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Public Participation, Community Engagement and Facilitation
- Trained staff, designed and facilitated a series of public meetings for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) pertaining to proposed uranium mining expansion in and around the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
- Facilitated a multi-stakeholder meeting among BLM, Southern Nevada Water Authority, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and other major stakeholders to resolve issues on a multi-year environmental study in Nevada.
- Moderator for two City of Peoria AZ PACE Conference panels dealing with citizen engagement and the role of business in public involvement.
- Co-designed and facilitated an Arizona Tribal/Federal Highway Administration/Arizona Department of Transportation Section 106 Collaborative Workshop for the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (USIECR).
- Managing an extensive public engagement project and facilitated 14 public meetings in as many locations for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) environmental study of a major groundwater conveyance for the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
- Public Engagement advisor to Arizona State University’s CanalScape project.
- Strategic Communication advisor to the Center for the Future of Arizona
- International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Representative to the SOND2 Conference in Washington D.C.
- Featured speaker for New Innovations in Public Participation: An International Symposium on the State of the Art and Best Practices for Engaging Citizens sponsored by the BC Chapter of the International Association for Public Participation in Vancouver in 2009
- Keynote speaker for the City of Glendale Leadership Forum and Spark Awards for Citizens Advisory Commission on Neighborhoods in June 2009
- Conducted public involvement training for statewide CDBG coordinators on behalf of the Arizona Department of Housing.
- John Godec is an Executive Board Director, course developer and an original global master trainers for the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2).
- Worked with the City of Surprise, Arizona, GRA assembled a public participation team to work with elected officials and planning staff to develop and execute a series of public events to collect public input and build consensus for the city’s General Plan Update. Plan met with citywide consensus and was adopted by City Council.
- Conducting an extensive public involvement and information effort in conjunction with the re-construction of the Grand, Glendale and 59th Avenue intersection located adjacent to historic downtown Glendale, Arizona in 2005. Project was heralded by neighbors, officials and affected businesses as a most successful project and collaboration.
- Managed public involvement effort for Red Mountain Freeway, Power to University, initial design concept. Effort resulted in active citizen and public support for the design of two new modern roundabout traffic interchanges in 2003 and 2004. Project was successfully constructed and now in operation.
- Managed public involvement effort and successfully facilitated a series of public meetings in conjunction with the General Plan Update for Mohave County, Arizona in 2004 and 2005. General Plan was adopted with public input.
- Managed and facilitated an agency, city and neighborhood consensus on Loop 101 freeway noise issue near McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale. Innovative consensus solution was reached with public input and facility was approved and constructed.
- Managed extensive regionwide public involvement and consensus effort for the Maricopa Association of Governments Regional Transportation Plan. Extension of the half-cent sales tax initiative passed with overwhelming public support.
- Oversaw the public information and involvement effort for the State Route 51 Piestwa Peak freeway Design/Build project in Phoenix. Project was constructed on time and on budget while under traffic and used as a model for future public involvement/information transportation construction projects in Arizona.
- Developed and helped implement community involvement plan for the Klondyke Tailings state Superfund (WQARF) site along Arivaipa Creek in southeastern Arizona in 2000.
- On-call public involvement and public information contractor to a Southwestern State Transportation Environmental and Enhancement Group.
- Conducted issue assessment and developed community involvement plans for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Central and Camelback, Payson and Tonto/Cherry, West Van Buren, Tyson Wash, East Washington, Estes Landfill state Superfund sites in Arizona from 2000 to 2003.
- Managing and implementing an extensive public information and participation strategy for the environmental impact statement and location/design concept for the proposed South Mountain Freeway leg of Loop 202 in Phoenix since 2001.
- Managed development of involvement and informational materials, fact sheets and conducted risk communication and media relations training for administrators of Grass Valley, California’s Bear River High School after the discovery of high soil-lead levels on school grounds in 1996.
