Statement on Racism and Responsibility // When Everything Breaks: A Conversation on Realism, Idealism and the Planning Profession, 6/10 // Award Recipient Spotlight: Environmental Justice // Reduced AICP Exam Fee Scholarships

APA Los Angeles Statement on Racism and Responsibility

We at APA Los Angeles share the pain, anguish and anger concerning the killing of George Floyd, as well as the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and so many other Black people. We condemn and reject anti-black racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry, and racism, because it inflicts disproportionate violence against members of our communities and the communities we are dedicated to serve.

As planning professionals, we strive to develop and implement equitable outcomes for all communities, especially those that have unequal access to power and resourc es. Communities of color in Los Angeles County are disproportionately affected by factors that result in instability, poor health, and violence. For generations, these communities have been subjected to redlining, segregation, and institutionalized violence by institutions intended to serve their needs. The foundation for planning that supports and serves disenfranchised communities is a recognition of these historic and contemporary forms of discrimination and violence.

The first values listed in the 2019-2021 Strategic Plan for APA Los Angeles are Diversity & Inclusion. Fostering healthy and equitable communities based on principles that value Diversity & Inclusion requires being actively anti-racist in our personal and professional lives. We look forward to working with our members and allies across Los Angeles County to establish and maintain a holistic approach to Diversity & Inclusion that keeps an anti-racist commitment at its core and is focused on providing equitable planning outcomes for all communities within our region.

Read the APA National Statement on Righting the Wrongs of Racial Inequality

Sincerely,

APA Los Angeles

Award Recipient Spotlight: Environmental Justice

California Chapter Awards Deadline Extended

The due date to submit applications for the California Chapter Awards has been extended to Friday, June 12 at 5 pm. Click here for the application and Chapter rules. This year, the Chapter requires all applicants to have first submitted at the local level. We encourage our Section's recipients and others that submitted for our award program to apply.

Spotlighting Award Recipients: Environmental Justice

In each edition of the e-news, we're highlighting a few categories of award recipients. Below, we highlight work and individuals that advance environmental justice in the planning process. These projects, tools, techniques, and individuals are just a few examples of incorporating environmental justice meaningfully in screening, community engagement, participation, evaluation, policy-making, and implementation.

We invite you to visit apalosangeles.org/awards for a complete view of this year's Awards recipients.

Award of Excellence - Best Practices

Understanding How Women Travel Study

Award of Excellence - Transportation Planning

Urban Cooling + First/Last Mile Strategies for the Sherman Way Station

Award of Excellence - Advancing Diversity and Social Change

Tamika L. Butler, Esq.

Award of Excellence - Public Outreach

A People's Map: Stories from the East San Gabriel Valley

Award of Excellence - Innovative Use of Technology

SCAG Active Transportation Database

Award of Excellence - Planning Pioneer

Michael Woo

Events

APA Los Angeles Presents:

When Everything Breaks:
A Conversation with APA Los Angeles on Realism,
Idealism and the Planning Profession

Session #2

Wednesday, June 10

10 - 11 AM

CM Credits: 1

Free

Register

Join APA Los Angeles for a conversation about realism, idealism, and the planning profession in uncertain times. Our speakers, Rick Willson, Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, Carina Campos, and Maya Abood, will be discussing how the COVID- 19 crisis and racial equity issues are affecting and shaping recent graduates, early-career planners, experienced planners , out-of-work planners, and career visioning. We know that effective planners must master a dance of idealism and realism, and so we will take a deep dive into these questions:

What new strategies does the COVID-19 crisis and current events force planners to make in our work, our job choices, and in our career visions?
How can idealism about our society be pursued in times when decision-makers, supervisors, clients, and community members are in survival mode?
How can the profession support and retain planners who are unable to find jobs or who lose their jobs during this time?

Speakers:

Rick Willson, Ph.D., FAICP, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, Cal Poly Pomona
Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, Executive Director, Los Angeles Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Carina Campos, Economic Development Specialist, Economic Development Division, City of Azusa
Maya Abood, Housing,Planning and Economic Analyst, City of Los Angeles Housing + Community Investment Department

The Untokening Presents:

Transformative Talks Series: COVID & Community Resilience

June 12, June 26

12 - 1 PM

Free

More Information

In response to the current pandemic and in collaboration with Pueblo Planning, the Untokening convened a virtual conversation in April to share concerns and visions for mobility justice in the COVID-19 world. Building on their recently released reflections and recommendations, The Untokening will convene throughout May and June to continue to share ideas, uplift community-based narratives and strategies, and create a healing space for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community leaders, advocates and practitioners engaged in mobility justice.

