Program and Speaker Biographies

9:30-10:00 Registration
10:00-10:05 Intro/Welcome
10:05 ­ 10:55 Storytelling facilitated by Sabrina Klein, Creative Education Consulting
10:55-11:15 Keynote: Focused Growth for the Bay Area, Ted Droettboom, MTC/ABAG/Air District 11:15-11:25: Transit Corridors, Rebecca Kaplan, AC Transit Board
11:25-11:40 Break
11:40- 12:35 Panel
   Transit/Land-Use Connection: James Corless: MTC
   A Citizen¹s Perspective on the General Plan: Art Clark
Economics of Density: Muhammad Nadhiri, AF Evans Development
Affordability through Land Management: Ian Winters: Northern California Land Trust
What does density look like? John Holtzclaw, Sierra Club
12:35-1:05 Q&A
1:05-1:55 Workshop facilitated by Sabrina Klein
1:55-2:00 Call to Action/Closing

CALL TO ACTION
 
Attend an ULTRA meeting; next meeting Monday April 2nd, 7-9 pm (email info@ultraoakland.org for details)
   
Get on the ULTRA mailing list; sign-up sheet at registration table, or email info@ultraoakland.org
 
Participate in our Neighborhood Solutions Series; a series of issue-driven workshops where residents can work with experts to address a variety of issues from affordable housing to parking.
 
Parking Workshop, with Rebecca Kaplan, late April, details TBA  
Affordable Housing Workshop, sponsored by East Bay Housing Organizations, during Affordable Housing Week (May 12-21), exact date and time TBA  
More to come! (let us know if you have a suggestion for a workshop or are available to lead one!)
 
Check our website for details, http://www.ultraoakland.org , or sign our sign up sheet for updates!


BIOGRAPHIES

Ted Droettboom is Regional Planning Program Director for three San Francisco Bay Area agencies: the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).   A native of Tacoma, Washington, Ted has degrees from the University of Washington and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Ted has worked as a planner and local-government manager in Washington State, Maryland, British Columbia, and the Bahamas.  Ted spent two dozen years in Vancouver, B.C., where he was Associate Director of Planning, Deputy City Manager, and General Manager of Community Services.

James Corless is a Senior Planner for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the transportation planning, financing, and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.  Mr. Corless oversees the agency¹s efforts to better coordinate transportation and land use issues by providing grants and incentives to local governments to promote infill housing and transit-oriented development.  .

Arthur Clark is a native Oaklander. Art is a registered California Architect and current Vice President of MWM Architects, Inc. of Oakland.  He is a former Oakland City Planning Commissioner (2001).  He lead the Neighborhoods Working Group of the General Plan Congress during its development of the Land Use and Transportation Element Update of the General Plan in the late 1990¹s.  He is currently serving as Vice-Chair of the Central City East Project Area Committee. After nearly 17 years at MWM, Art is focusing on a private practice specializing in residential, religious, and light commercial architecture.

Muhammad Nadhiri, Senior Project Manager, focuses primarily on mixed-use development at AF Evans Development, Inc. He is presently responsible for the development of two downtown-revitalization projects totaling over 400 housing units and 60,000 square feet of retail, and covering five city blocks.  While working previously for Wilson Meany Sullivan LLC in San Francisco, Muhammad managed the development of a number of mixed-use projects, and worked as a member of the project team for the historic renovation of the Ferry Building.

Rebecca "Reb" Kaplan lives in North Oakland, and has been active on transit, bike/ped, and community-building for many years.  She has served as an advocate and organizer at the non-profit Transportation and Land Use Coalition, as a State Assembly Legislative Aide, and as an elected official on the AC Transit Board.  She holds a Master's in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University and a law degree from Stanford.  Kaplan is the only Green Party elected official and the only openly-gay elected official in Oakland.

Ian Winters is the Executive Director of the Northern California Land Trust. His professional history includes a wide range of community organizing and community land trust experience; as well as a background in construction, development and design. He was originally trained as a photographer/filmmaker and art/architectural historian at Tufts University and the Boston Museum School. Outside of the NCLT he maintains an active career as an exhibiting artist and photographer.   

John Holtzclaw is a consultant in transportation, urban development, energy consumption and air quality. He chairs the Sierra Club¹s Transportation Committee, helped organize and is on the board of the San Francisco League of Conservation Voters, and on other environmental boards.  His recent research, for the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Center for Neighborhood Technology and the Surface Transportation Policy Project, has been into how residential density, transit service, and pedestrian and bicycle friendliness reduce auto ownership and driving. It is oriented toward designing convenient, compact, transit-oriented, mixed-use cities, thereby reducing consumption, auto use and waste. He has a Ph.D. in Urban Sociology, B.S. in Engineering Physics and M.S. in Nuclear Engineering, and a former life designing nuclear power plants.

Sabrina Klein's Creative Education Consulting is a sole proprietorship serving the San Francisco Bay Area non-profit community with consulting services including arts learning workshops for schools, community groups, arts providers and government agencies as well as board facilitation, preparation for strategic planning and mission assessment.