A presentation on public planning and charrettes.

1. Nicholas Tancredi
PUB 404 Fall 2014
© ntancrediphotography, 2014

2.  “The need for complexity comes down to interconnectedness and complexity. A simple illustration of
interconnectedness could be the use of urban land. The amount of traffic it generates. Developing it with single-family
houses will produce a different traffic flow than developing it with apartments, which will generate a different
traffic flow than developing it with a neighborhood shopping center” (Levy, 2012).
 “Complexity is the condition that justifies planning as a separate profession and as a separate activity of government.
If at all the sorts of relationships suggested were simple, they would be dealt with simply and informally. If the
community were tiny, perhaps direct negotiations between private parties would suffice” (Levy, 2012).
 “Prevention refers to capabilities necessary to avoid, prevent, or stop a threatened or actual act of terrorism.
Prevention involves actions taken to avoid an incident or intervene to stop an incident from occurring” (FEMA,
2013). The development of plans fall under the preparedness, protection, and prevention functions of emergency
management. These processes are continuous, which are ongoing whether the emergency event happens or not
(FEMA, 2013).

3.  “Planning is both anticipatory and reactive. At times planning will be devoted to anticipating and developing responses
to problems that have not yet presented themselves. At other times planning will be devoted to responding to problems
that are here and demand solutions” (Levy, 2012).
 The field of public planning can also be very frustrating as well, because planners are basically advisors. Sometimes
planners are heeded and sometime they are not. Although, there are times when the planners brainchild gets more
destroyed than they had planned during the long trip from drawing board to reality (Levy, 2012).
 To put together a planning decision that works, every decision point must be fully informed, especially in areas such as
the legal, financial, and engineering disciples. The success of a community’s work to plan, as well as build together, is all
about the implementation process. Although, plans that sit on the shelf and go nowhere only create apathy in the
community. From the beginning of an NCI Charrette System project, feasibility becomes the focus of the discussion,
which brings a level of seriousness and rigor to everyone involved in the process. Plans that are built and agreed upon
help establish trust in government, as well as collaborative planning processes in general (Lennertz & Lutzenhiser, 2014).

4.  …They come from a variety of backgrounds.
 The average planner in the public sector makes somewhere in the in the $40,000-45,000 range for someone with three years
experience (Levy, 2012). However, some cities pay city planners more money for a Planning and Zoning Manager Position.
Ex. The city of Jerome, Idaho pays $50,000-65,000 a year for someone with a Bachelor’s Degree in Planning, Public or
Business Administration, and three years of planning or local government experience. A Master’s Degree in Planning, Public
or Business Administration is highly desired (ICMA, 2014).
Planning and Zoning
Manager job description
for the City of Jerome,
Idaho. ICMA, 2014

5.  “In growing a community, planners may be concerned with shaping the pattern of growth to
achieve a sensible and attractive land-use pattern” (Levy, 2012).
 “Community planners are also concerned with the location of public facilities like schools and
social service centers, both for the convenience of the people served and for reinforcing the
development of desirable land-use pattern” (Levy, 2012).
 In communities that face serious unemployment or that sees its property tax base as being
inadequate, economic development may be a major task of the planners. Much of the effort
put forth by planners may be devoted to creating conditions that encourage existing industry
to remain and expand and new firms to locate within the community (Levy, 2012).

6.  Emergency planning and recovery is also part of the planning process as well.
 Strategies that can be put in place well before a disaster include: (1) Understanding
all federal requirements for response and recovery grants, including required
documentation for reimbursements, (2) Identifying all potential sources of
funding for long-term recovery, (3) Establishing lines of credit to provide cash
flow for direct expenses and matches while waiting for federal funds, and (4)
Identifying internal staff, or external resources, or both, to manage the financial
side of recovery (Becker, 2009).
 The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) also offers pre-disaster
financial recovery action steps for local government, which include (Becker, 2009):
1) Modify purchasing and contracting procedures to expedite emergency purchases.
2) Adopt a repair and reconstruction ordinance to facilitate use of FEMA public
assistance dollars.
3) Establish an internal claims reimbursement process for FEMA funds.
4) Adopt a local hazard mitigation plan as part of the general plan to facilitate access
to additional FEMA funds.

7. A planning process contains several planning activities:
Establish the core planning team and identify stakeholders.
Determine goals and objectives
Determine roles and responsibilities
Plan training and exercise opportunities
Evaluate risks and vulnerabilities, especially to critical infrastructure
Determine resource needs and plan for their management
Develop the plan and gain management approval
Disseminate the plan
“Keep in mind that a plan on the shelf doesn’t do your
agency any good unless it is practices and maintained.”
–FEMA, 2013

8.  The American Planning Association (APA) is the number one resource for information on
community and city planning. There are also state chapters and many hundreds of local chapters
throughout the nation. APA publishes The Journal of the American Planning Association (JAPA),
which comes out quarterly, is the more scholarly of the two. JAPA provides articles on current
research and theoretical issues in planning (Levy, 2012).
 The APA also publishes Planning, which comes out 11 times a year. It is a trade magazine of the
profession in the United States. If one wants to keep up on what is going on in the world of public
planning-names, places, programs, controversies, court cases, and the like-it is the best source
available. The APA through its Planning Advisory Service (PAS), publishes many technical how-to-do-
it reports for the practical planner (Levy, 2012).

