President's Message

I don’t know about you, but I am REAAAALLY glad to have the election behind us! Well, pretty much behind us. I hope that things get sorted out soon, and we can all get refocused on the important issues before us.

Chapter Conference Wrap-Up

It’s also great to have completed a successful joint conference with the Oregon Chapter. The feedback provided by registrants in survey comments indicated that it went pretty darned well, especially for being our maiden voyage into the virtual conference realm. It was a delight to serve with the heroic and fabulous APA Washington host team that rolled with the punches: Co-chair Chad Eiken, AICP, and Brian Carrico; Washington representatives on the Program Committee, and Ryan Givens, AICP, our sponsorship lead. Kudos also to the Oregon Chapter team under the leadership of their Chapter President, Aaron Ray, AICP. Conference coordinator Stephanie Kennedy pulled it all together and was our on-the-fly IT problem-solver, and jack-of-all trades. Awesome job! (See Chad’s article in this issue for more detail.) 

The Conference in 2021 will again be a joint Oregon/Washington event. If the fates converge, and we all feel comfortable with the state of the vaccine, we will meet in person in Vancouver. If not, we will host another virtual conference. (APA National has decided to cancel 2021 in-person meetings; however, in December, they will decide, officially, whether to cancel the 2021 Boston in-person National Planning Conference.)

WA-APA Chapter Budget

During its upcoming December Board meeting, the Board will evaluate the Chapter budget in light of the anticipated dip in membership resulting from pandemic impacts to the planner job market. The Chapter has only seen about a 10 percent reduction in membership since the beginning of 2020, but a larger drop is anticipated. APA National is using a worst-case scenario of a 25 percent revenue reduction in their budget planning. The Chapter will try to make impacts to our budget as painless as possible to our members, but some funding will have to be dispersed more carefully.

If you are struggling with whether or not to drop your APA or AICP membership due to COVID-related hardship, please contact APA National and talk with them first. They are providing a fair amount of leeway on dues that will enable you to sustain your membership. And, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! 

Continuing Education and AICP Changes

Other Chapter activities include working with the Department of Commerce and the Sections to offer virtual continuing education. Also, to make life easier for AICP Members who need to always figure out if it is this year or next that they need to complete their required CMs, APA will be transitioning all AICP members to the same 2-year period. In addition, there will be changes to the AICP CM mandatory credits, with the addition of an Equity-focused credit and a rotating topical credit (starting with Sustainability). The mandatory credit hours will be increased to 4 hours, but the individual sessions (Ethics, Law, Equity, Sustainability) will be only one hour long. More on those two items in the coming months! 

The Change in Board and Section Leadership

As of November 1, Yorik Stevens-Wadja, AICP, rotated onto the Board as the President-Elect, and Rick Sepler, AICP rotated off as the Past President. Rick mastered the art of carrying out the Presidential duties with competence and grace, and never seemed to buckle under the minutia! I will miss having his input on problem solving. Rick is still providing planner input on a Dept. of Commerce Behavioral Health Facility Siting task force for the Chapter, and I hear he has provided a critical perspective.

In the Inland Empire Section, Shauna Harshman has become the IES president, and Mary May, AICP, stepped down. Thanks, Mary, for your service!

If you have any comments about National, the chapter, or its events, please get in touch with me!

Nancy Eklund, AICP
APA WA President
[email protected]
(206) 850-1779