Pre-History-1950 to 1963

PAW as a formal organization grew from a number of unstructured groups of planners, public officials, and people with planning interests which had been functioning in various regions of Washington for a number of years during the 1950s and early 1960s. Essentially PAW was an extension and expansion of efforts first carried on by the Inland Empire Planning Association and the Central Washington Planning Association. During this period regional groups interested in planning were multiplying and growing in Washington. The question of a state-wide group kept surfacing until the National ASPO Conference in Seattle lit the spark.

Creation and Birth-1963

After two years of meetings comprised of an ad-hoc, self-financed group of planners, the Planning Association of Washington was officially launched on May 7, 1963 at the national meeting of the American Society of Planning Officials (ASPO) in Seattle. At that time, a constitution and the provisional article of organization were adopted, and a Board of Directors was chosen with officers being elected by the Board.

The official Articles of Organization were later adopted May 16, 1964 in Spokane, Washington.

Growing Up-1964-1967

The first community based conferences were held. Three conferences per year were held to "spread the planning word" and promote membership. To improve communication among the planning community of the State, "Conference Proceedings" were published to carry benefits beyond those attending the conferences. This was a period of citizen involvement with the PAW Board composed of citizen planners (elected officials and planning commissioners).

In 1967, the Planning & Community Affairs Agency was created by the Washington Legislature and Dick Slavin became its Director.

Off and Running-1968 to 1973

The Board of Directors expanded from 11 members to 15 and a technical committee of professional planners was appointed to provide support to the Board and a liaison with the planning profession.

Training efforts were first introduced at Tacoma Community College in 1973 and by the adoption of the Short Course in 1977. PAW conferences were reduced from three to two per year in 1968. Attempts to monitor planning issues in the state legislature began and PAW membership began to grow.

Transition and Change-1974 to 1978

An association with the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Planners (now APA) was established. In 1974 the first joint PAW/AIP Conference was held.

Beginning with spring of 1964 through spring 1976, all conferences were scheduled to close on Saturday. In the fall of 1976, a transition occurred and conferences closed on Friday. PAW was growing in stature and becoming recognized as an organization that elected officials and professional planners could justify committing time to during the work week.

Maturity-1979 to 1995

The role of PAW as a planning organization dedicated to serving the citizens of Washington continued to mature during this time. During this period the possibility of a merger with the Washington Chapter of APA was first explored. No merger took place, but several successful joint efforts resulted, including a Joint Awards Program. Also during this time, PAW and APA formed a joint legislative committee.

The highly successful Short Course was presented numerous times per year across the state; and an updated Short Course manual was regularly prepared. The 1980s also saw PAW form an affiliation with the Western Planner and broaden its membership.

By 1991, PAW was placing a heavy emphasis on providing a forum for discussion between the variety of interest in the planning process. With the pressure of growth throughout the state, and the emphasis on planning in the years to come, PAW found it increasingly necessary to help develop mutual understanding on issues, explore methods of handling them and provide timely information on effective planning and implementation. Also in 1991, the PAW Articles of Incorporation were amended by the general membership to qualify PAW with the IRS as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization.

In 1992, PAW identified three areas into which it would place additional effort: 1) Cities under 5,000 pop. and counties under 12,000 pop.; 2) Providing county and tribal planners with a forum for understanding mutual issues and developing effective communication and cooperation; and 3) Identifying citizen/community groups and better facilitating their involvement in the overall planning process.

Since the late 1980s, PAW has worked to include tribal issues on the organization's agenda. The PAW/APA Awards Program has recognized exemplary tribal planning achievements. PAW has co-sponsored many gathering of county and tribal planners, including the 1991 PAW Fall Conference in Mount Vernon, WA which featured a day of activities on the Swinomish Reservation and focused on coordination between Indian and non-Indian governments, as well as cultural pluralism and cross-cultural communication. PAW has co-sponsored the development of a Short Course on Tribal/County Intergovernmental Coordination as a component to PAW's Short Course on Local Planning. PAW has also created an ex-officio position on its board of directors for a representative of the Northwest Tribal Planners Forum and has revised its by-laws to include tribes in its membership categories.

The Present and Future-1995 and Beyond

By 1994, PAW had become a large organization. It had also, in conjunction with the State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, expended a great deal of energy revising the Short Course on Local Planning manual and raising nearly $9,000 to help print 1600 copies. As a result of this growth and activity, PAW and APA-WA again explored a merger. PAW considered a merger because: 1) The administrative duties necessary for being responsive to its growing membership had become a challenge for its volunteer Board to handle; and 2) With some individuals and organizations being members of both PAW and APA, there was a question of overlap of services.

In the end, PAW decided that merger was not the right path to take. First, PAW provides a forum for those who cannot or do not wish to affiliate with an organization which takes positions on legislation, as APA-WA does. Second, PAW provides a unique forum for affiliated institutional members. Finally, PAW members expressed the strong opinion that PAW provides services and a perspective that do not overlap with APA-WA and a preference for maintaining PAW as a separate organization. The Board has been rejuvenated after taking a deep breath, adding new members and deciding to eschew organizing full-scale, annual conferences in favor of new format, regional Short Courses and occasional co-sponsorship of conferences. As of late PAW's direction has included:

• A renewed emphasis on participation by planning commissioners and elected officials;
• Continued cooperation with the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association;
• The development of partnerships with other individuals and entities involved in planning;
• Completing another update of the Short Course on Local Planning;
• Developing and implementing regular, new format Regional Short Course presentations;
• An effort at on-line communication via the Internet.

In April of 1996, at its Joint Spring Planning Conference, PAW examined the theme of "Transitions." Transitions, that is: from the vision of what "Growth Management" planning would bring, to what it has become; transition from an atmosphere of increased regulation to regulatory reform and property rights initiatives; transition from unrestrained plans to fiscally constrained plans; and lastly, transition from growing bureaucracies to doing more with less. In an attempt to successfully address these transitions, PAW went into its 1996 Joint Planning Conference with the following mission in mind: "...to improve the art and science of planning in Washington State by offering opportunities to participate in timely and interesting educational presentation and workshops on 'Transitions' in planning."

As we reflect on our past accomplishments and ponder our future, we invite you to help shape this future with us.