Finding The Path To Mesa for City Planning Director ("Nana") Kusi Appiah

For a sprawling fast-growing Suburban city with "Big-League Dreams" - it's bigger than Miami - it's always been a mystery to your MesaZona blogger why hire anyone with a 10-year previous work experience in places hardly anyone recognizes ??

: Polk County (Florida), Denton (Texas), or Adams County (Colorado) 

Mesa got a new Planning Director at the end of 2018 when John Wesley retired.
New Planning Director for City of Mesa: Nana (Kusi) Appiah
Grammar Usage Note: In Ghana, among the Akan people, particularly the Akyem, Ashanti and Akuapim peoples, The word Nana is used as the title of a monarch to signify their status. . . "King _______"
It's not a first name, as used in many re-postings in a press release from the City of Mesa News Room that was repeated in the Rose Law Group Reporter back in October 2018.
The word Nana has other meanings also.

In  informal British - a silly person; a fool (often as a general term of abuse).

In Jewish families, Nana is grandmother.

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CREDENTIALS from this reference: http://sydex.net/page284550 

Education:

1998 – 2002

Bachelor of Science, Land Economy> Kwame Nkrumah' University of Science and Technology, Kumasi  (Ghana)
2004 – 2006 MCRP, Community and Regional Planning > Iowa State University

2010 – 2014

Ph.D, Public Affairs> The University of Texas at Dallas   

2015 – 2015

Certificate

Executive Education: Driving Government Performance

Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government

 

2015 ---

 

 

These are the three locations where the new Planning Director worked as a city planner before being hired here in Mesa: any reasonable and curious person might ask what in these very different areas from Mesa in most respects, catapulted "Nana" Kusi Appiah to get hired here?

• Adams County, Colorado
• Denton, Texas
• Polk County, Florida 

 

 

 

Complexity and Participatory Style of Management
in Government Institutions
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

Current site map City of Mesa

By Nana Kusi Appiah March 31, 2015

Author: Nana Kusi Appiah is the planning and development manager for Adams County, Colorado. Nana is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. Nana holds a doctorate in public affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas and a master’s degree in community and regional planning from Iowa State University.

Email: appiah.nana@gmail.com. 

 

 

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Introduction

"Having practiced as a city planner over 10 years in three governmental agencies*, I thought implementing change would be easy in jurisdictions perceived to have well-qualified personnel, resources and the backing of elected officials...This complexity of improving operations of government through conscious change efforts usually calls for a participatory style of management and decision-making that includes stakeholders—

 

• citizens
• elected or appointed officials
• the land development industry
• employees within the organization.

 

Undermining active involvement of any of these groups can potentially derail the change efforts or implementation. . .

 ______________________________________________________________________________
Complexity of Change
The participatory tactic of management for leading such change efforts requires a leadership approach capable of employing pluralistic techniques that engage various stakeholders. It also requires a dynamic style of leadership capable of accommodating multiple stakeholder involvement. This is essential . . .

Citizen Participation in Change Efforts

To produce effective change in a government agency, all stakeholders must be actively involved. . .

More Citizen Participation in Public Agency Change Efforts
According to Sherry Arnestien, public participation in an agency’s change effort is embedded in the U.S. Constitution. Advocates of citizen participation claim that social acceptance of public policy correlates with the perception of fairness and public involvement in the decision-making process.
A solution for issues concerning the public that is devoid of citizen participation is unlikely to be effective. In addition to the benefits of involving the public in agency decision-making, such inclusion promotes the democratic orientation of a community and helps improve public trust for the agency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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