The Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA Texas or APATX) has identified its top priorities for 2022 and this event was to help our membership prepare for the 88th Session of the Texas Legislature. These priorities are based on the experience and insights of the organization’s public and private private‐sector members, who use their expertise and
innovation to shape livable and resilient Texas communities reflecting the character and values of each local city, town or rural area. Online surveys of our membership in 2020 helped develop the priorities described here. This event allowed participants to learn successful strategies for working with the Texas Legislature, including how to prepare our message so that it will be heard when legislators are in session in January 2023. Leadership from Advocacy Committees in Development Character, Annexation, Environment & Healthy Communities, Housing, Transportation and Economic Development presented top issues of concern in past and future legislative sessions, and invited participants to join the discussion of how to shape our message and accomplish our priorities in the coming year.
8:30 – 9:00
Welcome from APA Texas President
Heather Nick, AICP
9:00 – 9:15
Advocacy Committee Overview
Craig Farmer, FAICP/ Kimberly Miller, AICP
9:15 – 9:30
BREAK
9:30 – 10:45
How Does the Texas Legislature Work? How to Craft a Message that Legislators will Hear (Salient Strategies)
Chris Sanchez
10:45 - 11:00
BREAK
Work Sessions by Topic:
These will be led by each Committee Chair, beginning with a debrief on accomplishments in 2021, summary of APA National policy positions, followed by facilitated discussion of issues for advocacy in 2022
11:00 – 12:15
Transportation/ Economic Development Policy
Robert McHaney, AICP, CTP
12:15 – 1:30
LUNCH
1:30 – 2:45
Development Character / Annexation
Carissa Cox, AICP, Principal Planner, MOSAIC
Michael Grace, AICP
Craig Farmer, FAICP
2:45 – 3:00
BREAK
3:00 – 4:15
Environment & Healthy Communities / Housing
Matt Bucchin, AICP, LEED
4:15 – 5:00
Summary and Logistics for Legislator Meetings
Carissa Cox
Carissa Cox, AICP
Carissa is the founder and principal planner of MOSAIC, a planning and development services firm based in San Antonio, Texas. She has been serving public and private clients in Texas for many years, working with communities of all shapes, sizes and conditions. She works with her clients …
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Carissa Cox, AICP
Carissa is the founder and principal planner of MOSAIC, a planning and development services firm based in San Antonio, Texas. She has been serving public and private clients in Texas for many years, working with communities of all shapes, sizes and conditions. She works with her clients to create plans, codes and ordinances that can accommodate changing market conditions while preserving community character. She is a certified planner, holding a master’s degree in Urban Geography from the University of North Texas and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Texas A&M University. Carissa is a native Texan and is fluent in Spanish.
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Michael Grace
Michael Grace, AICP, MRCP
Mr. Grace is Assistant City Manager & Chief Economic Development Officer for the City of Farris, Texas. He was previously the Director, Unincorporated Area Services for Dallas County where he oversaw the daily operations of Dallas County’s Department of Unincorporated Area Services, including its building and …
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Michael Grace, AICP, MRCP
Mr. Grace is Assistant City Manager & Chief Economic Development Officer for the City of Farris, Texas. He was previously the Director, Unincorporated Area Services for Dallas County where he oversaw the daily operations of Dallas County’s Department of Unincorporated Area Services, including its building and floodplain permitting (including SWPPPs), engineering (development review), third party vendors, extraterritorial jurisdiction agreements, inter-agency coordination including TCEQ, intergovernmental relations, nuisance abatement, construction and pre-construction activities, subdivision regulation, and other permit related functions; per COVID-19 pandemic, launched, implemented and managed, Dallas County Tenant Hotline operations (complaints database, resident engagement and technology platforms; staffing, and website). He has also served as Director of Development Services for several DFW area communities. Mr. Grace brings extensive experience in economic development, land entitlement, and pre-development project guidance, positioning and representation; intergovernmental coordination/relations and local government management operations as well as site selection assistance and front end business development to his work in the planning profession.
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Craig Farmer
Craig Farmer, FAICP
Craig Farmer, FAICP, Craig Farmer, FAICP is an independent planning consultant who has served as the Director of Planning and Development for the City of Weatherford, as a consultant for Freese and Nichols and for Dunkin, Sefko and Associates. His public sector experience is in managing Planning, …
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Craig Farmer, FAICP
Craig Farmer, FAICP, Craig Farmer, FAICP is an independent planning consultant who has served as the Director of Planning and Development for the City of Weatherford, as a consultant for Freese and Nichols and for Dunkin, Sefko and Associates. His public sector experience is in managing Planning, Public Works, Engineering, Storm Water, Building Inspection and Transportation Departments. Craig also served as a Deputy City Manager / Department Head in the cities of Lubbock, Carrollton, Grand Prairie and McAllen. Craig has served on the National Board of Directors of the American Planning Association (APA), the Board of Directors of the Texas Municipal League and as president of the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association and the City Planner’s Association of Texas.
