For APA President–Elect 2002

Awards: Virginia Citizen Planning Association’s "Citation Award;" GRC Women's Transportation Seminar's "Individual Award of Excellence;" NUCEA's "Creative Programming Award;" VCU School of Community and Public Affairs "Excellence in Service Award."

Doctor of Environmental Design in Urban and Regional Science (Texas A&M University -1979), Masters of Urban Planning degree (Wayne State University -1974) and Bachelors of Science in Political Science (Northern Michigan University -1972).

Position Statement:

Like you, I embrace the aspirations the slated candidates offer for APA. But achieving these worthy goals takes much more than increasing the number of members, counting hits on the Internet, and creating endless membership categories.

Let’s build an atmosphere in which plan commissioners and elected officials respect our professional expertise and allow us to practice the ethical, smart, inclusionary planning that APA has long championed.

Let’s skillfully build relationships with local and national media so that reporters come to professional planners for their expertise on planning issues rather than relying on politicians, architects, and developers.

Let’s build the capacity of our chapters to effectively lobby state and local governments to support smart growth and the ethical, inclusionary planning and zoning practices APA’s PAS Reports and adopted policies espouse. APA has established itself with many federal agencies and Congresspeople as the go-to organization for facts and solutions — let’s extend that status to state and local governments.

Let’s revive APA’s Agenda for America’s Communities to help end the unnatural racial and economic segregation that planning and zoning practices often foster. Honestly addressing the causes of the affordable housing shortage and the problems that face our inner cities goes hand-in-hand with smart growth. Planners must take the lead if our nation is to solve these perplexing challenges.

As an organization that advocates openness in government, APA should embrace the diversity of opinions among its members and restore openness to its own governance and election process. APA should welcome independent thinkers into its leadership. If APA used sound planning principles in its own governance, the Board never would have approved spending huge sums on "branding" and studying governance — especially when a recession is squeezing our collective coffers. We need a fiscally-sound APA to have the resources necessary to achieve our goals.

It’s time to energize and expand APA’s base, while ensuring that APA represents the interests of ALL planners. To achieve these goals, APA membership must be more than a professional obligation; it must be affordable and offer good value. Instead of squandering our dues on too-frequent Board meetings and governance, APA should focus its resources on improving member services that help us perform our jobs more effectively.

Let’s elect a majority to the APA Board and AICP Commission dedicated to:

	Providing the practical, affordable, accessible services APA/AICP members need, and
	Building an atmosphere in which we can practice sound, ethical, inclusionary planning.

Recent APA Boards have strayed far from meeting these priorities. They have adopted policies designed to annually raise our dues and applied an Alice in Wonderland approach to governing.  Help me bring reality back to wonderland.

You will receive little campaign material on my behalf.  I will spend less than $500 on my campaign. The APA Presidency should not be for sale.

See Gary's full biography