12
Montgomery County Planning Commission
Promoting
Good Planning . . .
Elected officials and various community leaders make a variety of decisions that
have a large impact on the way their communities grow and change. Needless to
say, it is vital that these are well-informed decisions. In addition to the databases,
publications, and GIS products developed by the planning commission, we offer
information through educational events, e-communications, the Internet, social
media, and an awards program. In 2013, we launched the
Planning Smarter
2014
program, a comprehensive year-round education program initiative that
features educational courses, seminars, hands-on workshops, and an expanded
Montgomery Awards Program. Some of the highlights of our 2013 outreach and
education efforts include:
•
Released the first annual Municipal Satisfaction Survey.
MCPC reached
out to our municipal officials and staff to ask them how they utilize our
planning reviews, data and information, course offerings, and other
resources. We asked how we can do better and what else we could offer
that would be beneficial for their communities. The results show many of
our resources and plan reviews are highly regarded, but we can do more
to reach out and provide engaging opportunities for multi-municipal
partnerships and coordinate with municipal staff.
•
Sponsored three planning courses
—
The Course in Community Planning,
The Course in Subdivision and Land Development Review,
and
The Course in
Zoning
—for local planning members and municipal officials. The courses,
attended by 77 people in 2013, each offer 9 hours of training.
•
Expanded and upgraded our
as part of the new county website.
•
Offered new social media outlets for planning education and outreach
including a
page with over 560 friends, tweets that are regularly
followed by over 200 people, a
page with over 2,000 images of
Montgomery County viewed by over 200,000 people, and periodic blogs
about important planning topics.
•
Disseminated four issues of
and the
newsletters
and other e-communications throughout the year to provide
decision makers with timely information on key planning topics.
•
Awarded five projects
as part of the
Over
300,000
web hits
75
attend
stormwater seminar
77
attend
our planning courses
68 complete
f irst annual
MCPC Municipal
Satisfaction Survey
MCPC doubles
Facebook friends
in 2013
