NKAPC staff members have a long history of giving back to this community and to their professions—and ultimately Kenton County—through service to organizations that help further NKAPC’s goals, improve their skills, and maintain their professional certifications. That history continues through to today.
“Our elected officials have expected us to be involved in local and state organizations since back in the early 70’s,” said Dennis Gordon, FAICP, NKAPC’s executive director. “These involvements—which have included serving as board members and officers, state presidents, and even as a national president—provide these staff with a wealth of experiences that ultimately benefit Kenton County. Staff get to burnish their credentials and gain leadership experiences that help them be more effective in their jobs.”
Five NKAPC staffers have been elected or appointed to leadership roles with outside organizations recently.
Martin Scribner, AICP, the agency’s planning and zoning director, was elected chair of the New Urbanism Division of the American Planning Association (APA). The APA provides leadership for citizen and professional planners in the development of vital communities. The New Urbanism Division provides planners, public officials, and other decision makers with the information, support, and tools needed to eliminate restrictive conventional development regulations and allow New Urbanism patterns to be incorporated in all communities.
Sharmili Reddy, AICP, planning manager at NKAPC was elected chair of the Northern Kentucky Forum for 2014 after serving on the board for two years. The Forum is a nonpartisan, non-advocacy partnership whose mission is to inform, educate, and engage citizens of Northern Kentucky in free forums on topics, issues, current events, and policies that affect Northern Kentucky. As chair, she will oversee events scheduled to be held in 2014 and assist board members in planning and implementing events on topics that are pertinent to the Northern Kentucky community.
James Fausz, AICP, principal planner at NKAPC, was elected a regional representative to the board of APA Kentucky Chapter. In this role, he will represent citizen and professional planners in northern and northeastern Kentucky. Fausz looks forward to the opportunity of setting up and coordinating training events and networking sessions so that planners in our area can be engaged. Aside from representing planners and planning events, Fausz will be responsible for working on the chapter development plan, reviewing and adopting the annual budget, and helping set overall direction.
Principal planner Jenna LeCount, AICP, has served as a member of the Leadership Steering Committee for LEGACY for more than a year. LEGACY is a young professionals’ network in Greater Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky which provides opportunities for YPs to develop professionally and personally and to contribute more fully to their community. LeCount was recently appointed as the Community Committee chair where she will focus her efforts on projects intended to impact and improve the Greater Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky area. Currently, LeCount is leading this committee to establish an annual Row-n-Run event to enhance LEGACY’s visibility and outreach in the community.
John Lauber, one of NKAPC’s senior building code officials, was re-elected to the office of Treasurer for Northern Kentucky Building Inspectors Association (NKBIA). The NKBIA is an association dedicated to improving the standards of building code enforcement practices and establishing uniform interpretations of all applicable codes in Northern Kentucky. NKBIA’s mission is to bring together individuals engaged in the administration and enforcement of building and other related codes to share information, experience and policy, exchange ideas, discuss mutual problems, and establish uniform interpretation of all applicable codes.