COC Associate Ellen Wyoming Presents to PSU on Diversity and Economic Development

Associate Ellen Wyoming was invited to speak at Portland State University (PSU) twice this fall.  First, she was asked to present to visiting scholars and planning professionals in the Atlantis Workshop.  Participants of the Atlantis Workshop visited PSU from October 24 – 27, 2011 on a grant to learn more about equity and social justice in planning and community development. These scholars and academics came from Germany, England, China, and other universities in the United States.  Ellen presented to the visitors on the impact and implications of her graduate work as an Urban and Regional Planning graduate student at PSU with the Portland Mercado project.  The group was very interested in the public involvement measures taken to work directly with the Latino Community, the model for economic development, and the on-going support that the project has garnered today.  Hacienda Community Development Corporation hosted the presentation at their offices in the Cully neighborhood and Micro Mercantes tamale vendors catered the lunch.  Many people sampled tamales for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed them.

The following week Ellen guest lectured with former graduate student and colleague Abigail Cermak (currently with Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services) for PSU’s graduate Public Involvement in Planning class.  They were asked to focus on best practices in public involvement with diverse communities.  Ellen and Abigail presented a framework of their personal experiences with their work in the Latino community and made recommendations for approaches working in other diverse communities.  The overall emphasis to the students was that as a planner you do not walk into a community as the “expert” but instead an ally. This is the framework from which to start all public involvement work.  At Cogan Owens Cogan, Ellen looks forward to continuing to work with clients on developing frameworks for their own best practice public involvement efforts with diverse communities.   Each city, community and place is different, but there are key fundamental approaches toward ensuring successful outcomes in terms of effective and adequate participation and outreach.

COC Staff to Present on Public Engagement and Transportation Planning for WTS on April 13

Nineteen Statewide Planning Goals serve as the foundation of Oregon’s planning program and Goal #1 is Citizen Involvement.  What does this mean for transportation planning in Oregon?  What are the most successful ways to engage the public in transportation planning projects?  Principal Jim Owens and Senior Planner Ellie Fiore of Cogan Owens Cogan, LLC will provide an overview of citizen participation and discuss tools and techniques to help you better engage citizens in your next transportation planning project.

Location: Measseh Engineering Building at PSU, Dean’s Conference Room, 5th Floor.

Date/ Time: April 13th from 5:30 – 7 pm

For more information please visit the WTS Portland website at: http://www.wtsportland.org/.

COC HELPS ENSURE SMOOTH SAILING FOR STATE MARINE BOARD

Welcoming change while honoring the agency’s history.

This is the over riding theme of the 2011-2016 strategic plan just completed for the Oregon State Marine Board.  Cogan Owens Cogan, with our subconsultant, Berger ABAM, worked closely with the board, staff and stakeholders to complete a plan which sets sights on meeting the growing challenges of serving all boaters in Oregon.  Gathering opinions and comments through interviews, surveys and meetings throughout the state, we fashioned a set of strategies, goals and action steps that will serve Oregonians well into the future.  Elaine Cogan, Ellie Fiore and Nancy Marshall were the COC professionals on this project.  Jim Gladson represented Berger ABAM.

For more information http://www.boatoregon.com/OSMB/admin/strategicplan.shtml.

COC Facilitates Contentious Community Meeting

How do you design and facilitate a community meeting on a controversial subject with 175 people who have strong and often conflicting opinions and still keep it civil and productive?  Elaine Cogan and Alisha Dishaw of Cogan Owens Cogan met that challenge recently in Union, a small community southeast of LaGrande in eastern Oregon.  The subject was an application from a national company to establish a wind farm on private property on Antelope Ridge above the city.   Working with our client, the Oregon Department of Energy, Elaine and Alisha employed several successful facilitation techniques that allowed opportunities for all who cared to express themselves within a respectful, welcoming environment during a 2 1/2 hour meeting in the town’s elementary school gymnasium.   Interested?  Read more at http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/News/Local-News/Hundreds-turn-out-for-wind-farm-hearing-in-Union.