Message from the President |
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Hello fellow PAW members! We are almost there! To the end of the life altering year of 2020. It seems many of us are ready to pack this one up and save it for a chapter in the history books. Our PAW Board Members are very ready to hang out with our favorite PAW members after excellent Boot Camps, during our great annual Conference, or at one of our Hoppy Hours. We are almost there! In the meantime, we can thank Zoom for helping us connect with each other and provide some training webinars to many of you who may not have otherwise been able to attend as an in-person event. For that, we are grateful.
Here is a recap of what we accomplished this year:
- Hoppy Hours: 4 (in-person) 1 (virtual)
- Webinars: 6
- Sponsored Short Courses: 3
- Newsletters: 4
We are excited for next year, have I mentioned that yet? Board Members are already planning some webinars in early January to get a good year off to a great start! Stay tuned for more events, both to expand our socializing (albeit virtually-for now) and to provide timely training opportunities. As we continue to adapt and become more resilient, we turn to you for ideas on how you think that could look for PAW and for Washington planners. Please reach out to us to talk through your ideas.
As ever, we encourage ideas from our membership. Please reach out to us if you have ideas for virtual social hours, training requests, or need help seeking a specialist for a project you are working on. If you are looking to become a sponsor for the year or for a specific event, please contact us! We have many opportunities for collaboration. Remember, “Good planning doesn’t just happen…”
We have a lot to share with you as the end of the year approaches. I hope you will be able to enjoy the newsletter features. I look forward to seeing many of you in the new year!
Cheers,
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Marla S. Powers
PAW President, Conference Chair
Board Member since 2015
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Planner's Self Care
January 8th, 2021 | 12:00PM - 1:00PM
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Planners help communities discuss difficult topics and make challenging decisions. This can place planners on the frontlines of passionate debate and on the receiving end of some tense messages. This training will help planners identify some of the personal impacts of these communications and develop tools to build resilience in the face of adversity. |
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Jamie Wiggins
Jamie Wiggins has worked in various non-profit sector roles ranging from homelessness services, housing, program development and the justice system. Determined to make a bigger difference in the system, she went back to school at Loyola University Chicago and obtained her Master’s Degree in Social Work with a specialization in Organizational Leadership and Non-Profit Management.
When she returned back to her hometown of Spokane, WA she used her experience and education to continue program development for the Fire Department with social work students. She became the Field Director at Eastern Washington University and oversaw the Field Department for the School of Social Work while teaching and developing a passion for Trauma Informed Care. It is this passion that makes Jamie the perfect presenter for planners learning to cope with the traumas experienced in their day to day work.
Jamie is currently employed with Better Health Together and works on a variety of projects pertaining to health equity and community health. In her free time she loves learning new skills and crafts, travelling, and playing with her kids.
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Moving forward together as a planning community
January 22nd, 2021 | 12:00PM - 1:30PM
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Our region and profession are changing rapidly. We work to prepare for millions of new residents in our state while at the same time so many in our profession are retiring. COVID-19 has made work a challenge and at the same time, resources needed to properly plan continue to diminish. While all of these obstacles exist, a simple fact remains. We are planners and we can do this!
During this session we will explore changes occurring in the workforce, challenges that lie ahead, and ways we can proactively engage and work together to solve these problems. Lets share ideas about engaging our workforce so we retain top talent, opportunities to develop the next set of leaders in our profession, and solve some of the problems that make our work a challenge. This will be a time to listen, share, and connect with people that face the same issues you do everyday.
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Clay White
Clay White is the Director of Planning with LDC, Inc. Clay has over 20 years’ experience serving private sector clients and cities and counties throughout Washington as a land use planner. Before joining LDC, Clay spent over five years as Planning and Development Services Director for Snohomish County.
In addition to his love for planning and service to others, Clay has focused his career on creating proactive, healthy, inclusive, and engaged work environments where trust, communication, and accountability are the cornerstones for success.
