A Message From the Chapter President - Spring 2020

Aloha APA Members,

I hope you and your families are doing well and staying healthy during this unprecedented time.  In addition to the humanitarian impact of COVID-19, the coronavirus pandemic has far reaching impacts for our local communities.  Planning will be critical for response and recovery.  From public health to economic resilience and housing, planners will have a role in shaping the recovery.  The pandemic is also changing the way we do our work and engage with communities and stakeholders.  APA continues to provide information and resources to address the current environment and prepare for the future.  I encourage you to review the resources put out by APA National on their website.

The health and well-being of our members is of utmost importance to us.  For this reason, APA Hawaii will focus on virtual programming until it is safe for us to connect again in person.  We will be resuming our lunch programs in a virtual format.  Please be on the lookout for more information on our first virtual lunch program later in June or early July.  

APA has also been working closely with the Office of Planning on this year’s Hawaii Congress of Planning Officials (HCPO) conference.  While a traditional in-person conference will not be possible this year, we are pleased to inform you that planning is underway for a modified virtual conference in September or October.  The virtual conference will consist of a series of lunch-time webinars over the course of a week, with a focus on topics relevant to current conditions.  Please stay tuned for more information.

Our annual APA Awards program is also still moving forward this year.  The awards will be presented as part of the virtual HCPO conference during the fall.  

I look forward to a time when we can all be together again and enjoy each other’s fellowship.  Until then, hope to see you online for one of our virtual programs! 

Mahalo,

Tessa Munekiyo Ng, AICP

Chapter President