ATTENTION NJASLA MEMBERS: Your vote is needed by January 20th! and this year you won't even need to look for a postcard or leave your computer!

PLEASE take a moment to go to the NJASLA website by clicking the above banner and CAST YOUR VOTE by January 20th regarding the proposed slate of NJASLA officers for 2005-06. You will need to login with a user name ("njasla") and password ("design") and will need your ASLA member number to register your vote.

We are trying the e-ballot this year to make it easier and more convenient for our members to vote. We hope you like the convenience. Please note the other features on the web site while you are there.

If you do not have computer access please call 609-393-7500 for a ballot.

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A Message From The President: December 2005
Jeffrey A. Tandul, CLA, ASLA, M.Arch
It is an honor and a privilege to be serving as the president of NJASLA.

There are many new exciting things happening with NJASLA which began in 2005 and will continue through 2006 and beyond.

Executive Committee
I have appointed Elaine Mills to fulfill the unexpired term of 2nd Vice President, replacing Myriah McMahan. As you may know, Myriah recently moved to North Carolina to be closer to her significant other, who took a teaching job at a North Carolina University. Myriah was extremely dedicated and stayed on helping via e mail to maintain continuity of the office.

Elaine Mills is equally dedicated and enthusiastic. While we all are disappointed to lose Myriah to another state we welcome Elaine aboard.

Our election is a bit later than normal this year, as it took the Nomination Committee longer than expected to find a suitable candidate for the important president elect position. While we had several qualified candidates in mind, most were interested but not in a position to make the time commitment this year. They will be on our short list for the future, however.

We now have a very qualified selection of candidates and I urge you to go to the website (http://www.njasla.org)  and vote.

The candidates selected by the Nominating Committee are as follows:

Scott Levy, President Elect. Scott may be known to many of you from his longtime involvement with NJASLA. He was busy for a few years starting up his business, but is now back and interested in helping the chapter.

Jerry Lewis, 1st Vice President. Jerry should be well known to all of you, as he has served two terms, very ably, as secretary. His experience and enthusiasm will be a valuable asset.

David Lustberg, Secretary. Dave is a young professional with great abilities and enthusiasm. I had an opportunity to work with Dave at a former employer many years ago and am pleased he is able to join the Executive Committee. He is a dedicated creative professional who will also be valuable to the Executive Committee.

Events

Annual Meeting
Our annual meeting is coming up January 29, 30, 31, 2006. I urge you to register early, as the meeting dates are earlier than usual. Don’t be closed out of the hotel. We have an outstanding line up of professionals speaking this year. Once again the Annual Meeting Committee (co-chaired again by Erica Solberger and Denise Mattes) and our management group, Public Strategies Impact have pulled together a smash hit. Visit http://www.njasla.org and click on the Annual Meeting Banner for more information and to download the registration form.

We are testing out a new service this year called “Constant Contact”. It will better allow us to track if we are communicating effectively electronically.  If you are NOT receiving your newsletters, announcements, etc. electronically, you must let us know so we can try to resolve the problem. AOL users in particular and firms with overly aggressive spam filtering mechanisms are the most affected. Also, be sure your info is up to date such as your e mail address. Email Patricia Brewer or Vicky Drew at headquarters to update your information.

As I have traveled as part of my duties with CLARB as a grader of the LARE and now  the Exam Writing Committee, and NJASLA, I keep getting unsolicited feedback about the caliber of our Annual Meetings. We should be very proud of this national recognition. There will be some surprise visitors and honored guests at the Annual Meeting. However, we won’t give away the surprise here; you will have to be in Atlantic City to see for yourself!

National Landscape Architecture Month, April 2006
There are many exciting plans in the work for National Landscape Architecture Month in April 2006. It is not too early to start planning your own local NLAM event. Why not approach your local mayor or freeholders and get a proclamation for NLAM? We have done this numerous times in the past from the Governor, the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, and the Mayor of the City of Linden. We all should be out there making our profession visible.

Website
We are undergoing a major overhaul to improve the appearance, usability and to make it more of a resource to help you as professionals. Be sure to take advantage of the “Find A Landscape Architect” feature. This is a tremendous member benefit. Those of you who have visited the site may have already noticed some changes. It has been gradual due to the nature of the beast and time limits of the committee and mine. The nearly final version should be up and running and ready for premiere at the Annual Meeting in January.

Projects

Licensure
Our licensure upgrade efforts will continue full force in 2006. Be sure to come to the legislative update session at the 2006 Annual Meeting where more will be discussed on NJASLA’s  efforts.

National and Grants
The Chapter is also leveraging the financial and intellectual resources of National to improve and expand our programs and chapter’s activities and visibility of the profession. National now has a full time Public Relations person on board to assist us in publicizing our events and activities, not only on the National Website, but also many other publications we might not otherwise be able to reach. We also will be applying for a matching Chapter Initiative Grant in conjunction with Professor Jeanmarie Hartman and Professor David Tulloch at Rutgers University. This project will create an exciting web based resource linking to works of landscape architecture, locally, nationally, and eventually globally.

Summary
A more detailed update on our activities will follow at the Annual Meeting. We always need volunteers to help out on various committees. If you are interested, stop one of us at the Annual Meeting or drop us an e mail to alert us to your interest or suggestions. Given the busy time of the Holidays, I will close now.

While I personally celebrate Christmas,
I wish each of you
Merry Christmas,
Happy Holidays,
Happy Chanukah,
Happy Kwanza,
and Season’s Greetings!

(I hope that covers everyone!)

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