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Christina Garcia
Robert McHaney AICP, CTP, ENV SP, Chief Of Integrated Planning
Mr. McHaney serves on the executive team that develops and achieves The Goodman Corporation’s strategic goals and objectives. His primary responsibilities are to break down the traditional “silos” that have formed in our profession and integrate TGC’s different disciplines: program …
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Robert McHaney AICP, CTP, ENV SP, Chief Of Integrated Planning
Mr. McHaney serves on the executive team that develops and achieves The Goodman Corporation’s strategic goals and objectives. His primary responsibilities are to break down the traditional “silos” that have formed in our profession and integrate TGC’s different disciplines: program and planning, engineering, traffic modeling, urban design, and public policy. By fostering collaboration among professionals, Mr. McHaney has expanded opportunities for TGC to implement cross-discipline approaches and processes. He believes that a rounded approach is needed to provide meaningful solutions to today’s complex transportation needs. As part of the executive team, Mr. McHaney focuses on staff and resource development. He improves staff retention by mentoring staff, developing skill sets, encouraging training, and articulating personal goals and professional mission and vision.
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Robert McHaney
Robert McHaney AICP, CTP, ENV SP, Chief Of Integrated Planning
Mr. McHaney serves on the executive team that develops and achieves The Goodman Corporation’s strategic goals and objectives. His primary responsibilities are to break down the traditional “silos” that have formed in our profession and integrate TGC’s different disciplines: program …
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Robert McHaney AICP, CTP, ENV SP, Chief Of Integrated Planning
Mr. McHaney serves on the executive team that develops and achieves The Goodman Corporation’s strategic goals and objectives. His primary responsibilities are to break down the traditional “silos” that have formed in our profession and integrate TGC’s different disciplines: program and planning, engineering, traffic modeling, urban design, and public policy. By fostering collaboration among professionals, Mr. McHaney has expanded opportunities for TGC to implement cross-discipline approaches and processes. He believes that a rounded approach is needed to provide meaningful solutions to today’s complex transportation needs. As part of the executive team, Mr. McHaney focuses on staff and resource development. He improves staff retention by mentoring staff, developing skill sets, encouraging training, and articulating personal goals and professional mission and vision.
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Matt Bucchin
Matt Bucchin, AICP, LEED Green Associate
is currently a Regional Practice Leader for Planning with Halff Associates, Inc., at the Austin office. He has 25 years of public and private sector experience at the city, state, and special district levels of government. Over the last 11 years, Matt has worked …
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Matt Bucchin, AICP, LEED Green Associate
is currently a Regional Practice Leader for Planning with Halff Associates, Inc., at the Austin office. He has 25 years of public and private sector experience at the city, state, and special district levels of government. Over the last 11 years, Matt has worked as a planning consultant and project manager on comprehensive, park, corridor, active transportation and downtown master planning processes and zoning and land development code projects. He also has leadership roles in Halff’s smart city and community resilience efforts. Immediately prior to his private sector planning experience, Matt spent five years leading the planning division for a fast-growing, almost 200,000-person county in metropolitan Atlanta and several years working with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources as a natural resources planner. The combination of these past experiences has provided him with extensive expertise in drafting plans and code that reflect innovative and leading-edge planning principles, while at the same time being sensitive to local political culture and imperatives.
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Chris Sanchez
Chris Sanchez, Salient Strategies Senior Partner
Mr. Sanchez has been engaged in Texas State Government since 2007, with positions ranging Legislative Director for a State representative. While working for members of the Texas Legislature, he developed and implemented legislative priorities, messaged office goals and accomplishments to the public and served …
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Chris Sanchez, Salient Strategies Senior Partner
Mr. Sanchez has been engaged in Texas State Government since 2007, with positions ranging Legislative Director for a State representative. While working for members of the Texas Legislature, he developed and implemented legislative priorities, messaged office goals and accomplishments to the public and served staff to key legislative committees, including House Appropriations and Sunset Commission He has served as a campaign manager, chief of staff and legislative consultant, first through Apex Public Affairs, and now with his own firm, Salient Strategies. As principal of Salient Strategies, he has been assisting the Texas APA to identify, develop, and advocate for the profession’s legislative needs, while helping APA create, build, and maintain relationships with policy decision makers.
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Kimberly Miller
Kimberly Miller, AICP
Ms. Miller is a Certified Professional Planner with 22 years of experience in the public and private sectors. She began her career at the City of Austin, serving as the master planner for the redevelopment of the 700-acre Mueller Austin property, now the City’s most successful urban …
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Kimberly Miller, AICP
Ms. Miller is a Certified Professional Planner with 22 years of experience in the public and private sectors. She began her career at the City of Austin, serving as the master planner for the redevelopment of the 700-acre Mueller Austin property, now the City’s most successful urban village. In New York City, as the primary planner for the Municipal Art Society, she developed a greenway and urban design plan for the Brooklyn Waterfront that helped lead to the creation of a multimillion dollar greenway on the East River waterfront. Also in New York, Miller managed the design of a 3-D GIS model to guide the location of housing in post-9/11 Manhattan. After Hurricane Katrina, Ms. Miller relocated to the Gulf Coast to build the capacity of local community development organizations recovering from the storm, and transitioned to an environmental engineering firm, where she prepared plans to mitigate natural hazards, assess and adapt to changing sea levels, restore degraded stream and marsh areas as well as other local, state and regional planning and policy efforts promoting resilience, sustainable growth, natural resource management and municipal planning. Since joining Halff, she has helped to integrate the firm’s Landscape Architecture and Planning and Water Resource divisions to promote increased community resilience to natural disasters.
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