Making Great Communities Happen

2009 AWARDS

By Hollee King Brunsky, AICP, Events Officer

On April 4, 2009, the Central Coast Section of the American Planning Association of California hosted the 2009 Awards Event, featuring a keynote speaker, casino night, dinner, and the awards ceremony. There were 85 people who attended the event and this year we were lucky to be joined by the current APA California Vice President of Administration, Hing Wong, who came down from the San Francisco area to attend our event. There were 15 nominations submitted this year. We had 11 Award of Excellence awards, and three Awards of Merit.

Our keynote speaker was William Siembieda, co-author of the book Contemporary Urbanism in Brazil: Beyond Brasilia. The book was written by Vicente Del Rio and Wlliam Siembieda, both professors at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Professor Siembieda spoke about development and redevelopment in Brazil. He spoke with a power point of city images and shared his experiences with the event guests. Thank you to Professor Bill Siembieda for the very interesting lecture. This year, again, we had an Awards Event sponsorship program that allowed companies to donate funds to help defray the costs of the dinner event and buy raffle prizes. This year we received over $2,000 in cash donations and just over $300 dollars worth of gift donations from sponsorships!

An immense THANK YOU to all of the sponsors: RRM Design Group, Marilyn Miller, Sandy Smith. Carl Morehouse and Janna Minsk, Lisa Wise Consulting, Capital Pacific Homes, LSA Associates, Wallace Group, Urban Planning Concepts, West Coast Environmental and Engineering, Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, Schreck, Jacobson and Wack Consultants, Rincon Consultants, Lilley Planning Services, Oxnard Strawberry Festival, and the Herzog Winery. With their generous contributions we were able to lower the cost of the event for each person and we were able to give away great prizes. We hope that next year we can incorporate a larger program for donations that will benefit the Central Coast APA Awards event as well as be a benefit to the sponsors.

Another huge thank you for those who took the time out of their busy lives to serve as the 2009 Central Coast Awards Jurors: Kimberly Rodriguez, AICP; Susan de Carli, AICP; John M. Baucke, AICP; Brian Schwartz; and Chuck Anthony. Each juror had to review every submittal and meet to discuss the merits and award distinction of each project. Additionally, they were responsible for the presentations of the awards at the Awards Event. They did a stupendous job and we appreciate all their efforts this year.

This year, for the first time, we got high-tech and had award dinner reservations available on-line at our website via Paypal. Our newly appointed webmaster, Sylvia Gonzales, did an amazing job setting that process up for us. There were a few glitches in registration and of course not as finessed as the “human touch”. However, the feedback received regarding this effortless method to register has made it a priority for the Board to pursue it further and no longer will we have snail-mail registration. We still have a lot of issues with RSVPing to the event and waiting until the last minute…which begs the question "Aren't we all planners??" LOL!

Mark Your Calendars
Next year, the event will be held in Ventura. The tentative date and venue is set for April 3rd, 2010, in Ventura at the top of the Crowne Plaza hotel. Although the casino event has been a hit the past three years, the Board is pursuing a dinner and dance theme for next year’s event. More details will follow in the coming months. The Board strives to make these events enjoyable and an entertaining place to catch up with colleagues and friends as well as honor outstanding planning projects in the Central Coast Section and we hope to see you next year!