Leading the Change: It Takes a Planner

Session 3A | Thursday | 9:15 – 10:30 AM (PT)

About the Session

This session recaps the evolving role that planners and APA Washington have played in "leading the change" in Washington for the past three decades and explores how recent legislative changes to planning law create challenges and opportunities for our profession going forward. Three leaders in planning law and practice will share important information.

About the Moderator

Rick Eichstaedt, Esq.

Growth Management Hearings Board

Rick is a member of the eastern Washington regional panel of the Growth Management Hearings Board. He previously served as the director of Gonzaga University’s environmental law clinic representing organizations and individuals on a variety of environmental and land-use matters in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Rick has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and political science from Hamline University and a law degree with a certificate in environmental and natural resource law from the Northwest School of Law of Lewis and Clark College.

About the Speakers

Joseph W. Tovar, FAICP

University of Washington

Joe Tovar has been a professional planner in Washington State since 1976. He has served eighteen years as a planning director for four cities in Washington, twelve years as a member of the State Growth Management Hearings Board, ten years as a consultant, and five years as an affiliate associate professor of planning at the University of Washington. From 2017 to 2021 he led two statewide reviews for the Legislature of Washington's Growth Management planning laws and from 2022 to 2023 worked for the Washington Department of Commerce, drafting state land use legislation and advising cites on middle housing issues. He holds a Master's Degree from the UW, a Bachelor's Degree from the University of California and is a graduate of the Rocky Mountain Program at the University of Colorado.

Yorik Stevens-Wajda, AICP

American Planning Association Washington Chapter President

Yorik is the Planning Director for the City of Everett. His prior positions included Senior Legislative Analyst for the Snohomish County Council, Associate Planner at the Puget Sound Regional Council, and Transportation Systems Analyst at Seattle Children's Hospital. He has also served as a Board Member of the King County Boundary Review Board. Yorik holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington and a Bachelor's Degree in Geography from the UW.

Jessica Bateman

Washington State House of Representatives

Jessica Bateman represents the 22nd Legislative District in the Washington State House of Representatives. She was the prime sponsor of HB 1110 (middle housing) and a co-sponsor of HB 1337 (accessory dwelling units), and HB 1181 (Climate Change), all three of which passed in the 2023 legislative session. She is a member of the House Capital Budget and Housing Committees and is Vice-Chair of the Health Care and Wellness Committee. Prior to her legislative service, Rep. Bateman was a member of the Olympia City Council and the Olympia Planning Commission. She holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Science from Evergreen State College.

Dave Andersen, AICP

Washington State Department of Commerce

Dave Andersen is the Managing Director of the Growth Management Services (GMS) program at the Department of Commerce. His prior positions at GMS include Eastern Regional Manager and Senior Planner. Dave previously worked as a planner for Pierce Transit and the Regional Planning Commission in Ottumwa, Iowa. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Iowa and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Planning from Augustana College.

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