Meet Lisa & Jim ... our new columnists

From PCJ General Manager Betsey Krumholz:

We are pleased to welcome new columnists Lisa Hollingsworth and Jim Segedy to the Planning Commissioners Journal (PCJ). They each bring a wealth of experience and tremendous practical knowledge, and together will provide our readers with information and insight into the "nuts and bolts" of planning commission business.

They are resuming "The Planning Commission at Work" column, which was written for many years by Mike Chandler. Lisa and Jim begin a four-part series on the comprehensive planning process in our Spring 2008 issue.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Lisa and Jim by phone recently -- to find out more about their extensive planning backgrounds, and why they want to be involved with the PCJ. They're both dedicated and highly motivated individuals -- who also truly enjoy the work they do. We believe that with their combined talents and experience, our readers will be in for a treat.

Just a bit of background.

Lisa is currently Managing Partner with "The Community Partnership" based in Liberty, Missouri. Over the years she has worked on planning issues in communities in a number of states, including many rural areas.

Jim is Senior Planner and Urban Designer with Olsson Associates, also in the Kansas City area. He is also Professor and Director Emeritus of Community Based Projects at Indiana's Ball State University. Jim has co-authored the Small Town Planning Handbook, published by APA Planners Press. Last, but not least, he's a past member of the Delaware County-Muncie [Indiana] Metropolitan Plan Commission.

Here are excerpts from our conversation:

Betsey Krumholz:  Lisa, you spent 14 years as a "circuit rider" for a regional planning agency in suburban and rural Georgia. What did that work entail, and how did you interact with the local communities and citizen planners?

Lisa Hollingsworth:  When I was working at that time west and south of Atlanta, many communities were just beginning to experience sprawl, and were looking for planning help. Georgia's enabling legislation requires that if you choose to have zoning, you must have a proper process for administration.

The Regional Development Center I worked for had resources to offer towns and counties that wanted to put zoning regulations in place, but needed expertise to do so. My job was to work with communities to do everything from developing an ordinance, to establishing by-laws for new commissions and boards, to identifying and training people to serve with these groups, to doing the work myself until professional staff could be placed in the local community.

While serving with the RDC, we required that every community that wanted the state resources for planning receive training, in order to be effective. I also prepared a training manual which, by the way, includes many resources from the Planning Commissioners Journal. Training is a critical piece of the process because, as professionals, we can only make recommendations, and where the rubber meets the road is at the appointed and elected officials level.

I think every planning commissioner has, at some point, experienced what I call the "grocery store incident" -- that time when someone comes up to you in public and asks for an explanation. What the Planning Commissioners Journal provides you, I believe, is the ammunition to explain your decision, and the understanding that with this information you are on solid ground.

In fact, having enjoyed and made use of the PCJ is one reason Jim and I are so pleased to now be able to write for it.

Betsey:  You also served as president of the Georgia Chapter of the American Planning Association. How did you see this organization's role in the support of citizen planners?

Lisa:  I have belonged to state chapters of the APA in Georgia, Louisiana, Virginia and (now) Missouri, and I believe they all are looking for ways to be a resource for their communities. One way they are active is in training and mentoring for citizen planners, such as through the Community Planning Institute. They provide basic information, such as how to use your plan, how to address specific issues, and what laws must be followed. 

Betsey:  Jim, you spent many years at Ball State University, deeply involved in community-based projects. Can you tell us more about what you did there?

Jim:  Ball State's coursework in urban planning and development recognizes that first and foremost, students need to become good and informed citizens. The first year classes cover history, planning topics, and technical issues, and include studio work where students can meet their future "clients."

Through community-based projects, students have a wide variety of opportunities. Individuals, agencies, or other groups see us as a first point of contact for people who are interested in getting something done -- whether it is help with a site plan, or help with a county-wide municipal development plan. Students work at the local level, with the public, and with elected or appointed officials, and have a chance to gain experience at all levels of the process.

In their second year, students gain a detailed understanding of what happens at the site planning level, from an idea in someone's mind to a project being built -- and everything that happens in between. Also in that second year, students become very familiar with the "players" -- those folks who Mike Chandler included in the "Planning Universe" poster that has been on my wall (and replaced several times) for years.

Betsey:  Like Lisa, you have also been quite active in the American Planning Association, and were recently inducted into the AICP's College of Fellows. You also chaired the APA's Small Town and Rural Planning Division (STaR) for twelve years .

Jim:  Small towns and more rural areas often need information from "outside" -- information focused on specific issues they are facing like transportation, housing, or urban design. STaR worked to get out to state and regional conferences to try and build links between those who know the technical stuff, and those who need the information. We also offered workshops on public participation, working with state chapters and other organizations, like county extensions, to match citizen planners and elected officials with the specific information they need. 

STaR, along with local APA chapters and specific resources like the PCJ are incredibly important, especially since most small towns and rural communities can't afford to specialize -- in planning or in any other department.

Betsey:  Lisa and Jim, your debut article for the PCJ, which you've titled, "Your Community's Little Instruction Book," is the first of several you'll be writing on putting together a local comprehensive plan. Readers should look for it in our just published Spring issue.

Jim:  We hope also to respond to questions planning commissioners have. So if any of you reading this have topics or questions you'd like us to address in future articles, or "war stories" you'd like to share, please email us at: jsegedy@oaconsulting.com"

Endnote from PCJ Editor Wayne Senville: In case any of you are curious whether Jim and Lisa are related, here's where they'll be later tonight during the American Planning Association annual conference in Las Vegas. Sorry I won't be there to join in wishing them the best!