Announcements

Play, Learn, Make, Discover with Skillshare Scholarships!

During uncertain times, anxiety and stress are inevitable. Wherever you find yourself at this moment please know that we are thinking about you and that we would like to offer you a resource to help quiet self-doubt, tackle your goals, and cultivate a spirit of empowerment and self-care.

Skillshare for Teams is partnering with APA Los Angeles to offering APA Los Angeles members and friends of APA Los Angeles two months free Skillshare subscriptions. We encourage you to explore your creativity, find out what fascinates you and deepen your existing passions.

Sign up with our unique APA Los Angeles code here to learn how to draw, animate, illustrate, write, master photography, and so much more. Skillshare teachers are icons, experts, and industry rock stars excited to share their experience, wisdom, and trusted tools with you. The offer is good through August 1, 2020.

A few tips for accessing your Skillshare scholarship:

When folks click this link to sign up, Skillshare will not ask for payment information.

Our code will expire on 8/1/20. Your 2 months free will start when you signup and activate your account via our special link. When your 2 months free is over, you will become free Skillshare members and will have the option to upgrade to a Premium account if you wish - Skillshare will ask for payment information if you decide to upgrade after your 2 months free is over!

Only new Skillshare members will be able to take advantage of this offer - this means that if you click the link and has previously had a paid Skillshare subscription associated with the email you use to signup via our special link, you will not be able to get the 2 months free. You can certainly try using a different email address if they've previously been a Skillshare Premium subscriber!

If you need support signing up via the link, please email teamhelp@skillshare.com

Good things to keep in mind: Skillshare is not accessible via Internet Explorer (Chrome works best) and all users must be 13+ years old!

Apply for a Reduced AICP Exam Fee Scholarship

Are you interested in applying for AICP (the American Institute of Certified Planners), but are experiencing financial hardship? If so, a Reduced AICP Exam Fee Scholarship is available for the November 2020 Exam. For approved AICP applicants, the exam fee would be reduced from $425 to just $75, a savings of $350. All applicants would still pay the $85 application fee. Note that the awarding of a scholarship does not guarantee that a recipient will be approved to take the AICP Exam.

For information on how to apply, please contact Tim Hou, Vice Director of Professional Development at profdev@ apalosangeles.org for guidance on how to qualify. Scholarships are first come, first served, so do not wait to inquire.

Thank You for Joining the YEP Powerpoint Party!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the YEP Powerpoint Party on May 15!

We discussed the presenters' interests, including California beaches, accessible Transit to dog parks, affordable housing, gentrification of queer neighborhoods, and the crucial work of vexillologists.

If you want to join or help plan more events for young and emerging planners, please email young-emerging@apalosangeles.org for more information.

Confronting Power and Privilege: Report Back from the First When Everything Breaks Event

Over 250 attendees joined APA Los Angeles for When Everything Breaks on May 20 with Tamika Butler, Ascala Sisk, Vedette Gavin, and Odetta MacLeish-White. Many of you have reached out to share how deeply the program impacted you and to let us know you are eagerly awaiting the video, slides, and handout. We've got those here for you!

Here's a quick recap of what I learned May 20 ICYMI:

Unexamined and unchallenged norms of power and privilege limit everyone's ability to reduce inequities. Our profession has a direct impact on individual quality of life. Planners should carefully examine the roles and the functions we play in creating choices for decision makers and creating opportunity. Failing to speak about and challenge unspoken norms leads us to erect and reinforce structures that keep people of color and other marginalized groups from contributing to, and benefiting from, public policy. How we practice our practice, through our exercise of individual and collective power, determines whether resources do, or do not, flow into communities.

You are not alone in this journey of personal transformation to move beyond caring about equity towards achieving equity. We look forward to being brave together as we self-examine and challenge unspoken norms. If you missed the talk, AICP members can earn 1 CM credit by watching the video at your convenience.

Warm regards,

Sarah Syed

Chair, COVID-19 Response

Director, Sponsorship and Marketing

APA Los Angeles

The Impact of COVID-19 on California Transportation Revenue

Transportation revenue has plummeted because user fees produce a large share of resources needed to operate California's transportation system. This webinar, research report, and free open-source spreadsheet model authored by Weinstein-Agrawal, A., H. King, and M. Wachs provide resources for agencies trying to figure out what transportation revenues might be during a time of deep uncertainty to plan transportation system operations and maintenance. The research uses simple spreadsheet models to estimate the impact that different scenarios for economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic would have on state-generated transportation revenues.

