2019 Directory

16 WYOMING ARCHITECTURE .19 | www.aia-wyoming.org 2019 AIA Grassroots & Leadership Conference BY CLINT TAYLOR, AIA G rassroots 2019 was held inWashington DC, March 6-8, 2019, at the Renais- sance Washington DC Downtown Hotel. Grassroots 2019 was centered on the theme People. Purpose. Partnership. The agenda focused on building partnerships and had an underlying passion for design that truly makes a difference. AIAWyoming sent Clint Taylor, AIA, AIAWyoming President. One of the great parts of having Grassroots in Washington DC is Capitol Hill Day. More than 600 architects and chapter leaders met with members of Congress on Wednesday. All 50 states were covered, with meetings attended by 137 members of Congress and 337 Congres- sional staff members. Wyoming is fortunate that our congressional members hold “Wyo- ming Wednesday,” where Senators Enzi and Barrasso meet with Representative Cheney once a week. This was their first Wyoming Wednesday meeting of the year, and Represen- tative Cheney had a scheduling conflict with a committee meeting. She was, however, able to meet with me later in the day. Wyomingites are also fortunate that our representation in Washington is so approachable and accessible to us. Senator Barrasso was also kind enough to sponsor a tour of the Capitol for my family right before he testified on the Senate floor about the “Green New Deal.” It was great timing that AIA National had prepared us to speak about a tax deduction that will increase energy efficiency in the built environment. We were also prepared to discuss federal housing and funding for school design and a clearinghouse to help officials design safer schools. Wednesday marked the biggest day for AIA advocacy efforts in the Institute’s history. Jane Fredrick, FAIA AIA First Vice President and Grassroots 2019 Chair, said, “By having such a strong presence here in Washington, we are ensuring that the voice and perspective of the profession are heard by our elected leaders.” 2019 AIA President William J. Bates, FAIA, said, “We want them to hear how architects are more than designers of structures and spaces.” Thursday morning, I saw speeches from candi- dates for national office. The office of treasurer had a single candidate (Evelyn Lee AIA – AIA San Francisco/AIA California), but there were two candidates for 2020-2022: At-large Director (Verity L. Frizzell, FAIA – AIA New Jersey, and Britt Lindberg, AIA, LEED AP – AIA Silicon Valley/AIA California) and two candidates for 2020 First Vice President/2021 President-Elect (Peter J. Exley, FAIA – AIA Chicago/AIA Illinois and Bruce W. Sekanick, FAIA – AIA Eastern Ohio/AIA Ohio). I then attended a Mayor’s panel moderated by Jane Frederick, FAIA. Community Building: Mayors & Architects Working Together had five panelists: Steve Benjamin, Mayor, Columbia, SC and President, U.S. Conference of Mayors; Bryan K. Barnett, Mayor, Rochester Hills, MI and Vice President, U.S. Conference of Mayors; Nanette L. Whaley, Mayor, Dayton, OH; John Hill, Vice Mayor, Winchester, VA; and DavidW. Robinson, FAIA, City Council, Houston, TX. It was refresh- ing to see the President and Vice-President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors see how important