American Planning Association, California Chapter, Northern
"Moving On"

John Steere, AICP, formerly with PBS&J (EIP Associates), is now Project Manager/Sr. Planner with PMC in their Oakland office. John holds a Master of City and Regional Planning/Landscape Architecture from UC Berkeley and a BA, Visual and Environmental Studies with Psychology, from Harvard. He will be working primarily in PMC’s Environmental Services Group and will also contribute to their Climate Change Services Group. “They’re a collaborative and dynamic group of people. It’s a pleasure to be part of it and to bike to work daily, too.”

Vu-Bang Nguyen, AICP, is the new Land Use Program Coordinator at Urban Habitat, Oakland. He was previously Project Manager at Santa Clara Development Company, San José. Vu-Bang holds a BA in Architecture and a Master of City and Regional Planning, both from UC Berkeley.

Crescentia Brown, AICP, has been promoted by ESA to director of community development for the San Francisco Bay Area region. Crescentia will oversee ESA’s community development practice in the firm’s Bay Area offices, including San Francisco, Oakland, and Petaluma. Prior to joining Environmental Science Associates in 2004, Crescentia was a supervising planner with the City of Oakland planning department where her work ranged from major development projects to single-family residential design review. She has a BA in Landscape Architecture and a Certificate of Regional Planning, both from Kansas State University, and an MUP from the University of Kansas.

Lisa Feldstein, a Ph.D. student at the Department of City & Regional Planning, UC Berkeley, was named a Friesen Fellow for 2008–2009 for her role as a leader in undergraduate education. The Friesen Fellowship is endowed by Carmel P. and Howard R. Friesen as part of the Carmel P. Friesen Chair in Urban Studies.

Jennifer Johnson has been promoted to the position of director of ESA’s San Francisco Bay Area Energy Group. Jennifer will direct ESA’s energy practice from the firm’s Bay Area offices, including San Francisco, Oakland, and Petaluma. Prior to joining Environmental Science Associates, Jennifer was a project manager for Hansen Environmental, Inc., Walnut Creek. Jennifer holds a BS in Environmental Policy from Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and a JD in Environmental Law from the Vermont Law School in South Royalton.

San José State University’s Kristy Le is one of 58 graduating planning students nationwide recognized by APA for outstanding attainment in the study of planning during the academic year 2008–2009. Each accredited planning program convenes a jury to make selections and to schedule the award presentation at the school. Kristy focused her studies in SJSU’s Masters in Urban and Regional Planning Program on environmental planning and community development. She has been an environmental consultant with David J. Powers and Associates, San José, since 2003.

Michael Moore is the new director of planning and building for the City of Mill Valley, a community of 14,000 in southern Marin County. Mike has a Masters in City Planning from San Diego State University and has been a local government planner for 28 years, most recently as the Community Development Director for the City of Petaluma, and prior to that, as the Director of Planning, Building and Public Works for the City of Sonoma in the 1990s. Mike is the chair of the Bay Area Planning Directors Association and a member of the Association of Bay Area Governments Regional Planning Committee. He has been a member of the California Roundtable and its financial officer since 1997.

Laura Dodson Spidell, a graduate of UC Santa Cruz and formerly with the cities of Santa Cruz (senior planner, 2000-2005) and San José (Planner II, 1997-2000), received her Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University in June. After moving to Oregon and having son Zachary (who just turned two), Laura decided to focus on motherhood and graduate school for awhile. She hopes to return to the public sector in Portland, once public agencies start hiring again.

F. Kenya Wheeler, AICP, formerly Senior Planner with the Bay Area Rapid Transit District has joined Organizing for America, an arm of the Democratic National Committee. As the California Deputy Field Director, he will be working to support the growth of volunteer leaders to engage grassroots support for President Obama’s initiatives. In his new position, Kenya will be splitting his time between Northern and Southern California, but he promises to continue to be active in the Bay Area. Kenya has been Northern Section’s Regional Advisory Council (RAC) chair for San Francisco since November 2005. He earned his BA in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz and followed that with a year of graduate studies in city and regional planning at UC Berkeley. Prior to BART, Kenya worked for Parsons Brinkerhoff/PB Placemaking in San Francisco.

