First Word

Happy New Year Ohio Planners!

The APA Ohio Board of Trustees wishes you all the best in the new year. We are incredibly thankful to have members like you and look forward to seeing more of your smiling faces in 2024. I sincerely hope you had time to recharge your batteries, reflect on your achievements in 2023, and plan for another year of creating great communities for all Ohioans.

Whether you lead a large department with several staff or serve as a single-person department managing planning for a small locality, I encourage you to think about your personal and professional goals for the year. Do you have a strategic plan for your department? What does your annual work plan look like? How do you plan to improve processes within your organization? Can you do a better job engaging with the public? How can you foster better development for your community? What is one project you personally want to get done next year? Take some time to ask yourself these questions and more. Seek feedback on your performance from peers. Let’s make 2024 awesome!

We have several upcoming activities. I encourage you to get involved and take some time to learn and grow. A few things to note as an APA Ohio member:

• National Planning Conference: NPC24 will be hosted in Minneapolis from April 13-16, 2024 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Registration is open now, and hotel rooms are going fast so don’t wait to decide. Learn more at planning.org/conference

• 2024 Programming Survey: The APA Ohio 2024 Programming Survey is live, and we want your input to help us plan for and provide programming in 2024. All are welcome to offer their feedback and ideas! Take the survey now: surveymonkey.com/r/apaohsurvey

• Knowledgebase Collection: Medical Marijuana – With the recent passing of Issue 2, I thought it would be helpful to share APA national’s knowledgebase resource on marijuana: planning.org/knowledgebase/ marijuana

• Summary of Ohio Issue 2: An Act to Control and Regulate Adult Use Cannabis – Our Legislative Committee has published a white paper summarizing Ohio Issue 2 sent. View the summary here: tinyurl.com/ybvxtrrr.

• 2024 Dues Payments – Make the most of your budget by reaching out to APA Customer Service to request an early copy of your 2024 invoice: planning.org/customerservice/contact-us

• 2022-23 CM reporting period closed 12/31/2023 – Don't forget to close your CM reporting period at planning.org/myapa

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly at any time to learn more about how APA can help you as a planner in Ohio. You can reach me directly at eric.anderson@kzf.com.

Cheers to a wonderful New Year.

Eric Anderson, AICP, is the Director of Planning Services at KZF Design in Cincinnati and APA Ohio President. He can be reached at eric.anderson@kzf.com