People and the Land: An Oral History of Oregon’s Statewide Land Use Planning Program

"People and the Land" is a collaboration between the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development and Portland State University. The goal of this project is to document and preserve a record of Oregon’s land use program through the recording, transcription, collection and archiving of personal oral histories.

The project is intended to enable Oregon’s statewide planning agency to make a significant, abiding contribution to the body of literature that records and analyzes the politics, policy, and practices that make Oregon's land use program unique.

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Interview with Steven Schell

Steven Schell and Jim Knight

Interview with Steven Schell by Jim Knight on June 24, 2015. Steve Schell was a member and vice-chair of the first appointed Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission, 1973-76.
Interview with Arthur Schlack

Arthur Schlack and Dillon Mahmoudi

Interview with Arthur Schlack by Dillon Mahmoudi on June 25, 2015. Art Schlack was a planner in Washington County, a comprehensive plan administrator in Clark County, Washington, a planning director in Polk County, and also served as a planner and policy manager for the Association of Oregon Counties.
Interview with Curt Schneider

Curt Schneider and Michael Rupp

Curt Schneider was interviewed on October 23, 2019, by Michael Rupp.

Schneider was the former Planning Director for Clatsop County, Oregon during the development and acknowledgment of Clatsop County’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan. He later worked for the City of Salem Planning Department.
Interview with Crystal Shoji

Crystal Shoji and Hui Rodomsky

Crystal Shoji was interviewed by Hui Rodomsky on October 20, 2023, in Coos Bay, Oregon.

Shoji was a former land use planner for Crook County, Oregon, and a land use planning consultant on the southern Oregon coast. She served as Mayor of Coos Bay, Oregon from 2010 to 2016.
Interview with James Sitzman

James Sitzman and Kevin Pozzi

Interview with James Sitzman by Kevin Pozzi on August 27, 2015. Jim Sitzman worked with Metro and its predecessor, the Columbia Region Association of Governments (CRAG), where he assisted in drawing the first urban growth boundary around the Portland metropolitan area. He also served as a field representative for the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.
Interview with Matt Spangler

Matt Spangler, Michael Rupp, and Hui Rodomsky

Matt Spangler was Interviewed by Michael Rupp and Hui Rodomsky on May 13, 2021, in Newport, Oregon.

Spangler was the Lincoln County Planning Director during the preparation and acknowledgment of Lincoln County’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan. He later worked for the Department of Land Conservation and Development’s Coastal Division.
Interview with Robert E. Stacey (on Goal 10)

Robert E. Stacey and Jim Irvine

Interview with Robert E. Stacey by Jim Irvine on May 15, 2017 focused on Goal 10 of Oregon's Statewide Land Use Planning Program. Bob Stacey serves on the Metro Council representing District 6, which includes portions of the city of Portland. He has served as senior policy advisor to Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts, and was the executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon, a non-profit organization focused on land-use planning.
Interview with Edward Sullivan

Edward Sullivan and Kevin Pozzi

Interview with Edward Sullivan by Kevin Pozzi on August 20, 2015. Ed Sullivan served as Assistant County Counsel and County Counsel for Washington County and as Legal Counsel for the Governor of Oregon. He was a board member of the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association and chair of the Housing Land Advocates.
Interview with Ed Sullivan (on Fasano and Baker cases)

Edward Sullivan and Michael Rupp

Ed Sullivan was interviewed on February 10, 2020, by Michael Rupp in Portland, Oregon.

In this interview, Sullivan discusses the legal cases Fasano v. Washington County Board of Commissioners and Baker v. City of Milwaukie, two Oregon Supreme Court decisions that upheld the necessity of guaranteeing fair, reviewable, and predictable decision-making in Oregon land use.
Interview with John VanLandingham (on Goal 10)

John VanLandingham and Jim Irvine

Interview with John VanLandingham by Jim Irvine in 2017 focused on Goal 10 of Oregon's Statewide Land Use Planning Program. John VanLandingham has served as chair of the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission, the Eugene Planning Commission, and the Housing Policy Board for Lane County and the cities of Eugene and Springfield. He is a lawyer for the Lane County Legal Aid & Advocacy Center and is active with the Oregon Housing Alliance, the Fair Housing Council of Oregon, and the Network for Oregon Affordable Housing.
Interview with Fred VanNatta (on Goal 10)

Fred VanNatta and James Irvine

Interview with Fred VanNatta by Jim Irvine on May 15, 2017 focused on Goal 10 of Oregon's Statewide Land Use Planning Program. Fred VanNatta began his career as a paid campaign staffer for two presidential candidates and as an aide to the Oregon House Speaker during the 1965 and 1967 legislature. As a political lobbyist from 1969 on, his clients included the Oregon State Homebuilders Association and the Association of Engineering Employees of Oregon.
Interview with Fred VanNatta

Fred VanNatta and Bob Rindy

Interview with Fred VanNatta by Bob Rindy on June 25, 2015. Fred VanNatta began his career as a campaign staffer for two presidential candidates and as an aide to the Oregon House Speaker during the 1965 and 1967 legislature. As a political lobbyist from 1969 on, his clients included the Oregon State Homebuilders Association and the Association of Engineering Employees of Oregon.
Interview with Burton Weast

Burton Weast and Bob Rindy

Interview with Burton Weast by Bob Rindy on August 18, 2015. Burton Weast was planner for Curry County in 1970. He worked as a senior lobbyist on land use issues for the League of Oregon Cities, a representative of Portland's Home Builders Association, and as a private lobbyist and consultant.
Interview with Greg Winterowd (on Goal 10)

Greg Winterowd and Sy Adler

Interview with Greg Winterowd by Sy Adler on May 8, 2017 focused on Goal 10 of Oregon's Statewide Land Use Planning Program. Winterowd is principal and co-founder of Winterbrook Planning, a professional consultancy based in Portland, Oregon. He served as Planning and Development Director for the city of Springfield, Oregon, and as President of the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association.
Interview with Greg Wolf

Greg Wolf and Michael Rupp

Greg Wolf was interviewed on April 3, 2024, by Michael Rupp.