Letter from the President:

Larry Lund

The South Beach Weekend Experience tour is sold out!! Our Spring Weekend Experience will be bringing members from a dozen chapters including Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, San Diego, London, Vancouver, Baltimore, St. Louis, Toronto, and Sacramento to South Beach, Florida for an informative and enjoyable Weekend exploring one of the more exciting cities in America. It is going to be a great event.

Also, International is hosting a cocktail reception at Latitude 26 in the National Hotel, Thursday evening May 13 from 7 pm until 8 pm to talk with current and potential members in the Florida area. Please R.S.V.P. by May 10 if you would like to attend. Call International at 630-579-3284.

The Weekend Experiences also serve as a venue for the bi-annual LAI Board of Governors meeting. The Executive Committee will be meeting at the National Hotel Friday afternoon and the entire Board of Governors, which is the Executive Committee and the Presidents of each LAI Chapter, will meet Sunday morning from 9 am until noon. The Land Economics Foundation will not meet this spring but will convene this fall in Sacramento. I would like to hear from our membership any issues they would like us to particularly discuss during our Board meeting, so please e-mail me your ideas. I will be providing a full report of the Board meetings in my June letter.

Mark your calendar for the Fall Weekend Experience November 12-14 in Sacramento-Napa. Program and registration for this Weekend Experience will become available in September. We promise another outstanding experience, so if you missed South Beach, do not miss Sacramento-Napa and register early.

I just “Googled” Lambda Alpha International and found 840 hits! Is your website linked to 209.224.198.102? It should be. First quarter website statistics show that 209.224.198.102 had 21,479 visitors, an average of 7,160 visitors per month. This is an increase of 52% over the fourth quarter of 2003. Remember to send us your announcements for Online KeyNotes -- it is read!

On April 29, the Baltimore Chapter hosted an important symposium on Technology, Smart Growth, and Future Form in the Baltimore Region and on April 28, the Chicago-Ely Chapter held its spring Chautauqua on the Transformation of the Chicago Housing Authority. I attended both events and they were outstanding.  I understand that the Baltimore Chapter will be publishing proceedings from their symposium along with a possible video tape of their excellent presentations.  Chicago-Ely’s event was also video taped and copies will be soon available. These events in Baltimore and Chicago are helping further Lambda Alpha’s role as a catalyst for change in their communities.

A couple of important conferences are coming in June to Chicago. The American Institute of Architects National Convention and Design Exposition will be in Chicago June 10-12 and the Congress of New Urbanism, which recently relocated its headquarters to Chicago, will hold its XII Congress in Chicago June 24-27. I would like to extend an open invitation for any LAI member who will be attending these events to give me a call and maybe we can meet for breakfast or in the evening for drinks. I would like to discuss how Lambda Alpha International could become more effective in your communities by working together on important issues.

Best regards,

Aloha Chapter

David Callies, scribe/historian and past president of the Aloha Chapter, was elected in March to the American College of Real Estate Lawers.

Ely Chapter

Jonathan Boyeer, AIA has joined Farr Associates as a Principal. Jonathan brings more than 25 years of experience in architecture, planning and sustainable design, including the LEED Platinum design for the Center for Neighborhood Technology to the firm located at 53 W. Jackson, Suite 650, The Monadnock Building, Chicago, IL 60604.

Philadelphia Chapter

Joseph Tarantino

Joseph Tarantino was reappointed by Governor Ed Rendell to serve his third term on the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission on February 15, 2004. The Senate confirmed his nomination on March 8, 2004, making it one of the fastest confirmations in recent history.

Commissioner Tarantino was first appointed in 1994 by Acting Governor Mark Singel to serve his first five year term and then reappointed by Governor Tom Ridge in January of 1999 for his second term.

"I am very appreciative of the confidence and support that I was given by all members of the Senate and by Governor Ed Rendell for this reappointment to the Real Estate Commission. I look forward to serving the consumers of Pennsylvania and to increasing the professional excellence and training of my fellow real estate licensees", stated Tarantino. "I also look forward to working with the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS® and other industry associations towards common goals for consumer protection and increased professionalism", he added.

Joseph Tarantino is President of Continental Realty and a resident of Chester County. He was recently honored as the Outstanding Citizen of the Year by the MONTCO Chamber of Commerce. Tarantino has been in the real estate business for 35 years is a member of the Philadelphia Chapter of LAI.

Lambda Alpha International is pleased to welcome the following new members since January 2004:

London Chapter
Alistair Court-Smith, INTEC Mangement
Brain Waters, The Boist Waters Cohen Partnership

Ottawa Chapter
Michael Casey, Arnon Development Corporation Ltd.
Chris R. Fleming, C. Fleming Developments Ltd.
Donald W. Kennedy, D.W. Kennedy Consulting Ltd.
Jack Stirling, Minto Developments Inc.
Alan K. Cohen, Soloway Wright LLP
Howard Williamson, Williamson Consulting Inc.
Beverly Jensen, FoTenn Consultants Inc.
John Doran, Domicile Developments Inc.
Dennis Devine, Royal LePage Advisors
Mark Purchase, Cavanagh Construction

Philadelphia Chapter
Gregory Bianchi, US Realty Associates, Inc.
David Blumenfeld, Metro Development Company
Krista Grasso, US Realty Associates, Inc.
Thomas Lee, Metro Development Company
Peter J. Maggio, US Realty Associates, Inc.
W. Walker Robinson, Metro Development Company
Richard Zeghibe, Patriot Parking, Inc.

Sacramento Chapter
Geoffrey C. Brown, USA Properties Fund
Michael E. Diepenbrock, Panattoni Development Company
William F. Heartman, SARES Regis Group of Northern California
Sotiris K. Kolokotronis, SKK Developments
David K. Nystrom, McCuen Properties
Todd W. Rhoads, Stantec Consulting
Mark Rodgers, Wood Rodgers, Inc.
Dennis F. Shorrock, Colliers International
Jim Zurbuchen, B & Z Properties

Vancouver Chapter
Anne Bancroft-Jones, Polygon Homes
Larry Beasley, City of Vancouver
Murray Dinwoodie, City of Surrey
Michael Harcourt, Harcourt Enterprises Ltd.
Michael Henney, Thom Bing Architects Inc
Blake Hudema, Hudema, Consulting Group Ltd.
Derek Neale, NSDA Architects
Nola-Kate Seymoar, International Center for Sustainable Cities