President’s Message

Chuck Klingenstein, AICP

Utah APA Chapter President

Greetings:  It is a pleasure to report on several items of interest to our chapter members:

I recently attended the APA Chapter President's Council meeting in California. I learned a great deal about how much APA national is doing for our members. Among other things, we were presented with a first-ever "APA/AICP" measures of progress report, done in PowerPoint presentation software. This production outlines myriad APA projects and programs that advance the cause of planning, including: policy guides on both sustainability and housing, the Federal Community Character Act (S 2995), plans for smart growth and member professional development, legal briefs on Supreme Court cases, and a variety of policy partnerships with other national organizations. There was much more shown as well, and not enough room for it all here. The report is available through either the chapter or national APA websites. It's worth taking a look to see what our national organization is doing for us.

The chapter Executive Board held its long-awaited retreat, on September 22 at the Miner's Hospital in Park City. We reviewed our goals and direction over several hours of labored detail, and now emerge with a draft new program for advancing the chapter. Among other things we will continue to promote professional education among chapter members, strengthening the newsletter and taking advantage of the power of the internet through our website. We also decided to continue holding two, one-day chapter conferences, rather than one, two-day conferences, given the geography of our state and the quality of our volunteers.

Our Fall Chapter Conference was held at the Daniels Summit Lodge on October 13. I can't thank Stanford Sainsbury and Teresa for all of their efforts to assemble one of the best conferences we have ever had. In fact, we had the best attendance ever in the history of the Chapter - 191 people registered. I received many positive comments from attendees both the day of the conference and several days afterwards.

Of particular interest was Professor Segedy's presentation on Visioning. I believe he accomplished his goal of causing us to "think outside of the box." His slide presentation and thought provoking comments, I am sure stirred our souls and minds. Gary Crane was kind enough to give us the all-important Planning Legal Update. Additional thanks go out to Richard Secrist, Kevin Callahan, Neil Lindberg, Stephen Goldsmith, Gene Moser, Gene Carr, Bill Pepperone, Ken Young, Brian Maxfield, John Nepstad, Tim Boschert and the Boyer Company for volunteering their time educating us during the concurrent sessions. Thanks to all for volunteering and attending.

On behalf of the Executive Board I heartily recommend that every chapter member consider contributing something to the Utah Chapter of the APA. One of the most important ways is by writing a short news item or an editorial on any planning topic. I often here comments from readers who enjoy learning what is going on around the state. Another is getting involved in any of the national and local committees. I am proud of our Chapter's efforts and I am feeling a renewed sense of energy from our membership. Since the conference I have had several people call me or email me asking to become involved. Thank you for your support and interest. APA does a lot for our profession - let's give something back.