Award Descriptions and Criteria
Recognize the hard work and honor the great projects and people building up their communities! The Western Planner provides an opportunity to recognize the great work being done across the Western United States. Awards will be presented at the annual conference.
President’s Award
The WPR President’s Award is given at the discretion of the current WPR President. It has been used to recognize particular volunteers, outstanding planners, and particularly impressive projects. Most of those who work with The Western Planner are volunteers. Recognition for many years of quality contributions, outstanding dedication, and perseverance through the challenging times and are all qualities that have been honored.
Planner of the Year Award
The award gives WPR an opportunity to honor planners who have gained respect as fellow professionals, and it identifies and recognizes the achievements that led to the winner’s selection as WP’s Planner of the Year. Nominees are invitation-only from each supporting organization of Western Planner, who submit a specific bio about the nominee to be included in our publication. A winner will be selected and honored out of this pool of top candidates. The official nomination form is found here.
Rural Innovation Award
Created in 2013 to recognize the innovative work done in smaller communities, the rural innovation award acknowledges that the challenges faced by all communities are complex. Western Planner encourages small towns to submit their efforts that deserve recognition. These nominations are particularly important to others across the West as they seek solutions for common issues. Help Western Planner to promote such efforts and bring well-deserved commendations to innovative planning efforts.
Sheldon D. Gerber Merit Award for Excellence in Environmental Planning
The Sheldon D. Gerber Merit Award for Excellence in Environmental Planning award recognizes outstanding achievements in environmental planning, for striving to improve the environment and protect the natural world, which can be in the form of a project, report, or the professional efforts of a planner or citizen planner. Nominations may be from three categories: a project or report, recognition for a planner’s contribution in environmental planning or recognition for a citizen planner’s contribution in environmental planning.
Student Planning Project of the Year
Any distinctive student plan, project, ordinance, regulation, or program showing exceptional quality may be submitted. Entries may be for any area of planning (i.e. general or comprehensive plan, transportation plan, specific area plan, master plan, historic plan, design guidelines, policy document, public outreach, etc.) and will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria above. Work submitted by a student, student group, or their educational institution must be entered in the Student Planning category. Winning entries will be awarded with one free conference registration.
Citizen Planner Award
This award recognizes a layperson who has distinguished themselves as a champion and leader of a project or program that embodies the principles of planning. The individual should have demonstrated exceptional skill at problem identification and solving, process development and implementation, and/or public outreach and communication. Above all, the planner will have conducted themselves ethically and with humor and compassion towards those they strive to benefit.
KENNETH G. WAIDO AWARD FOR PLANNING TEAM OF THE YEAR
This award was created in 2019 in memory of former board member Ken Waido who passed away in June of that year. He was a big part of the Western Planner family and a constant presence at the conferences. He was also a proud planner in Fort Collins, Colorado and worked to develop his team there. In his memory, Western Planner wants to recognize the collaborative nature of planning and the notable joint efforts of planning teams in the West. This award is for recognition of full planning teams.
STAN Steadman ARTICLE OF THE YEAR AWARD
Nominated and selected by the editorial board, this award recognizes the top article of the past year from the Western Planner journal. In 2002, the WPR Editorial Board decided to name the Article of the Year Award after The Western Planner Founder Stan Steadman. Stan was the original publisher of The Western Planner journal and served as editor for many years. Without Stan, there would not be a Western Planner Journal. While we think all of our material is noteworthy, there are those articles that stand out and deserve a second read.
Several years back, The Western Planner Editorial Board advanced the notion that there should be incentives for people to want to submit articles to The Western Planner journal. The idea of the article of the year was born. The incentive would be that contributors could feel proud to be personally recognized in their chosen field. The recipient would be identified as a superior author with a fancy plaque to be posted on the wall at his or her job site and could bolster his or her resume for potential advancement in the future. Through this award, WPR recognizes and honors those who submit superior material for the planning community’s consumption.
Lester Award
When Western Planners got together, they often shared humorous stories in misadventures that they experienced on the job. It was from these humorous stories in 1981 that the managing editors of The Western Planner created the publication's icon, "Lester, The Western Planner".
Far more tongue-in-cheek than the Planner of the Year or Merit Awards, the Lester recognizes a planner who has perhaps not distinguished, but “extinguished” themselves during the last year. Let’s face it: Being a planner in the West can be difficult. One way planners cope is by having a sense of humor about the crazy things that happen both to them and around them in the course of doing their job. The award honors those who have survived the sometimes bizarre world of planning in the West.
Please submit nominations for those who have extinguished themselves through unusual and possibly humorous events that represent the hardships Western Planners face. Please keep in mind that this is a fun award and not intended to humiliate or embarrass anyone! Make sure your nominee has a sense of humor about the situation and won’t mind it being retold.
In Memory A WPR Board member at the time of his death in May 1991, Sheldon D. Gerber inspired many of us whose lives he touched to do two things: “Go the extra distance to accomplish well what it is you set out to do, and take time to smell the roses.”
Sheldon Gerber was elected President of the Idaho Planning Association in 1987 and assumed a position on The Western Planner Editorial Board in January of that year. Sheldon's commitment to The Western Planner movement was recognized by all concerned and he served continuously until he died of cancer in 1991, including a stint as Secretary of Western Planning Resources Inc. Presented each year at the Western Planner Conference, the "Sheldon D. Gerber Special Merit Award for Excellence in Environmental Planning" was instituted in 1991 to honor the memory of Sheldon for his widely recognized achievements in environmental planning in Boise and Ada County, Idaho.
In Memory Ken Waido was instrumental in the development of The Western Planner, serving as its first president after incorporation in 1989. A member of the Western Planner family, he served as the Treasurer from 2001-2013, and a board member for 30 years (1984-2014) representing Colorado. Ken was a very active member on the Board, advocating for Western Planner, contributing articles, organizing and presenting at conferences.
Professionally, Ken served as chief planner in the City of Fort Collins from 1976-2013. He was proud of the City he worked for and shared with The Western Planner at conferences and board meetings many of the planning experiences the City faced. In his personal life, Ken was married to his wife Colleen for 46 years, the father of 4 children, and the grandfather of 7. Ken was an individual and character larger than life: he could have rounded the bases twice on home runs in Wyoming vs the World softball and was known to eat a steak as an appetizer and then another one for the main course. He will be fondly remembered and sorely missed.