9.  A Charrette simply “a short meeting at which people brainstorm and perhaps sketch ideas; to others the
charrette process is synonymous with a series of public design sessions over multiple days” (Lennertz &
Lutzenhiser, 2014).
 National Charrette Institute (NCI) charrettes are not typical at all when it comes to planning. These
charrettes are very creative, energetics, and interactive community events: a combination of a barn raising
and a New England town meeting (Lennertz & Lutzenhiser, 2014). There is no isolation with NCI
charrettes, and they don’t deal with single development issues that way either. These charrettes move
design and development issues along the same track to allow every issue to inform the decision making for
related issues (Lennertz & Lutzenhiser, 2014).
 The process of a charrette consists of having guiding principles that are “value-based statements written
at the highest level and tell the story of why the project is being conducted” (Lennertz & Lutzenhiser,
2014). A few work projects that use charrettes consist of planning, urban design, transportation, housing,
economics, as well as other projects related to urban planning (Lennertz & Lutzenhiser, 2014).

10. “The purpose of the charrette is to create a feasible master plan that is supported
by the community. The charrette results should provide draft versions of all elements
required for the master plan including urban design, transportation, environmental, and
economics” (Lennertz & Lutzenhiser, 2014).
© ntancrediphotography, 2014

11. The Night Before Halloween is a name for an episode of Dateline on ID. In this
episode, Detective Jim Wallace uses his skills in architectural design to solve a crime
that had gone unsolved for almost twenty years. Part of being a detective is seeing
what others cannot see, and using his design skill, Detective Wallace was able to see
a vital piece of evidence in a photograph from a case that no other investigators did
(Dean, 2011).
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/dateline/42618142#42618142
This shows the
importance of using
an artistic or design
skill in law
enforcement or
government. These
skills allow
individuals to see the
small details that not
everyone is able to
pick out.
© ntancrediphotography, 2014

12.  Planning for the unexpected is what city managers and public planners do every day. Being ready to deal with
the unexpected is what emergency preparedness is all about. A mass casualty incident such as the Oklahoma
City Bombing brings challenges that are not usually part of the emergency planning process. They are
incidents that are planners do not like to always think about, but they are very real threats (Hogan, 2011).
 Learning while you respond often does not turn out well. In order to be successful in doing so, this requires a
strong underlying knowledge of planning, processes, and preparation. Without these vital factors, your
response will more than likely turn out badly (Hogan, 2011).
 In order to lead a recovery after a natural or man-made disaster, a “clear vision, and well-defined plan, broad
and diverse funding to finance the recovery, a supportive and involved business community, and effective
partnerships at the federal, state, and local levels all contribute to successful long-term recovery. The biggest
difference, however, is effective leadership” (Becker, 2009).

13.  These are some critical keys to success in preventing an act of terrorism (Hogan, 2011):
1) Planning, Planning, Planning. Critical steps are build, test modify, and monitor. Fortune favors the prepared.
2) Communication, Lack of communication is the fatal flaw internally and externally. Have a plan. Have a backup.
3) Problem solving . Fix current problems among the staff. You can’t respond effectively if you have issues with daily
operations.
4) Checklists. Develop checklists for critical actions, and assign specific people to them.
5) Management process. Learn the incident command system. Then practice it.
6) Protection and support. A key priority is to protect
your responders and support staff. No one can
do this without appropriate staff to assist.
7) First eight hours. Plan well for this because
this the most critical decision-making period.
The Golden Chairs Oklahoma City Memorial
represents bombing victims that died in the bombing on
April 19, 1995. (Photograph from Managing the
Unthinkable article)

14.  The ability to understand the political environment that faces planners. Planning and politics
are closely related, and the people who rise in planning usually have political smarts (Levy,
2012).
 Planning is really about persuasion, so being able to speak well in public–to express a certain
idea clear, and also respond well to questions and criticism–is vital to any planner (Levy, 2012).
 The ability to write well, is also extremely important. While a planner does not need to be very
literally gifted, it is important for that individual to have the ability to explain things clearly and
in a very friendly manner. It is also important that a planner does not confuse people with
technical jargon, but keeps their writing straight and to the point. (Levy, 2012).
 All in all, understanding the political landscape and good communication skills are important
across the entire planning profession (Levy, 2012).

15.  The American Planning Association
 The International City/County Management Association
 The Charrette Handbook
 International Association of Emergency Managers
 Planning
 The Journal of the American Planning Association
 FEMA IS-554: Emergency Planning for Public Works
“As a part of determining the goals and objectives, your
planning team should identify the mission statement. A good
mission statement should be an accurate and realistic summary
of your group. Keeping it succinct and relevant helps
individuals within the group remember the mission statement
and why they are working together.” –FEMA, 2013

16.  Becker, C. (2009, March). Disaster recovery: A local government
responsibility. Public Management. 91, (2). Received: 2 August. 2014.
 Dean, R. (Producer) (2011, April 15). Dateline the night before halloween.
 FEMA. (2013). IS-554 Emergency Planning For Public Works. Received:
8 August. 2014.
 Hohan, A. (2011, June). Managing the unthinkable. Public Management.
93, (5). Received: 2 August. 2014.
 ICMA. (2014). Planning and zoning manager. Received: 2 August. 2014.
 Lennertz, B. & Lutzenhiser, A. (2014). The charrette handbook. (2nd. Ed).
Chicago, IL.
 Levy, J. (2012). Contemporary urban planning. (10th. Ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ. Pearson.

17. “Vision Without Execution is Hallucination” -Thomas Edison
© ntancrediphotography, 2014
With a little imagination, the possibilities are endless!