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SUMMARY:PAW 2026 Bootcamp
DESCRIPTION:Date: October 16, 2026\nTime: 9:00AM – 4:30PM\nLocation: University of Washington Tacoma, Carwein Auditorium, Keystone Building\n1754 Commerce Street, Tacoma, WA, 98402\nCost: PAW Member – $80 | Non-Member – $110 | Students – FREE\nThis Bootcamp will be a day long, deep dive, into planning basics. The intent is to supplement key skills new planners need to feel confident in their new position and provide a refresher to those who have been on the job a while.\nThe audience is expected to be land use planners new to the profession, land use planners who need a refresher, planning students, any student in a related field (architecture, landscaping, environmental science, public policy, etc.), and others who are interested in planning topics (Planning Commission, Parks Committees, etc.).\nTopics for the day include tactical de-escalation, matching message to the medium, basics of permit review, intermediate permit review, and tribal planning basics. Presenters are all working planners and planning related professionals.\nThrough interactive activities, participants will assemble implementation teams and create inclusive sample implementation plans that identify responsible parties, priorities, timelines, costs, and anticipated impacts. Facilitated discussion and storytelling will explore lessons learned from addressing major mitigation priorities— including building energy and transportation —as well as adaptation challenges such as urban heat, wildfire smoke, water-source protection, and resilient development. Attendees will leave with practical tools for building partnerships beyond the planning department, prioritizing actions, and turning climate policies into coordinated, achievable results.\nREGISTER NOW ( https://ami.jotform.com/262575287360060 )\nVIEW AGENDA ( https://files.constantcontact.com/7e672691601/e6e1cf1e-fe58-4cd3-834d-c56a06dc9aaf.pdf?rdr=true )\n \nPresenters:\n\nLindsey Sehmel, Owner/Operator, ETHOS PNW\nLindsey Sehmel, Founder of ETHOS PNW, is dedicated to advancing sustainable and fiscally responsible communities through expert land use planning and community consulting. With 19 years of experience in public process and policy development, she specializes in bridging the gap between complex municipal needs and the communities they serve. Known for her precision and practical approach to local government challenges, she leverages her deep Washington roots and executive-level training to foster respectful public discourse and strategic growth.\nLindsey began her academic journey locally, earning her degree in Urban Studies and a GIS Certification from the University of Washington Tacoma in 2007, before completing her Executive Master of Public Administration at the UW Evans School of Public Policy and Governance in Seattle. She has maintained her AICP certification since 2013.\nKristina Cerise, Planning Manager, City of Mukilteo\nKristina Cerise is the Planning Manager for the City of Mukilteo. Her team removed hundreds of pages from the Municipal Code by using clear and concise writing principles.\nKristina is an award-winning humorist and avid reader of nerdy books. Audiences find her passion for improving workplace productivity and communication contagious.\nHer writing has been featured in Working Mother, Creative Nonfiction, Planning, and Brain, Child magazines as well as the book anthology Motherhood May Cause Drowsiness.  \nDarren Gurnee, Current Planning Supervisor, Kitsap County\nI could argue, my planning and design experience exceeds 44 years – starting while in infancy and throughout my childhood.  My father as a city councilman, Director for City of Morro Bay, and owner of a multidisciplinary planning firm for 30 years (RRM Design Group) provided hours of looking at aerial photographs and topography maps during my childhood while designing regional parks or agricultural/residential clustering projects.\nMy formal experience in the planning and construction industry, recently emphasizes current planning and permit review supervision.  Before current planning, my public planning career emphasized long range planning including management of multiple code update projects.  Many of these subarea plans and code updates within Kitsap County required extensive countywide outreach campaigns and presentations.  Almost each project included a public participation plan prepared for, and presented to, the Board of County Commissioners.\nMy private planning experience includes multiple projects ranging from residential subdivisions to complex mixed-use commercial, office, industrial developments, water rights and allocation, through a balance of both private and public clients.  These projects included hands-on work assisting my clients in sensitive environmental and political settings. As with any position, this required a strong commitment to professional standards including high-quality, innovative and responsible design, technical writing, and public outreach.\nChelsea Nitsch, Environmental Planner 3, Kitsap County\nChelsea Nitsch has been an Environmental Planner with Kitsap County’s Department of Community Development since June 2025. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Central Florida, with expertise in wetland ecology and biogeochemistry. Chelsea is also enrolled in the University of Washington Wetland Science & Management Certificate Program. Her experience spans academic, federal, and local government settings, with training in USACE-compliant wetland delineation, the Washington Wetland Rating System, Ordinary High-Water Mark determinations, wetland mitigation, and salmon stewardship.