and King County Public Health |
It’s a Gas: Practical Tools to Measure the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions of Land Use Projects
This presentation describes work for the Washington Department of Commerce to help the State meet its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals. The presentation identifies analytical tools that practicing planners and jurisdictions can use to measure and analyze GHG emissions from land use and transportation projects. |
Noon to 1:15, Wed., Jun 16 |
Mercer Island City Council Chambers, 9611 SE 36 th St. |
Chris Breiland , Fehr & Peers; Joyce Phillips, Washington State Department of Commerce |
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PSS News would like to thank its 2010 "sustaining" and "leadership" level sponsors for their generosity in supporting our publication. Here is a snapshot of their current projects.
Fehr & Peers
City of Redmond Travel Model Update and Travel Survey
Fehr & Peers is updating the City of Redmond's travel demand forecasting model to better reflect travel via bicycle, pedestrian, and transit modes. As a part of this study, Fehr & Peers is working with NuStats to survey households and employees on all types of daily travel; these surveys will be used to calibrate the City's model and enhance its Transportation Master Plan Update process.
City of Tukwila Comprehensive Plan Update
Fehr & Peers is working with the City of Tukwila to update the Transportation Element of its Comprehensive Plan. As a part of the update, Fehr & Peers will calculate multimodal levels of service for all arterials within the City. This effort, which is funded by a state Environmental Enhancement through Transportation Planning (EETP) grant, will enable the City to better consider the interactions between autos and other modes (including bicycle, pedestrians, and transit users) in planning its future transportation system.
EnviroIssues
Aurora Corridor Improvement Project - City of Shoreline
www.shorelinewa.gov/index.aspx?page=230
The City of Shoreline is redeveloping Aurora Avenue North through Shoreline, realizing their long-term plans to improve safety and aesthetics along a portion of the three-mile corridor. EnviroIssues is supporting the city through final design and construction, reaching out to local businesses, community members and commuters to make sure businesses can stay open through construction, commuters are aware of traffic changes, and community members are kept up to date on project progress. EnviroIssues' close coordination with the design and construction management team helps ensure that the project is completed safely, on time, and with no surprises. EnviroIssues staffs a project hotline, conducts door-to-door outreach to affected businesses, sends regular construction e-mail updates, and provides support for community meetings.
Gateway West Transmission Line Project - Rocky Mountain Power
www.gatewaywestproject.com
EnviroIssues provides strategic public involvement, communication and outreach support to this complex transmission line project, spanning 1,150 miles across Wyoming and Idaho. In supporting the project's NEPA and overall public involvement process, EnviroIssues works with private landowners, elected officials, local and county permitting agencies, media, and non-governmental organizations. EnviroIssues developed and maintains a communications management system that tracks public comments and contact information and is fully integrated with the technical team's right of entry landowner database. This system has helped EnviroIssues and the project team work effectively in understanding and tracking contact information, comments and project outreach activities, and move the project to the draft EIS phase.
PMC
City of Sultan Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan
PMC's Conservation and Resource Planning Group is working with Sultan staff and R.W. Droll and Associates, a landscape architecture firm, to complete the City's PROS Plan and Comprehensive Plan Parks Element. Through an extensive public outreach process, the project will inventory existing facilities, project future needs given level of service standards and provide a detailed capital improvement plan and schedule.
Pierce County Consolidated Plan, Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice and Citizens Participation Plan
PMC's Housing and Community Development Team is currently finalizing the Pierce County Consolidated Plan, Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice and associated Citizen Participation Plan. The Consolidated Plan serves as an application to HUD for CDBG, HOME and ESG funds. It analyzes demographic and housing needs and creates a strategic plan for meeting those needs over a five year period. The Analysis of Impediments is also a HUD mandated document that identifies barriers to affordable housing and impediments to fair housing and provides actions the County must take to reduce those impediments.
BHC Consultants
South County Subarea Plan, Lewis County, WA
BHC is assisting Lewis County and a stakeholders' committee in drafting a plan for the area spanning from the south county line to the US 12/I-5 interchange. This area includes the cities of Toledo, Winlock and Vader as well as a local County airport, the site for the proposed Regional Equestrian Center, and a proposed master planned resort. The plan is focused on creating new opportunities for economic development building off of these attractions while respecting and sustaining the rural agrarian and small town character.
Shoreline Master Program, Town of Skykomish, WA
BHC is currently working with the Town of Skykomish to update it's Shoreline Master Program. The update will include identifying the shoreline jurisdiction, writing the inventory and characterization report, updating goals, policies and regulations, completing the cumulative impact analysis and formulating a restoration plan.
R. W. Thorpe & Associates
Brier Critical Areas Ordinance
This project will update the city's CAO Regulations for salmonid streams and other critical areas.
Bellevue Shorelines Management Program - Case Study Critique
This analysis will be performed by a team of wetland biologists, fisheries specialists and other experts on the impact of the Proposed SMP Update on five properties for future development - including public, private and semi-public uses.
ESA Adolfson
Chehalis Flood Authority Evaluation
ESA Adolfson has been assisting the 11-jurisdiction Chehalis Flood Authority evaluate long-standing flooding issues and develop flood mitigation strategies. The Authority was formed in direct response to the December 2007 major flood event which dealt a devastating blow to homes, businesses and farms in the basin and closed I-5 for 5 days.
Sound Transit - Capitol Hill to UW Link Project
ESA has also been assisting Sound Transit with land use & construction permits for the Capital Hill to UW Link Project, which also included assisting the City of Seattle with development of new noise control provisions in the Seattle Land Use Code.
Lochner
244th Avenue Improvements, NE 8th Street to SE 8th Street - Sammamish
This project improves north-south connectivity in the City of Sammamish by constructing approximately one mile of new minor arterial roadway. A variety of traffic calming techniques have been incorporated into the design to mitigate the additional traffic that the corridor will draw. This project is currently under construction.
SR 522, Phase 1, Stage 2 Improvements - Kenmore
Lochner is currently designing the portion of SR 522 from 65th Avenue NE to 60th Avenue NE, including portions of 61st Avenue NE and 68th Avenue NE. The project includes safety and capacity upgrades to the roadway; intersection improvements; sidewalk improvements; the addition of landscaping, curb, gutter, and street lighting within the corridor; and conversion of overhead utilities to underground.
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April flowers? Not hardly. Cherry blossoms enveloped Puget Sound communities six to eight weeks earlier than normal this year, as shown in this February 18th photo in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood.
(Photo: Emily Hertz)  |
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