October President’s Message

By Ivan Miller, AICP

Fall Means Conferences

By the time you read this, summer will have officially ended. Kids are back in school. Budget season is underway. Elections are thankfully almost over. And, the annual A PA Washington Chapter Conference is about to begin in Spokane—the Lilac City.

We hope that our newsletter readers and advertisers enjoyed the special September edition of The Washington Planner, which focused on the annual conference—the sessions, keynote speakers, member recruitment drive discounts, the new and improved short course, fun things to do, and more. If you haven’t registered yet, now is the time!

We have also been busy working on the national APA Conference in Seattle in April 2015. Thanks to everyone who submitted sessions and mobile workshop proposals! Our major next step is sponsorship. Please be in touch if you'd like to be a sponsor. The national confer-ence will draw between 5,000 and 6,000 potential customers for your business. This is a once in a decade-and-a-half opportunity!

Membership Matters

In other important fiscal matters, don't break the piggy bank yet, but I recruited a new member to APA Washington. Few things make the heart soar higher than recruitment in a membership-based organization.

This is one of my favorite topics—talking about membership trends, reading member responses to newsletter articles, and getting members involved.

I've looked at our membership list a dozen times over the past few years. It's an Excel spread-sheet and definitely an exciting read. This month, I wanted to highlight a few items that speak to the breadth of the chapter as well as the work we have done in the past two presidencies to geographically diversify the leadership of the chapter and strengthen sections.

•   We have members in Canada, China, Korea, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
•   We have members in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, DC, Idaho, Illinois, Brook-lyn, N.Y.; (my home town), Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
•   We have members in 35 of 39 counties in Washington.
•   We have members in 157 cities, towns, unincorporated communities and census-designated places in Washington State! The geographic extent goes literally from "A to Z" and covers: Aberdeen, Anacortes, Arlington, Asotin, Auburn, Bainbridge Island, Battle Ground, Bellevue, Bellingham, Blaine, Bonney Lake, Bothell, Bow, Bremerton, Brush Prairie, Burien, Burlington, Camano Island, Camas, Carnation, Carson, Centra-lia, Chattaroy, Chelan, Cheney, Chimacum, Colbert, Colfax, College Place, Colville, Coulee Dam, Coupeville, Covington, Davenport, Dayton, Des Moines, Dupont, Duvall, East Wenatchee, Eastsound, Edgewood, Edmonds, Edwall, Ellensburg, Enumclaw, Ephrata, Everett, Federal Way, Ferndale, Fife, Four Lakes, Fox Island, Freeland, Fri-day Harbor, Gig Harbor, Goldendale, Greenacres, Greenbank, Hansville, Harrison, Hoquiam, Ilwaco, Issaquah, Kelso, Kenmore, Kennewick, Kent, Kirkland, La Conner, Lacey, Lake Forest Park, Lake Stevens, Lakewood, Leavenworth, Liberty Lake, Long Beach, Long View, Longview, Lummi Island, Lynden, Lynnwood, Maple Valley, Marysville, McCleary, Mead, Medical Lake, Mercer Island, Mill Creek, Monroe, Mon-tesano, Mount Vernon, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo, Neah Bay, Nespelem, Newcastle, Normandy Park, North Bend, North Bonneville, Oak Harbor, Ocean Shores, Okanogan, Olalla, Olympia, Pacific, Pasco, Port Angeles, Port Orchard, Port Townsend, Poulsbo, Prosser, Pullman, Puyallup, Quilcene, Redmond, Renton, Richland, Ridgefield, Rock-ford, Sammamish, SeaTac, Seattle, Sedro Woolley, Sequim, Shelton, Shoreline, Sil-verdale, Skokomish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, South Bend, Spokane, Spokane Valley, Steilacoom, Stevenson, Sultan, Sumner, Sunnyside, Tacoma, Taholah, Tukwila, Tulalip, Tumwater, University Place, Usk, Vashon, Veradale, Walla Walla, Washougal, Wenatchee, West Richland, White Salmon, Woodinville, Woodland, Yakima, Yelm, and Zillah
•   And, just because it’s interesting, we have two members that joined APA in 1948

There is a lot to be pleased about in this; and, there are areas for improvement. Total mem-bership has increased, but slowly. I hope our great offerings and the 2015 conference are rea-sons to drum up new members. Planning Directors, it's time to budget for your staff and plan-ning commissioners to join APA.

October is National Community Planning Month

National Community Planning Month is an opportunity to raise the visibility of the important role of planners and planning in communities across the U.S.

You can help elevate the role of planning in your community. Host a planning department or planning commission open house, talk to kids in schools about a career in planning, present a library display about planning and planners, sponsor a neighborhood tour to highlight how planning helps the community.

Here are 10 ways to celebrate in your community:
1.   Declare that October is National Community Planning Month with a proclamation.
2.   Hold a department open house.
       Highlight your work and how planning benefits the community.
3.   Host a neighborhood walking or bicycling tour.
       Highlight the planning work in your community.
4.   Create a library display about planning.
       Include a recommended planning-related reading list.
5.   Honor your planning commissioners during a city council meeting.
6.   Check out the Youth and Students page for ideas on engaging youth in planning.
7.   Sponsor a community photo contest.
       Ask residents to photograph their favorite places within the community.
8.   Screen a planning-focused film.
9.   Host a forum or lecture about your community's history.
10. Promote national community planning month through your website, Facebook page, or other social media outlet.
         For more ideas and resources, check out APA’s national website .

Why Plan?

I read the final article from the recently departed president of National APA. He finished his decade of service with these words:

Planners need to be key contributors in both public and private sec-tors. We must user our analytical capacities, guided by our values, in moving societies toward positive change. We must remember our proud traditions, never losing our passion, and taking principled stands as we build a better future for our profession and our communities.
-Paul Farmer

I believe the correct response to this may still be an appropriately secular "Amen!"

Planning is hard work. Being engaged with other great volunteers keep my spirits up and keeps me inspired. Hope to see you in Spokane.