The authors recently shared their findings with the California Transportation Commission and also on a webinar hosted by the Mineta Transportation Institute. Access the free webinar video here. Full report available here. Key findings include that (1) the total revenue raised varies considerably among the scenarios; (2) fuel taxes generate the lion's share of revenues in all scenarios; and (3) should the number of zero-emission vehicles dramatically increase, then the registration fees levied on them can replace and potentially even exceed the state revenue that will be lost because of declining gasoline sales tax revenue.

COVID-19 Response: A Message from APA Los Angeles

We would like to share our plan to show up in new and different ways to support our community getting through this together. We seek to provide stability and kindness in this time of change and uncertainty. Your participation in our COVID-19 Rapid Response Survey helped us gather feedback to ensure we are pivoting and prioritizing appropriately. The high-level feedback is summarized below, for additional detail see slides. Member feedback is informing all the actions we take as leaders and as an organization as we navigate these challenging times. To respond to COVID-19 we are advancing the following priorities, new communications, and upcoming events:

COVID-19 Response Priorities

Focus on well-being: Support members' physical and mental health
Uplift voices of low income, communities of color and people with marginalized lived experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic
We've heard loud and clear you're most hungry for:

Policy discussions on planning and public health
Resources on community engagement and public meetings
Professional development training to help you adapt to the changing market
Health and well-being

We've also heard that you'd like us to have less emphasis on:
- Long events; e.g., no 3-hour panels
- Unstructured virtual happy hours -- we'll wait until we can buy you a drink in person
Communicate clearly and regularly with the planning community on our many channels
Communications should have a personal touch and acknowledge privilege and disparities
Regularly express and demonstrate gratitude and respect for members and volunteers
Conduct targeted student engagement to better understand student experience/needs

We're excited to advance these priorities and are delighted to announce the following new communications and events with you:

Opinion pieces by guest authors on our blog

Tamika L. Butler, Esq.: "Not Interested in Your New or Old Normal: This Shouldn't be Normal"
Richard Willson, FAICP: "Plan B"

Upcoming Events - See complete information above

Monthly talk series - Conversations on challenge, opportunity and equity in uncertain times

When Everything Breaks #2, Wednesday, June 10, 10 - 11 AM

COVID-19 Mental Health

Chill Out for Free! LA County residents can get free Headspace Plus Meditation Subscriptions.

It's hard not to feel anxious and stressed out as the coronavirus crisis drags on. Uncertainty about job status, rent or mortgage payments, and schooling can lead people to feel depressed or overwhelmed.

LA County residents can receive a free subscription for the mindfulness and meditation app Headspace . Sign up to access meditations, as well as sleep and movement exercises, designed to help you care for your mind. The offer is good through the end of the year.

Next steps, how you can help, and survey results

APA Los Angeles' COVID-19 Response priorities are discussed and advanced regularly by our new COVID-19 Response Committee. If you're interested in helping to support this effort, sign up to volunteer with APA Los Angeles' COVID-19 Response Committee . We're focusing on three specific asks:

Skills-share: Have job skills or life skills to share with other planners during this time? Let us know, and we can help amplify and connect people to your work.
Job seeker support: Offer your time to help review resumes, portfolios, and conduct mock interviews or informational interviews for new job seekers and graduating students.
Wellness resources: May is Mental Health Awareness Month! What free wellness resources are you finding helpful during these times?

Lastly, many of you have asked if you can still take the COVID-19 Survey. Absolutely, yes. We'll keep the survey open and review feedback periodically to continue to assess the changing economic and social impacts of COVID-19 on our community. Take the 3-minute survey here and please share with your network. The survey results to date are reflected below.

Thank you,

Sarah Syed

Chair, COVID-19 Response Committee

Director, Sponsorship and Marketing

Tony Mendoza

Section Director

COVID-19 Rapid-Response Survey Results - Full Results Here

Planners' Input Requested for
Connecting Wildlands & Communities Survey

Researchers at San Diego State University have a grant from the Strategic Growth Council to integrate conservation practices more strongly with planning. They are asking APA members to participate in a 7-10 minute survey about their current practices related to fire, water and biodiversity, and what tools and data would best serve their needs.

Click here to begin the survey.

The Connecting Wildlands and Communities project (CWC) , funded by the California State Strategic Growth Council, is examining how future planning in southern California can meaningfully integrate State objectives on mitigating wildfire risk, supporting water sustainability, and protecting biodiversity.

CWC is also seeking practicing planners who are interested in joining a Technical Advisory Group to help guide the development and delivery of the data from the project. Interested in learning more? Send your contact information by clicking here or send an email to dfoote@sdsu.edu .