\nGarrett Jackson, Planning Manager, City of Bremerton\nA graduate of the University of Washington-Tacoma, Garrett has worked in the Planning Division at the City of Bremerton for over 13 years. Experience includes land-use and environmental permitting for a number of large-scale development projects, and lead roles in updating the City Comprehensive Plan, Shoreline Master Program, Critical Areas Ordinance, and Zoning Code. Born and raised in Kitsap County, Garrett lives in Bremerton with his wife Erin (a brilliant Occupational Therapist) and two feral children Eleanor & Lucille.\nScott Diener, Planning Manager, SEPA Responsible Official, Kitsap County\nScott Diener has held several planning positions in his career, including as a planning director with a city in Alaska, a planning consultant for a NGO and USAID-Cambodia, a pro bono planning consultant with the French Embassy in Cambodia, and most recently as a manager with Kitsap County’s Dept of Community Development.  Scott’s Kitsap County experience includes being a manager, at various times, for Natural Resources, Development Engineering, and currently as manager for Planning, which includes both Current/Environmental Planning and Long-Range Planning.  Scott has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Oregon in Planning, Public Policy, and Management.\nMatthew Chastain, Planner, City of Kent\nMatthew Chastain is a Current Planner with the City of Kent’s Economic & Community Development Department. He began with the City as a Planning Intern in August 2022 and advanced to a full Planner role in June 2024. Matthew holds a Bachelor of Science in Urban Design, with a minor in Sustainable Urban Development, and a GIS Certificate from the University of Washington Tacoma, as well as being a graduate of the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland.\nLarry Harala, Principal Planner-Current Planning, City of Tacoma\nBridget Ray, GMS Tribal Planning Liaison & Coordination Manager, Washington State Department of Commerce\nBridget Ray (Ojibwe/michif) is the Tribal Planning Coordination Manager in the Growth Management Services Unit at Washington State Department of Commerce where she is responsible for the policy implementation of the tribal coordination requirements of the Growth Management Act (GMA). Part of a much larger agency effort to partner and support state indigenous peoples, Bridget works with tribes and local governments on comp plan collaboration and GMA implementation. Ms. Ray has over two decades of experience working with tribes and Native communities in the Pacific Northwest Region focusing mostly on sustainable integrated green infrastructure and environmental planning. She serves on the Board of the Na’ah Illahee Fund, facilitates the Salish Sea Collective and is an active planner/participant in the annual Tribal Canoe Journey. When she is not working, Bridget spends her time reading, making traditional medicines and exploring the Salish Sea.\nRobin Proebsting, Code Writer, King County\nRobin has worked as an urban planner both in permit review and long-range planning. She has worked for the cities of Mercer Island, Sammamish, and Corvallis, Oregon and currently works on land use legislation at King County. In her work with the APAWA Legislative Committee, she has a particular interest in housing policy and using urban planning tools to create a sustainable built environment for all.\nMarla Powers, Environmental Planner, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe\nMarla Powers has been the Environmental Planner for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe since December 2021 where she is responsible for tracking, reviewing, and commenting on projects that may impact sovereign tribal treaty rights and/or impact the environment.  She is responsible for participating in policy level changes at all levels of government that advance the protection of and enhancement of those same sovereign tribal treaty rights and environmental protections.  Marla is the point of contact for the Culvert Case and is regularly visiting streams and culverts with WSDOT, WDFW, and other partners to ensure projects meet the needs of salmon and salmon habitat.  Prior to holding this position, she worked as a land use planner for two decades in jurisdictions across Washington State.  Most recently she worked as an Associate Planner for the City of Poulsbo from 2016-2021.\nMarla received her Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning in 2001 from Eastern Washington University.  She will be perpetually short a thesis, but would otherwise hold a master’s in communication and leadership studies from Gonzaga University.\nShe holds the position of Past President for the Planning Association of Washington (PAW) and has been on the Board of Directors since 2015.  In 2023 she was elected Treasurer for the Peninsula Section of the Washington State Chapter of the American Planning Association.\nWhen she is not working, Marla spends her time with her family, puttering in her garden, reading, and exploring the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsula.\n \nModerator:\nMarla Powers, Environmental Planner, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe\n \nYou are invited to join us for a PAW Hoppy Hour!\nDate: October 16, 2026\nTime: 4:30pm\nLocation: 7 Seas Brewery and Taproom | 2101 Jefferson Ave, Tacoma, WA 98402\nThis is a planning meet and greet event for professional planners, student planners, and all adjacent professions and academic areas of interest. A PAW training Bootcamp will be finishing just before this event and we hope to provide a casual gathering with a fusion of students, professors, and professionals at this Hoppy Hour! Beverages are self pay.\n \n \n
URL:https://planningassociationofwa.org/events/paw-2026-bootcamp/
LOCATION:1754 Commerce Street, Tacoma, WA 98402
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