2022 CEQA Essentials Workshop

Friday, October 21, 2022 - Thursday, November 10, 2022
8:30am – 4:30pm

Registration Closed

Program Outline

Pricing

SF Bay Area Speakers (Thursday, October 27)

• Winter King, Partner, Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP
• Darcy Kremin, AICP, Director, Environmental Planning, Rincon Consultants, Inc.
• Steve Noack, AICP, Principal, Placeworks

Channel Counties Speakers (Thursday November 3)

• Cassidy Williams, Project Environmental Planner at SWCA Environmental Consultants
• Eric Hughes, Principal Environmental Specialist at County of San Luis Obispo
• Nicole West, Supervising Environmental Planner at Rincon Consultants, Inc.

Monterey Bay-Silicon Valley Speakers (Friday, November 4)

• Nathan George, Senior Associate, Remy Moose Manley LLP
• Alyson Hunter, AICP, Senior Planner, City of Marina Community Development Dept.
• Mike Parker, AICP, Principal, Ascent Environmental, Inc.

SF Bay Area Speakers (Friday, November 4)

• Pat Angell, Principal, Ascent Environmental, Inc.
• Bob Brown, AICP, Principal Planner, SHN
• Ethan "Red Eagle" Lawton, Tribal Liaison, SHN
• Kari Zajac, Senior Environmental Planner, Ascent Environmental, Inc.
  

Superior CA Speakers (Friday, November 4)

• Kristin Blackson, Harris & Associates
• Suzanne Enslow, Ascent Environmental
• Meredith Parkin, ESA
• Ammon Rice, SMUD

Kristin Blackson, Senior Project Manager
Harris & Associates
kristin.blackson@weareharris.com

Kristin Blackson has over 20 years of experience in the preparation and management of CEQA documents, project management, land use planning, and entitlement. Kristin is a Senior Project Manager at Harris and Associates. Her work involves the management and preparation of CEQA and NEPA documents for both private and public projects throughout the California. Kristin serves as a Director at Large for AEP and works statewide on CEQA education. She also is the Co-Chair of AEP Legislative Committee, having input on current CEQA legislation. In addition to consulting, Kristin teaches CEQA courses for UC San Diego Extension and for local jurisdictions across California.

Rebecca Malone, AICP, Environmental Policy Program Manager
City of San Diego
rmalone@sandiego.gov

Rebecca Malone is the Environmental Policy Program Manager for the City of San Diego’s Planning Department where she manages the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
Review team, Climate Resiliency Planning team, and the City’s Multiple Species Conservation Program team. Becky has over 15 years of experience in environmental planning, nine of
those working for the City of San Diego. She specializes in CEQA and National Environmental Policy Act compliance for planning documents and public programs and projects. Becky
managed the development of the 2016 Climate Action Plan (CAP) Consistency Checklist and, more recently, the CAP Consistency Regulations that were adopted with the updated CAP in August. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Avneet Sidhu, Partner
Grid Legal
avneet@gridlegal.com

Avneet prepares, navigates, and protects her private and public clients on land use and development projects, with a particular focus on environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act, by identifying issues and offering practical, strategic solutions. Ms. Sidhu works expertly and meticulously with project applicant, consultants, and lead agency staff from planning through approval balancing the technical and scientific evidence with legal requirements, to ensure the record is comprehensive (and comprehensible), informative and defensible. Prior to joining Grid Legal, Ms. Sidhu acted as Deputy City Attorney for San Marcos and Lemon Grove advising on CEQA compliance and providing legal counsel for the Planning Commission. She continues to act as special counsel for the City of San Marcos on an as-needed basis to advise on projectspecific environmental review She teaches Business Law at San Diego State University and holds a broker's license from the California Bureau of Real Estate. Ms. Sidhu is past Chair of the San Diego County Bar Association’s Environmental/Land Use Law Section, an active member of the Association of Environmental Professionals and the South Asian Bar Association of San Diego, all with a focus on diversity and inclusion, and environmental justice.

Stephanie Smith, Partner
Grid Legal
Stephanie@GridLegal.com

Stephanie Smith is a partner at Grid Legal, LLP. She represents both public and private clients in a variety of CEQA and land use matters. She also assists client with commercial, retail, and residential transactions by drafting purchase and sale agreements, easement, option agreement, leases, and licenses. Ms. Smith is adept at helping with due diligence and frequently provides land use opinion letters to clients and lenders. Prior to founding Grid Legal, Ms. Smith was an Associate at DLA Piper in Los Angeles, and Senior Deputy Counsel at the County of San Diego where she represented County departments and advised on land use, regulatory matters, and CEQA. She graduated cum laude from Pepperdine School of Law and has a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Washington. Ms. Smith was selected as a Rising Star in the area of land use by Super Lawyers in 2020 and 2021 and recognized as a Leader in Law Finalist in 2021 by the San Diego Business Journal. Ms. Smith was tapped by CREW San Diego to speak about a new California housing law and has been a frequent panelist and author on CEQA topics. Due to her love of the outdoors and the community, Ms. Smith, as a Mayor appointee, serves as a member on the San Diego Mission Bay Park Committee.