Department of Sociology & Anthropology

Name: Deirdre (Walsh) Oss, AICP

Year you graduated from Cornell: 1993

Other majors or minors: Environmental Studies major

Post Cornell Education: University of Colorado, (MURP)Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Job Title: Senior Planner

Job description: As a senior planner in the Advance Planning Division in Douglas County, Colorado, I am responsible for maintenance of the Douglas County Master Plan, essentially a footprint for the County's future growth pattern.

I write and edit Plan sections, create land use maps, team with other planners to analyze rezoning applications, and work with municipal jurisdictions within the County to ensure that growth occurs logically within defined growth areas or boundaries. I represent the County on technical committees, including a group studying airport-land use compatibility issues. We are also challenged to create new places for attainable (affordable) housing in one of the nation's wealthiest Counties.

Most satisfying and rewarding aspects of your position: I got into planning to tie together my two biggest interests: sociology and environmental studies. Planning is a broad profession with many areas of specialty such as site planning, housing, and landscape architecture. Douglas County is an exciting place in which to broaden my skills and knowledge. I have many opportunities to work with the public, and this is a welcome balance in a job that is heavily impacted by the development and real estate community. My favorite moment in planning was a visit I made to a local elementary school. We asked them to show us what they would change in their community. Children are full of knowledge and opinions, and I felt fulfilled hearing their desires. I get to work with some of the County's long-time native landowners who want nothing more than to live on their ranch, but are fighting against the power of money and growth. The biggest compliment I received was from an applicant who proposed a rezoning on a very environmentally sensitive and visible ridge in the County. Our staff recommended denial of his application to the Planning Commission, and it was ultimately denied by the Board of County Commissioners. Despite his loss, he took the time to!

let me know that I did a good job on the Staff Report. The applicant happened to be one of my former law professors in planning school!

What jobs or other positions have you held that prepared you for this position? I worked for a year as a planner for military bases, producing integrated natural resources plans. Nothing in my Masters Degree program, however, ultimately prepared me for the realities in the world of growth and development. I came into the job as a "tree hugger," and with the understanding I gained from my sociology classes at Cornell, have learned to approach developers with an open mind. In many cases, developers have a different view of how they fit into their environment than I, as a planner who set out to create the utopic, high-density, coffee-shop promenade community. Together we work on the best way to achieve their goals, while at the same time preserving valuable open space and protecting community identity in the face of tremendous growth. On the other side of the coin, I also work with the poor, established landowners, and wealthier homeowners in subdivisions, who don't understand why the growth has to happen in their backyard. This job becomes emotional at times, and it is hard to be impartial and do what is best in the interest of the community. When the community pulls at both sides, I have to tighten my sociology hat, understand what makes them feel the way they do ,and try to offer solutions to get to the heart of their concerns. Planning is really a mix of sociology, psychology and geography.

What are your occupational and/or educational goals? While I enjoy public-sector planning, I would like to find a way to integrate community planning into the schools more effectively. I have thought about teaching as a way to do this. Through this job, I have learned that an informed citizenry is the most effective at shaping their own community and destiny. Through early elementary education, children learn the value of community participation. I want to find a way to integrate their valuable opinions formally into the planning process.

Additional comments: Planners come in all shapes and sizes, but they all come with one common denominator: They get into the profession to shape the environment in which we, the people, live. Some planners develop the land, some planners preserve it, and some planners teach us how to do it best.

Email: DOss@douglas.co.us

back to list