He has served as President of the Washington State Association of Regional and County Planning Directors, been a member of the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board, and Co-Chair of the Regional Staff Committee for the Puget Sound Regional Council.
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October 30th: Virtual Member Meeting |
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October 30, 2020 | 6PM - 7:30PM |
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f you weren’t able to join us at our annual general membership meeting this email blast will help catch you up on the latest from the Planning Association of Washington. |
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Elections
We honored members leaving the board. Thank you to Ted Gage, Micki McNaughton and Jason Sullivan for their years of service. We held our annual board elections. Staying on the board and continuing as Board President, Marla Powers and Board Member, Phil Olbrechts Joining the board and elected during the meeting are Joey Meisenheimer, Anne Fritzel, and Anne Henning. For a complete board list follow this link to the PAW website and board roster.
Opportunities to Engage
PAW is focused on education for planners, elected and appointed officials, and citizens throughout Washington State. What training would you be interested in attending? What education can we provide to help advance your career? Is there a topic you would be interested in presenting? Use our form to suggest classes or volunteer to share your knowledge.
PAW is also interested in growing our reach. We want to hear about what member benefits you appreciate most and what benefits you would like to see added. Committees of the board increase our impact and we are currently looking for members on the following committees:
Conference Committee: This committee works on creating fun and engaging curriculum for the annual conference as well as recruiting sponsors. Members of this committee also help to design networking events.
Chair: Marla Powers
Outreach Committee: This committee works to increase connection with the PAW membership and recruit new members. Committee members recruit newsletter articles, manage social media accounts, and work on ways to share the mission of PAW.
Chair: Meagan Hayes
Education Committee: This committee works to develop meaningful education opportunities including Boot Camps, webinars, and published educational items. PAW is committed to working with the Washington State Department of Commerce in providing the Short Course on Local Planning.
Chair: Marla Powers
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American Planning Association, Washington Chapter
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Planning Association of Washington
Honoring Outstanding Contributions to the Planning Profession
Ferndale City Center Catalyst - Student submission from Western Washington University's Urban Transitions Studio, in association with the City of Ferndale.
Jamestown S'Klallam Housing Solutions - Community Outreach award for this submission from the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, in association with the Beckwith Consulting Group. Initially submitted as a small jurisdiction planning effort, the jury felt this project's outstanding outreach to tribal members for feedback on housing preferences, etc., warranted a community involvement award.
Olympia Homeless Response Plan - Community Outreach award for the broad and diverse representation, and active listening, successfully undertaken by the City of Olympia and members of the Community Work Group.
Columbia County, Dayton, and Starbuck Regional Comprehensive Plan - Comprehensive Planning award for small jurisdictions, for excellent collaboration and targeted focus by these three jurisdictions from a sparsely populated but actively involved section of the state.
Wilburton Commercial Area Study - Comprehensive Planning for Large Jurisdictions award goes to the City of Bellevue, supported by NBBJ, for this area-wide planning effort that anticipates dynamic change with the construction of a Sound Transit light rail station in its midst.
The CAP Report - Space for Arts and Culture in Seattle - The award for the sustainability category goes to this project, an effort to promote "cultural sustainability" by working via a Public Development Authority to anticipate space needs for the arts community. Winners are the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, in association with FRAMEWORK.
Colonial Plaza - Lakewood - The City of Lakewood, in association with FRAMEWORK and KPG, were selected for the Implementation award for the highly successful launch of Colonial Plaza in September 2019, making outstanding use of a beautiful piece of the town's architecture and history.
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Thank you to Our Sponsors! |
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Interested In Becoming A Sponsor? |
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Webinar and Website Sponsorship: $250
- Linked (to your website) logo on Home page of the PAW website
- Logo on all electronic communications that are sent to PAW membership
- Three minute intro at one webinar of choice
- Logo on opening slide deck at all webinars
- One time spotlight on the PAW Social Media (Instagram, Facebook and Instagram)
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ANNE HENNING
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
CITY OF OTHELLO
I have been the Community Development Director of Othello for a little over 3 years. We have a very small department--Building Inspector, Permit Tech, and me—so I do all the planning, current, long-range, and everything in between, as well as all the odd things that seem to fall under “Planning” because no one can figure out a better place for them. I love the variety of being part of everything.