- Successfully developed and managed an extensive public participation program for the Loop 202/US 60 traffic interchange project in Mesa, Arizona. Effort resulted in a preferred alternative public and agency consensus and a several-million dollar savings in design and construction.
- Former senior public involvement consultant with URS/Dames and Moore, a worldwide environmental consulting and engineering firm.
- Managed the community relations plan and conducted issue assessment for Davis-Monthan Air Force Base National Priority List Superfund hazardous waste cleanup site in Tucson, Arizona.
- Managed community relations activity for the Deer Valley Computer Park state Superfund site in Phoenix, Arizona. Co-authored fact sheets, conducted issue assessment, wrote news release and managed production of display materials on activity at the site. Successfully planned and facilitated community open house dealing with remediation activity and construction of a pump & treat effluent line to be installed through the neighborhood. Established working relationships with local activists resulting in minimal local opposition.
- Managed community relations activity, co-authored a newsletter and produced news releases pertaining to remediation activities at the 19th Avenue Landfill CERCLA site in Phoenix.
- Managed community relations activity for the West Central Phoenix state Superfund study area. Dealt with issues of a suspected neighborhood cancer cluster and environmental racism charges. Coauthored fact sheets, newsletters and news releases and planned open house events. Established working relationships with community activists.
- Managed community relations for the Motorola 52nd Street federal Superfund and East Washington area state Superfund site in Phoenix. Conducted public meetings and established a neighborhood citizen’s advisory group, meeting weekly to reestablish credibility of the US EPA and ADEQ, which had been seriously eroded. Improved relationships with community activists and implemented an 18-month community relations plan which defused most community opposition to government efforts.
- Consulted on community relations activities for the Motorola 56th Street state Superfund site. Conducted public and media presentations on an innovative bioremediation pilot treatment system at the site.
- Developed strategy, reached a public and government consensus, planned and executed a successful public involvement program and informational open houses in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora. The program was instituted in response to extraordinary media attention and severely eroded credibility of authorities dealing with environmental and health issues along the US/Mexico border. An outreach program was eventually conducted in full partnership with a nationally known citizen activist group, Living Is For Everyone (LIFE). Helped facilitate opening of a local dedicated LIFE office.
- Proposed and helped facilitate opening of the local offices of the two state regulatory agencies involved. Designed a communications plan to overcome a local illiteracy rate twice that of the state average. Produced a public open house/health fair held in Nogales, Arizona as well as Nogales, Sonora, after winning support from the Mexican government.
- An environmental/health communications program was then instituted for border sister communities. Proposed and received federal funding to produce an innovative prototype informational bilingual video. Received commitments from border cable television outlets for regular broadcast and reached agreements with libraries and video rental stores to make program available for free distribution.
- Authored “Engaging the Public on Development and Siting Issues,” for Arizona Public Service (APS), the state’s largest electric utility, which guides economic development professionals, businesses, and governments in preventing public outrage and protest.
- Helped develop and coordinate extensive public involvement process for siting a controversial wastewater reclamation facility in Glendale, Arizona. Conducted community interviews, produced newsletters, worked with news media, helped establish and facilitate a citizen working group, and worked to reach a citizen-backed consensus on locating this facility.
- Worked with the City of Glendale, Arizona, on public information and open house components of the Thunderbird Paseo, a proposal to construct a wastewater reclamation facility that would supply treated effluent for irrigation use on city parks. Served as a spokesperson on the issue, co-wrote and produced public and media fact sheets and served as an advisor to City of Glendale staff on dealing with public information and opposition.
- Designed and hosted public open house/community relations activity for expansions of the Yavapai County, Arizona Landfill and City of Glendale, Arizona, Landfill. Citizen opposition to each project was minimized through public involvement activity. Expansions on each facility were approved and completed.
- Conducted IAP2 certificate course training for senior managers and staff of Arizona Public Service Company in Arizona.
- Total Quality Involvement, University of Phoenix.
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