How Broad Is Your Planning Horizon?
Why it’s important as a planning commissioner to take the time to meet people outside your own circle.
The Effective Planning Commissioner
Long-time Planning Commissioners Journal and PlannersWeb columnist Elaine Cogan focuses on how planning commissioners can do their job most effectively.
There’s Help for Dysfunctional Meetings
Elaine Cogan offers “first aid” for meetings that don’t seem to work.
It’s Time to Discuss the “P” Word
As a planning commissioner you operate in a political world. Elaine Cogan discusses how to conduct yourself effectively in such an environment.
Customer Service Starts at the Front Door
To get an idea of what the public customer really faces, try approaching your planning office as if you were a citizen going there for the first time. Ideas on how to see whether your planning office works for the public.
More Form Than Substance? – How to Make the Most from Public Hearings
Elaine Cogan suggests some ways by which you can make the most from public hearings.
Let’s Talk About Followship
After discussing the role of the chair in her last column, Elaine Cogan looks at how the rest of the commission can most effectively participate in a meeting.
Leading the Commission
Elaine Cogan explores how the chair can exert more effective leadership.
The Planning Commissioner and the “Vision Thing”
Elaine Cogan explains some planning jargon to help you understand several key steps in the planning process.
It’s Okay Not to Be A Professional Planner
Elaine Cogan looks at some of the benefits a citizen planner brings to the planning process.
How Well Do You Use Your Time?
Holding a public hearing until the early hours of the morning after a full meeting on the budget is a sympton of a commission out of control, explains Elaine Cogan.
Starting Out the New Year on the Right Foot
Elaine Cogan explains why patience, persistence, and passion are three important — though hard to quantify — measures of your effectiveness as a planning commissioner.
Dealing With Difficult People Requires Finesse
Are your planning commission meetings attended by accusers, attackers, gossip-spreaders, hair-splitters, old-timers, or yakkers? Some tips on how you can deal effectively with each of these types.
Welcoming the Public
Do citizens fell welcome at your planning commission meetings from the moment they enter the meeting room door? Steps you can take to provide a welcoming environment.
