Distinguished Citizen Planner Award Winners
Distinguished Citizen Planner Award
Every year, Michigan Citizen Planner hosts the Advanced Academy, which is Michigan’s premiere training event that is designed exclusively for local planning and zoning officials. At the Academy, the Distinguished Citizen Planner award is presented to a Michigan Citizen Planner alumnus in recognition of outstanding achievements. Anyone who has enrolled in Michigan Citizen Planner (past or present) is eligible for the award.
Bill Hirsch, Kent County Commisioner
2009 Distinguished Citizen Planner Award Winner
The 2009 Distinguished Citizen Planner Award is awarded to Kent County Commissioner Bill Hirsch for his exemplary volunteer effort, leadership and involvement within Kent County by advocating for Smart Growth and farmland preservation, and educating others on sustainable development practices. Due to his efforts Bill received a $1,000 scholarship funded by Michigan Citizen Planner and the Land Policy Institute to be used for training. Congratulations Bill, you really deserve this award.
Bill Hirsch has been a steadfast advocate for smart growth and farmland preservation. He grew up in Kentwood and now lives in Gaines Township with his wife, Dawn and three children. Bill is a Master Citizen Planner who describes himself as a dairy farmer first and a County Commissioner second. Representing Gaines and Caledonia Townships, Bill ran for County Commissioner on the issue of better land use and farmland protection. He is very passionate about the issue of farmland preservation and has gotten other Commissioners on board with the idea of smarter land use. Bill speaks very eloquently and intelligently about the need for smart growth that supports healthy urban centers and vibrant agricultural/rural communities.
Bill has worked tirelessly on land use issues in Kent County. His efforts include spurring the creation of a sub-committee of Commissioners to study Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) and open space, and the role that the County should play in these issues. During a tour of the East Coast, he learned about PDR, which in his own words, “brought to light the issue that if we’re not going to protect this land, we’re not going to have it.” Bill returned to Michigan with a strong desire to make change happen and to protect a 340-acre farm in Caledonia Township. He was so inspired by the trip that he secured over $13,000 in private donations to take five Kent County Commissioners and two township officials to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Carroll County, Maryland, to meet with farmland preservation leaders to learn more about PDR and urban growth boundaries in April 2009.
Future endeavors for Bill’s role as County Commissioner include working with Dan Kildee of the Genesee County Land Bank Authority to create a Land Bank Authority for Kent County.
Past award winners include:
2008 – Dave Foerster, Paw Paw
2007 – Jim Rynberg, City of Fremont
2006 – Kathy Finch, Village of Suttons Bay
2005 – Dorothy Munn, Mike Anschuetz, Gayle Miller, Steve Steinhauser, West Branch Township
2004 – Kallie Roesner, Oxford Township
2003 – Mark Fleet, Vergennes Township