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�� M�FRA <br />� MCCOQIi fTfly tNi <br />qi�CNt�i. i� <br />August 4, 2000 <br />�1r. Brad Scheib <br />Awards Committee Chair <br />Hoisington Koegler Group, Inc. <br />123 North Third Street, Suite 100 <br />Minneapolis, MN 5.540 1 <br />SUBJECT: Nomination for Distinguished Leadership Award <br />Dear Mr. Scheib and Award Committee Members: <br />Please accept this letter of support for the Distinguished Leadership Award to Dennis P. <br />Welsch from the Minnesota Chapter of the American Planning Association (�1nAPA). <br />From 1987 — 1993 I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Dennis <br />Welsch in the City of Apple Valley. I use the term work "with," as Dennis' philosophy is <br />that he is a partner with everyone he works "with", whether technically they are above or <br />below him in a hierarchy. In this way he bestows a tremendous amount of respect on all <br />those around him. <br />Dennis' leadership shows up everyday. He takes on many projects at once, however <br />always has the time for his employees. The "open door" policy is espoused by many, but <br />carried through by few. By allowing us to come to him as we needed, he instilled <br />confidence that we were important to the operation and to him as the leader of the <br />department. <br />For me personally, Dennis changed my life as a planner. He is such a supportive <br />supervisor. In addition to always having time for all of us in his department, he provided <br />an atmosphere of success. He built our confidence by being a fabulous listener, shedding <br />credit to all those around him (and preserving little for himsel{�, and believing in us. He <br />helped me to develop a cache of planning skills and would reiterate that I was capable. <br />He supported continuous education, provided specific feedback and mentored me to <br />realize which skills I needed to develop. For example, he said, "You need to become an <br />expert at site plan review." Although I reviewed site plans, I was no expert. Without his <br />pointing out that this was a key planning skill that would serve me well into the future, I <br />think I would have dismissed it — in fact I was dismissing it at the time. He made me <br />look around and see the opportunity I had: a growing city with every type of project <br />