I came to Washington from the Midwest as a young adult and never wanted to go back to the land of summer humidity and mosquitoes and winter snowstorms and freezing temperatures. While waiting for my husband to finish his PhD at the University of Washington, I decided to enroll in the Urban Planning program and put my geography degree to use. After a few frustrating years in the mid-1990s when there were way too many planners for the jobs available in the Puget Sound area, we found ourselves in Cheney, where I was fortunate enough to be able to volunteer in the Planning Department and get some practical experience to go with the theoretical knowledge from the planning degree. Then when a job opened up in Moses Lake a few months later, I was well-prepared for it. I stayed there for 19 years until I had a chance for a new challenge with Othello. My most recent new challenge is that I was appointed to Moses Lake’s Planning Commission, which will give me a chance to participate in the future of the city where I still live.
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Leadership in Community Resilience Grant Program |
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Request for Proposals Open until Dec 23, 2020
National League of Cities’ (NLC) Leadership in Community Resilience (LCR) grant program is currently accepting grant applications. NLC supports and enhances local capacity among elected leaders and staff, communities, and community-based organizations as they pursue coordinated climate resilience efforts. The 2021 request for proposals will award $10,000 grants and ongoing technical assistance to eight new cities next year.
Proposal deadline is Wednesday, December 23, 2020.
Who should apply:
- Cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more are encouraged to apply.
- Lead applicant must be a municipal government, represented by a department head, other city staff, or elected official (mayor, council member, commissioner, etc.).
- Local nonprofits and community-based organizations may apply in partnership with a city.
- Cities may apply on behalf of or in conjunction with a regional climate collaborative.
Timeline and Key Date:
- Submit proposal by Wednesday, December 23, 2020.
- Finalists will be contacted for interviews in January 2021.
- All notifications will be sent by February 12, 2021.
- Program begins March 2021 and assistance continues until December 2021.
DISCLAIMER:
Mention of or referral to links to non-EPA sites does not imply official EPA endorsement of or responsibility for the opinions, ideas, data, or products presented at those locations, or guarantee the validity of the information provided. Mention of commercial products/services on non-EPA websites is provided solely as a pointer to information on topics related to environmental protection that may be useful to EPA staff and the public.
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2021 Critical Areas and Shoreline Monitoring and Adaptive Management Online Workshops |
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The Washington State Departments of Commerce, Ecology and Fish and Wildlife invite you to join us for an in-depth review of best practices, case studies, resources, and tools to enhance monitoring and adaptive management efforts for your critical areas and shorelines. As a follow-up to our 2018 workshops, this 11-week webinar series features expert guest speakers, opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, information sharing, and individual technical assistance.
Click on a link below to register for the free zoom webinars (you may choose to attend one or all). All webinars will be held from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.
For full webinar descriptions and more information about the series, visit the project webpage.
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Adaptive Management Workshop 1 – How to Successfully Protect Critical Areas and Shorelines: A Step-by-Step Introduction to Monitoring and Adaptive Management (January 13, 2021)
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Adaptive Management Workshop 2 – Setting the Stage: Successful Adaptive Management and Critical Areas Monitoring Program Basics (January 20, 2021)
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Adaptive Management Workshop 3 – Wetlands (January 27, 2021)
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Adaptive Management Workshop 4 – Geologically Hazardous (February 3, 2021)
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Adaptive Management Workshop 5 – Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas (February 10, 2021)
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Adaptive Management Workshop 6 – Frequently Flooded Areas (February 17, 2021)
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Adaptive Management Workshop 7 – Critical Aquifer Recharge Areas (CARAs) (February 24, 2021)
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Adaptive Management Workshop 8 – Shoreline (March 3, 2021)
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Adaptive Management Workshop 9 – Permit Implementation Monitoring Tools (March 10, 2021)
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Adaptive Management Workshop 10 – CAO Performance Indicators (March 17, 2021)
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Adaptive Management Workshop 11 – Adaptive Management Interactive Workshop (March 24, 2021)
Earn AICP continuing education credits for your attendance!
