Being Effective Archives

PCJ Articles

Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Holding Public Hearings or Meetings

by Jim Segedy, FAICP, and Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, AICP

With our apologies to David Letterman, and in the spirit of helping you avoid the holes in the rocky road of being a planning commissioner, we present the Top Ten Mistakes to Avoid When Holding Public Hearings or Meetings.

PCJ Articles

On Commitment

by Elaine Cogan

How do we motivate commissioners to realize being on the planning commission requires a “commitment”? The more I thought about it, the more complex the answer seems to be.

PCJ Articles

Dealing with Commissioners Who Have Too Much to Say

by Elaine Cogan

Last month, we discussed how to handle planning commissioners who have little to say. This time, we are writing about the reverse … those who are overly assertive. By their very nature: loud, obstreperous, interruptive, sometimes rude, boisterous, or garrulous, these people are more likely to disrupt your meeting than the quiet ones we wrote of last month.

PCJ Articles

New to a Planning Commission?

by Elaine Cogan

As you begin to attend meetings, you will find that although many parts of the agenda are routine, there soon is likely to be a controversial or contentious matter. As a first time citizen decision maker, you may be uneasy having to discuss your points of view. But you want to be effective. What are the most important matters you should consider?

Editor's Notes & Interviews

Being Effective as a Planning Commissioner

New to PlannersWeb.com? Perhaps the single most important topic we cover is how to be an effective planning commissioner. Over the years, we’ve published several dozen articles in the Planning Commissioners Journal on this broad topic.

Use the blue Planning 101 tab on the upper right side of our web site; then go to Planning Comm’r Roles & Responsibilities.

Insights

Our New Public Hearings Resource Guide — Now Available on the PlannersWeb

Take a look at the latest addition to the PlannersWeb. Our 12-part Resource Guide will provide you tips and ideas on how to better manage public hearings. The Resource Guide also points you to other relevant online information and documents.

Planning 101

Planning Commissioner Roles & Responsibilities

Just what does it mean to be a planning commissioner? And how can you be more effective in your job as a member of your town, city, or county planning board? That’s a questions we’ve covered extensively in the Planning Commissioners Journal.

Editor's Notes & Interviews

Getting the Planning Commission to Know the Community (and its issues) Better

We can use your help and feedback now. This Fall we’ll be featuring a series of posts on how planning commissioners can get to know their community better. Find out about what we’re planning — then leave your ideas and suggestions. Thanks! Wayne Senville, Editor, PlannersWeb.com

PCJ Articles

Just What Is the Job of a Planning Commissioner?

by PCJ Editor Wayne Senville

The primary goal of the Planning Comm’rs Journal has been to help planning board members do their job better. But just what is their job?

Insights

Challenges & Opportunities

Eight of our regular contributing writers take a brief look at various challenges and opportunities facing planning commissions and their communities.

PCJ Articles

Putting Some Oomph into Planning

with Carolyn Braun, AICP; Wendy Grey, AICP; Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, AICP; Lee Krohn, AICP; and Jim Segedy, FAICP

A roundtable discussion on ways of strengthening the planning process — with a look at: the roles of planning commissions and governing bodies; finding time for long-range planning; and better ways of implementing local plans.

Insights

What Are You Guys Doing To Fix It?

by Della Rucker, AICP, CEcD

As planners and planning commissioners we need to think ahead, anticipate consequences, and identify our blind spots so we aren’t sideswiped by a future we didn’t see coming.