Lucy Armentrout, AICP, LEED-AP, formerly Senior Environmental Manager and Planner with PBS&J, is now with Serco North America, as Congestion Management Program Manager for the San Francisco smart parking system. As project manager she will be working to support the increased use of alternative modes of transportation in San Francisco and — by limiting circling time as drivers search for parking spots — reducing the toxic air contaminants and greenhouse gases emitted by cars. Lucy is the Membership Director for APA California Northern and serves on the Northern Section Board. She holds a BA degree from UC Berkeley and has done doctoral work and lectured at UC Davis in socio-cultural anthropology.

Connie Galambos Malloy is now Director of Programs, Urban Habitat. She was formerly Coordinator, The Social Equity Caucus, Urban Habitat. Urban Habitat builds power in low-income communities and communities of color by combining education, advocacy, research, and coalition building to advance environmental, economic, and social justice in the Bay Area. Connie is also the Planning Diversity Director for APA California Northern.

Licínia McMorrow, AICP, has accepted a position as Assistant Project Manager for Bayview/Hunter’s Point at the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. She had been  the Energy Officer for the City of San José Office of Sustainability. Licínia also is stepping down as South Bay RAC Chair for Northern Section. She holds a BA in Urban Studies from Macalester College, St. Paul, and a Master of Planning, Concentration in Social and Community Development, from USC.

Juan Borrelli, AICP, Northern Section’s Immediate Past Director, is Statewide Programs Coordinator for the California Chapter. He is working under Carol Barrett, FAICP, the chapter’s Professional Development Director, and with each of the sections to assist with professional development and AICP/CM continuing education efforts at the state level. Juan has updated the Calendar of Events at www.calapa.org to identify local and no- or low-cost AICP CM programs and AICP exam preparation training sessions across the state. In his day job, Juan leads neighborhood and community planning efforts for the City of San José Planning Division.

Licínia McMorrow, AICP, formerly Planner II, Planning Division, City of San José, is now the Energy Officer in the City’s Office of Sustainability. Licínia, who will be implementing the progressive energy-efficiency goals of the City’s Green Vision, has a BA in urban studies (Macalester College, St. Paul, MN) and a master of planning (University of Southern California). She is Northern Section’s Regional Advisory Council (RAC) director for the South Bay.

Sonoma County planner Pete Parkinson, AICP, has been appointed by the California Air Resources Board to represent APA California on the newly assembled Regional Targets Advisory Committee (RTAC) created by SB 375. Parkinson is director of Sonoma County’s Permit and Resource Management Department and vice president of policy and legislation for APA California. As an RTAC member, Parkinson will provide recommendations from the perspective of a practicing professional planner on factors to be considered and methodologies to be used in the target-setting process.

Elizabeth Caraker, AICP, formerly senior planner and senior associate in RBF’s Monterey Bay office, is now principal planner for planning, engineering, and environmental compliance, City of Monterey. Before joining RBF, Ms. Caraker was planning services manager for the City of Marina, and before that, worked for several public agencies since 1993. She holds a bachelor of science degree from Cal Poly SLO, and a masters in community and regional planning from the University of Oregon.

After 11 years of serving clients and leading NRM Environmental Consulting (Berkeley and San Francisco), Patricia Berryhill has joined HNTB Corporation as Northern California Environmental Planning Director. Patricia brings over 20 years of diverse research and consulting experience. Her focus has been providing clients with thorough environmental documentation to speed compliance for infrastructure and environmental restoration projects subject to local, state, and federal regulations. Ms. Berryhill holds a bachelor of science degree in conservation of natural resources from UC Berkeley.

Tom Ford, AICP, has opened The Office of Tom Ford to provide urban design and planning services for clients in California. Tom was formerly a principal at Design, Community & Environment. Before that he was a project manager and town planner at Calthorpe Associates. Tom has a master of architecture degree from UC Berkeley and an undergraduate degree from UC Davis.

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