For program questions, please contact:
We look forward to your participation!
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Short Course on Local Planning Update |
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Three short courses are coming up, all on Zoom. To register, send an email with your name, organization, title (if applicable) and the date of the short course you wish to attend to [email protected] , preferably at least a week before the course.
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Announcing DNR 2021 Urban & Community
Forestry Grants
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Washington’s communities once again have an opportunity to restore, enhance and sustain forests in towns and cities through grants offered by DNR's Urban and Community Forestry program.
Washington cities, towns, counties, tribal governments, educational institutions, and 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations in Washington State can apply for funding.
Applicants may request from $5,000 to $20,000 in reimbursable, matching grant funds. This year, grant applications fall under two categories: Community Forestry Assistance grants and Environmental Justice grants.
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Environmental Justice Grants
The purpose of this grant is to address social and environmental disparities in Washington communities by investing in community-identified urban forestry needs that advance environmental, social, and/or public health outcomes. This grant is an opportunity for environmental professionals and community advocates to collaborate on projects that address community-identified needs by leveraging the benefits of trees and forests. Eligible communities are, partially or entirely, located in at least one census tract that has scored an 8-10 in environmental health disparity according to the Washington Environmental Health Disparities Map.
Community Forestry Assistance Grants
The intent of this grant is to assist communities to develop urban forest planning and programming tools and activities that may not otherwise receive local funding. All Washington communities are eligible for this funding.
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Applications are due December 10, 2020 by 4:00 PM PDT, and projects should be completed by April 30, 2023.
Available grant funding is provided on an annual basis by the Washington Department of Natural Resources and is pass-through and sub-grant funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service's Urban and Community Forestry Program.
A grant kick-off webinar will be held on Tuesday, October 13th, 2020 to provide an overview and additional information.
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Interested in applying but need helping thinking of a project idea? Keep reading below for more information.
Grants funds can be used for the following projects:
- Public tree inventories and management plans;
- Street/park tree inventories (public property)
- Tree Risk Assessment
- Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) Assessment;
- Urban Forest Management Plans;
- Prioritized planting plans
- Storm or fire response plans
- Pest preparedness plans
- Ordinance and policy development or revision
- Tree planting on public property*;
- Tree pruning to restore the health and structural stability
- Education and outreach, such as:
- Publications/Materials
- Staff trainings
- Events
- Other innovative projects, for example:
- Hiring professional facilitators, or other mutually trusted third party organizers, to convene engagement activities that mitigate for any historical or institutional power dynamics;
- Promoting community and/or tribal government involvement in addressing environmental health disparities and environmental justice related issues, and developing solutions and future project ideas to address them; and
- Tree planting to replace trees lost within the last three years as a result of natural events such as storms, floods, fires, earthquakes, or landslides.*
- Establishment of “food forest” or community orchard*
* planting projects should be identified within existing urban forest management or maintenance plans. In addition, a planting plan and separate 3-year maintenance plan are required for all tree planting projects.
What does a successful grant proposal look like in urban forestry? Below are a couple of examples:
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POETRY FOR HAPPY PLANNERS
Today I saw a site plan that I quite enjoyed
It was missing the north-arrow but it still complied
The applicant was a joy and even smiled as he walked
Until of course I told him he can’t build that on that block
He shook his cane in the air and snarled through his white beard
To all a good night he yelled to the office below as for me he said “nothing but coal” – C.D.
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Interested in writing an article for the next newsletter? If submitted by January 1, 2021 we will mail you an official PAW T-shirt!
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Planning Association of Washington
1-877-460-5880
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