Moeller joins hunt for new insights into transportation, land-use planning

A new National Governors Association (NGA) leadership position will give a veteran Clark County legislator the chance to help represent Washington on a key regional and countrywide group seeking cutting-edge thinking in transportation policymaking.

State Rep. Jim Moeller was recently appointed to the NGA Transportation Academy on Best Practices. Moeller explained that Washington is one of five states selected by the Governors Association to participate in the NGA Policy Academy. The quintet of Colorado, Maryland, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia is charged with finding new-age answers to the age-old questions about planning in the realms of transportation and land-use.

The National Governors Association Policy Academy employs an interactive, team-based process to develop and execute state-action plans ad¬dressing multifaceted public-policy issues.
A four-term lawmaker, Moeller said that Washington has a golden chance to tap the resources of the Policy Academy. He said his leadership position “will provide a great opportunity for me to thoroughly represent our Southwest Washington interests as the work moves forward on the Columbia River Crossing project.

“The Policy Academy goal isn’t to throw together yet another study-on-governance report, stuff it into an attractive binder for folks to proudly display in their bookshelves – and then promptly forget all about said report,” Moeller said. “We want to identify strategies that unite various levels of the transportation and land-use decision-making process. Certainly, in my opinion at least, the ultimate objective is the development of smarter decisions and common objectives that make”:

• Our communities more livable.
• Our economies more durable.
• And our transportation infrastructure more workable.

The Policy Academy “is a good vehicle for helping us enhance our existing land-use and transportation planning framework. We need to address the challenges of the next 20 years,” Moeller said. “And these challenges have everything to do with reducing our green¬house-gas emissions, recharging our transportation system, and reporting our progress – or reporting the lack of our progress – to citizens.”

Moeller will be working with representatives from the governor’s office, the Washington state departments of Commerce and Transportation, and other regional and state organizations.