Strategic Plan and Action Items : December 5, 2001
Washington Chapter American Planning Association
Strategic Plan and Action Items
Adopted by Chapter Board on December 5, 2001
Goals
Visibility / "Bully Pulpit" / "Thought Leader":
- Increase visibility and recognition for APA as an organization and its members.
- Support and strengthen local sections.
- Maintain response levels to state legislation and increase influence in initiating legislation.
Education / Training:
- Provide training for APA members and encourage members to achieve AICP.
- Provide educational opportunities on planning for planning students, elected officials and the general public.
Oganization Building/Increase Revenue:
- Encourage links to National APA and other professional organizations
- Increase the Chapter's income base to reduce reliance on volunteers for operations
- Respond to current events affecting planning and increase APA's role as a thought leader
- Expand number of state APA members
- Ensure communication with the membership and provide opportunities for feedback on Board activities.
General Objectives
- Support mandatory continuing education for planners - goal #2
- Program more and smaller gatherings so more people can attend - goal #2
- Foster increased citizen involvement in planning activities - goal #3
- Continue/increase relationship between APA and PAW - goal #4
- Make APA's voice as strong as AWC and WACS - goal #6
- Maintain strength of legislative Committee (4) - goal #8
- Develop new sources of revenue and profit centers for better financial stability - goal #5
- Encourage APA members on speaking engagements to mention APAMembership
- Promote the availability of "chapter only" memberships, especially for other allied disciplines and neighborhood groups
- >Encourage students to participate in APA activities
- Broaden APA membership through outreach to include other fields involved in community development (engineers, city administrators, etc.)
- Provide "free trial" copy of newsletters for other organizations and include applications for chapter memberships
- Professional Development
- Identify AICP credit levels on all program announcements
- Identify continuing education credits for training provided by other organizations
- Assist local sections in providing local continuing education training so that AICP credits can be obtained locally
- Continuing Education
- Send flyers on events to mailing lists from other professional organizations
- State Conference
- Coordinate conference tracks with other organizations, such as historic preservation, transportation, etc
- General
- Hold a joint APA/PAW Board meeting to discuss ways to link the two organizations
New Actions Under Board Direction
- President
- Define ways to use Estep Gray & Associates more effectively
- Vice President
- Develop a relationship with the press - make an appointment with key press members to get acquainted
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- Secretary
- Increase connections to the Planning Director's conference and coordinate with them on the Planner's Roundtable
- Continuing Education
- Provide education to political candidates and elected officials on planner's activities and the planning process
- Coordinate with other organizations (AIA, etc.) on continuing education programs
- Legislative
- Develop a seminar or guidelines for members on when it is OK to advocate legislation
- Publicize legislative activities
- Chapter Historian
- Develop a history of the Chapter
- Webpage
- Use Chapter web site to inform members on training opportunities provided by other organizations or agencies
- Provide web page links with other organizations
- Use Chapter website to announce continuing education opportunities from other organizations
Focus Areas for Action in 2002
- FOCUS: Visibility/"Thought Leader"- Jill Sterrett, Mark Personius, & Mary Lynn Evans
- Develop white papers on topics related to proposed legislation
- Hold a "Planner's Roundtable" on major issues (such as GMA at 10 years) leading to a white paper for publication
- Establish follow-up forums to educate APA members on "white paper" topics developed by the Round Table
- Develop Chapter positions on issues to be released to press
- Post5 "white paper" on APA web page
- FOCUS: Changes in State Conference and Training - Deborah Monkberg
- Provide training for members on organizational and management skills (personnel, budgeting, etc.)
- Provide a workshop for planners on working with the press
- Offer more continuing education seminars/classes
- Educate planners and planning departments in management techniques
- Continue support for the Planning Law Conference (planned for 15 to 18 month schedule)
- Re-institute the auction at the State conference
Actions For Sections To Undertake
- Send letters to elected officials and Planning Directors on suggested APA speakers
- Market Brown Bag presentations to other organizations, such as Fire Marshals, City Managers, etc
- Use speakers at planning "Brown Bag" presentations to present to other organization or to Planning Commissioners
- Provide presentation on APA at student orientation at EWU, Western WA, and UW.
Desired Actions Which Need An Individual Or Group Champion To Undertake
- Coordinate with EDC of Snohomish County on their "good development" tour
- Establish a State APA Speaker's Bureau
- Provide outreach program on planning for local elementary and high schools
- Coordinate with Bellevue Community College's program on non-traditional roles for women to talk about planning careers
- Develop training sessions for pay from other groups, such as developers, builders on topics such as mediation of natural resource issues, public powers & eminent domain
- Provide programs addressing current events affecting planning and establish links to other organizations, and possible workshop, on Homeless issues.
- Sponsorship Committee (New)
- Increase outside agency support of the Annual State conference
- Promote sponsorships of events by private firms
- Research ideas from other APA chapters to identify income producing programs