Leadership

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What does it take to become a leader on the planning commission and in the community?

These articles and postings focus on various aspects of this question.

PCJ Articles

Dealing with Commissioners Who Have Too Little to Say

by Elaine Cogan

How can a commission chair encourage shy members to speak up? They may be newcomers to the board reluctant to express an opinion; genuinely deep thinkers who need to know all the facts before saying anything; or disinterested or bored individuals.

PCJ Articles

Reinventing Your Community From the Inside Out – Part II

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

In today’s economy, there are generally limited opportunities to attract industry from somewhere else — that is, to grow from the outside in. But local assets often provide strong potential for communities to reinvent themselves from the inside out. A look at what that involves.

Editor's Notes & Interviews

We Don’t Let Planning Get in the Way: Pt. II

How did Blue Back Square get developed? West Hartford Community Services Director Rob Rowlson takes us on a tour of the development, and explains why the Town’s developer-friendly approach led to positive results.

PCJ Articles

Winning a Community Over to New Ideas

by Otis White

In this follow-up to his Fall article, Otis White reports on the impact a Pennsylvania planning commissioner had on his community.

PCJ Articles

Making a Difference

by Otis White

How much of a difference can one planning commissioner make? Quite a bit, as Otis White explains in this story about a county planning commissioner from Oregon.

Editor's Notes & Interviews

Wrestling a Yankee

No, I’m not encouraging Red Sox fans to take down Derek Jeter! What I’m talking about is Tom Buchanan, a member of the Windham Regional Commission, and his encounters with the Entergy Company, owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

PCJ Articles

Chairing the Planning Commission

by Carol Whitlock

A long-time planning commission chair offers her insights on ways to run fair and effective commission meetings and hearings.

PCJ Articles

What Planners Do

with Carolyn Braun, AICP; Larry Frey, AICP; Glynis Jordan, AICP; and Lee Krohn, AICP

Four planners discuss the role of the professional planner; planning commission-staff relations; what commission chairs can do; pre-meeting workshops; and new commissioner orientation.

PCJ Articles

And the Consensus Is …

by Elaine Cogan

How do you build consensus on your planning board? Elaine Cogan offers some suggestions.

Insights

Planning Commissioner Perspectives

Planning commissioners from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Utah, and New York offer their perspectives on what makes for an effective planning board, and on the role of the chairperson.

PCJ Articles

Community Leadership & the Cincinnati Planning Commission

by Laurence C. Gerckens, FAICP

Planning historian Larry Gerckens takes a look at how the citizens of Cincinnati made planning history ninety years ago.

PCJ Articles

Finding Community Leaders

by Eileen Hennessy

Leadership is a key ingredient to strong communities, and can come from expected places and people.

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