December 18, 2007 APA Honors Washington State Planner With 2008 Distinguished Contribution Award WASHINGTON, DC — The American Planning Association (APA) today presented its prestigious Distinguished Contribution Award to Joseph W. Tovar, a Washington State planner and president of APA's Washington Chapter, for his leadership, dogged determination, and selfless sacrifice in rallying opposition to Initiative 933, an anti-fairness property rights ballot initiative rejected by voters in 2006. "Joe's level of commitment was unsurpassed," said National Planning Awards Jury Chairperson Carol Rhea, AICP. "His efforts energized and united the planning community throughout Washington in helping voters understand the risks I-933 posed to their communities." Tovar will receive his award at a luncheon ceremony April 30 during APA's 2008 National Planning Conference. A 30-minute video about all 11 of the 2008 National Planning Excellence, Achievement, and Leadership Awardees will be shown at the luncheon. Accomplishments of the award recipients also will be highlighted in the April 2008 issue of Planning magazine and on the APA website. Ballot initiatives such as I-933 can severely restrict a community's ability to set and implement land-use policies and decisions that protect everyone's interests, not just those of a selected number of property owners. The proposed initiative would have, in effect, required communities to have to pay property owners in order to adopt or enforce land use and environmental protections. Tovar and planners throughout the state recognized how potentially costly and devastating this measure would be to residents' quality of life if the measure was enacted. Tovar's leadership skills and ability to talk about the issue in easily understood terms made a big difference in voters' understanding of the contributions planning and planners provide communities. Without his galvanizing efforts, the planning community's response would not have been nearly as extensive or effective. He spent hundreds of hours of his own time developing the chapter's strategy, sending out weekly emails to members to coordinate their efforts, meeting with editorial boards, writing newspaper opinion pieces, participating in debates, editing the chapter's detailed analysis of the initiative, and marshalling allied organizations and members of APA's Washington Chapter against I-933. "Joe made the benefits of planning come to life," emphasized Shane Hope, Planning and Development Director for Mountlake Terrace, Washington. "He helped put the truth out about a proposal that would have cost the public dearly, and he did it in a way that people could understand." For a list of all 2008 National Planning Excellence, Achievement, and Leadership Award recipients, visit www.planning.org/awards/2008winners.htm. APA's national awards program, considered to be the profession's highest honor, began more than 50 years ago to recognize outstanding community plans, and planning leaders.
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