ILAPA News BURST! Chicago Metro Section Report

Chicago Metro Section Report by Allison Laff, AICP

	Happy New Year! Thank you for choosing me as your new CMS President. Over the past couple of years, I have had the pleasure of serving as the Secretary for the CMS section and in the process was able to meet and work with a lot of great people, including Michael Mays (Immediate Past President), Anne Kane (former Vice-President), and Vijay Gadde (former Treasurer and current Vice-President). I look forward to continuing these relationships, as well as building new ones with other CMS members and the new CMS Executive Board, including Julie Summers (Secretary) and Heather Tabbert (Treasurer), who are both newly elected to their positions. 2007 Annual Program Calendar: As I noted in my position statement, I believe one of the key roles of the CMS Section is to offer monthly sessions to area planners highlighting current planning issues and trends in a setting that allows for networking opportunities with other professionals. For 2007, we will build off the success of the 2006 Annual Program Calendar by establishing a month-by-month listing of 2007 programs by topic, date, location, and time. This calendar will be distributed in late January so that you can reserve a spot on your calendar now to attend several monthly events in 2007! Thanks again to the Program Committee and Michael Mays for leading the charge on developing the 2007 Annual Program Calendar and, as always, any suggestions to improve these sessions are appreciated. Hopefully 2007 will be the best year yet! January CMS Event: The first CMS event for 2007 will be held on Tuesday, January 30th at 5:30 p.m. and will focus on the topic of sprawl. The event will be co-sponsored with the Alumni Association from UIC's Department of Regional Planning. Mark this event on your calendar today and keep an eye out for a flyer (to be distributed shortly) which provides more details! Other Initiatives: If you have any other ideas for activities that might be interesting for the CMS Section, please share them. You can contact me directly at laffa@naperville.il.us or (630) 420-6107, or any of the other CMS Executive Board members via the contact information listed on the ILAPA webpage. I look forward to working with you in the upcoming years!
	Allison Laff, AICP City of Naperville 400 S. Eagle Street Naperville, IL 60540 Phone: 630.420.6107 Fax: 630.420.6657 laffa@naperville.il.us