Plan-it sustainably - Northern California Section

Who’s wherePeter Pirnejad is nowdevelopment services directorfor the City of Palo Alto.He previously was assistanteconomic and communitydevelopment director, DalyCity (four years) and planningmanager, City of Lodi, forthree years before that. Pirnejad holds a Master’s inPolicy, Planning, and Development Studies from USCand a BA in Environmental Studies and Geographyfrom UCSB. He has written for Northern News(Lodi leads with LEED-ND, Dec 2007–Jan 2008)and has been active in the League of CaliforniaCities. As the head of the city’s Development Center,Pirnejad expects to hire three project managers anda permit manager to improve customer satisfactionand reduce waiting times.Heather Adamson, AICP,is now principal planner atthe Association of MontereyBay Area Governments(AMBAG). She previouslyworked at the San DiegoAssociation of Governments(SANDAG) for 14 years, most recently as theproject manager for California’s first RegionalTransportation Plan/Sustainable CommunitiesStrategy developed under SB 375. Adamson hasa Master of Public Administration from San DiegoState University–California State University anda BA in Urban Studies and Planning from UCSan Diego. nVote for Northern SectionAdministrative DirectorIt is that time of year to vote for a Director position on the APA CaliforniaChapter Northern Section Board. The Administrative Director will serve atwo-year term beginning January 1, 2013, and ending December 31, 2014.This position is a key leadership role on a very active board. All APA NorthernSection members will receive a ballot by e-mail during November. Pleasetake a moment to show your support for the Board by casting your vote.Running for the Administrative Director position is Justin Meek, AICP.Below is his candidate statement.Candidate statement, Justin Meek, AICPI have been honored to serve on the APA California–Northern Section Boardfor the past few years and humbly resubmit this statement of candidacyfor the Administrative Director position. In making this decision, I wish tocontinue to support the Board and contribute substantially to the ongoingdevelopment of the planning profession.In the past few years, I have actively involved myself in a number of APAevents. In addition to being responsible for all records of the Section andworking with Board members to publicize section professional developmentactivities, I have helped organize or participated in a number of events, suchas a walking tour of Santa Cruz’s riverfront and a workshop on using censusdata. If elected to the Board, I look forward to continuing to be active and willwork diligently as the Administrative Director. I am excited at the opportunityto serve the planning profession and be a part of APA California–NorthernSection’s efforts to promote and inspire APA members.Experience. Justin Meek, AICP, is a senior planner with 10 years ofplanning and CEQA experience for public and private sector clients. Hepresently works for the City of Marina and provides consulting servicesfor the City of Pacific Grove. Previously, he managed the preparation ofnumerous environmental documents throughout California and authoredgeology and soils, recreation, visual resources, transportation and traffic,land use and planning, public services, and utilities and service systemssections for a variety of environmental documents. He also teaches at SanJose State University (SJSU) in the Urban and Regional Planning Department(URBP). Mr. Meek has a Bachelor of Science in Earth Sciences and Bachelorof Arts in Environmental Studies from the University of California at SantaCruz and a Master of Urban Planning from SJSU, where he was the recipientof the AICP Outstanding Graduating Student Award. He has been active inthe American Planning Association since 2008, and is currently theAdministrative Director for the APA California–Northern Section.He also serves on the SJSU URBP Alumni Committee. nNorthern News 12 November 2012