County hires planning department director

A planner from Michigan has accepted the position of director at the Monroe County Planning Department, which has been vacant for 15 months. The directorship has been plagued by high turnover in the past few years.\nRobert Cowell, who's been working in the private sector, will officially start work Aug. 6.\nFormer plan director Leo Sims left for a higher-paying private job in May last year. Since then, Chief Deputy Planner Mary Myers Ogle and Planner Gregg Zody have taken turns filling in.\nIn 1998, Kevin Buchheit left the post for a consulting job, and interim director Dave Hall took off for the private sector soon after. Sims stayed on the job for a few months, until he received an offer from a private planning consulting firm in the Los Angeles area.\nDistressed at this game of musical chairs, the Monroe County Council raised the planning director's salary from $47,000 to $55,000 this April. While the statewide average for such a position is only $44,000, council members worried about further flights to the private sector.\nIncreased fees cover the cost of the $8,000 salary.\nCowell received his bachelor's degree in Aeronautics from St. Louis University in 1989. He completed a master's degree in Urban Planning from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 1994.\nMost recently, Cowell worked as a principal planner for McKenna Associates Inc., the largest planning firm in Michigan. Earlier, he served as manager of the planning division in Jefferson County, Miss., a fast-growing suburb of St. Louis with a population of 200,000.\nAs manager, he supervised the division's 10 staff members and oversaw a $300,000 budget. Cowell said he's pleased to return to public service.\n"I feel that my management and technical skills are best used in the public sector," he said. "As a consultant, you come to provide your services and leave. I have personally found more satisfaction in planning for the community where you live.\n"After visiting Monroe County last year, my wife and I decided that it would be a great place to live and work."\nMonroe County Commissioners President Brian O'Neill said Cowell was the county's "first choice." Several dozen applicants were considered for the post.\n"He has the right credentials and experience," O'Neill said in a press release. "His references were excellent; and he impressed the entire interview committee with his informed and thoughtful responses. \n"It was obvious he had studied our community and was already familiar with the special challenges and opportunities planning presents in Monroe County."\nCowell will oversee the staff of the planning department, which reviews proposed developments for their compliance to county zoning laws. He'll also work on proposed amendments to the 1997 county zoning ordinance and the 1995 county comprehensive land use plan.