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Brad Scheib �fnr�PA Distinguished Leadership .-��tiard Page 2 imaginable, three other ercellent planners to learn from. and the chance to really tackle this skill. He was so right - it has served me ��ell. I am so lucky to have �i�orked with someone who cared enough to push me. to point out ��hat I needed to learn and give me the specific. straightforward feedback from an experienced position. Many of Dennis' ideas have been credited to others. He doesn't mind, because he genuinely has the good of community in mind. He operates with that overarching philosophy, and it is truly noble. He sho«•ed us how to tackle a thorny planning issue in the Pennock Avenue Study. He suggested we write a"Zoning Workbook" for the public. which turned out to be a tremendous time saver for our staff while making zoning very accessible to the public. He suggested we create a"Citizen's Guide to the Comprehensive Plan." This too, was a very useful product for the public. Dennis led the city through a planning process for Apple Valley's downtown streetscape that was not necessatily complex, yet resulted in a clear consensus among the decision-makers. Through all of these projects, which he provided the genesis for, he gave credit to others. Dennis works very hard. He takes on all kinds of planning projects, big and small. One important thing he taught me was that even the very small projects in planning are important to the overall planning program. I remember not being too interested in learning how to write a simple ordinance or conduct code enforcement. Dennis could explain and convince me (and others) that although these types of things may seem small, they are vitally important steps to you completing the circle of the planning process and carrying out overall goals and strategies of the city. We all learned to be proud of every aspect of our work, and the small things became less laborious as they now had meaning. In the continuum of planning projects, Dennis has worked all of the way up and down it. He has completed many big picture plans, conducted intermediate studies and done all of the implementation work associated with planning. He has a way of "connecting the dots" on proj ects, thoroughly thinking through all aspects, and then creating new connections. One demonstration of this was his ability to connect planners. Everywhere he has worked, he started a new group of planners meeting to share common ideas, stories and comiserations. In Red Wing he began the "River City Planners" group that included Faribault, Northf�ield, Hastings, Red Wing, Stillwater and any other city who wanted to j oin. The group continued past Dennis' time and I was a part of it when I was a planner in Northfield. We wold visit other cities, take tours and share solutions to problems. It is part of Dennis' legacy that this program he began continued long after he had moved to another city. Dennis played a leadership role in other similar groups such as the Dakota County Planners, Metro East Planners, Dakota County Economic Partnership, and Metro East Development Board. Certainly his crowning achievement in this regard is his initiation of the I��W Corridor Coalition. This group has not only acquired far more official status than any other group,