"ine Howard has advanced technical knowledge on the inner workings of urban

"During my four and one-half years in Hood River, Elaine Howard Consulting was the Urban Renewal Agency's primary consultant. They provided consistent, exceptional service at all times. Scott Vanden Bos was particularly skilled and helpful in reviewing, analyzing and presenting detailed public input information gleaned from two very successful visioning sessions held for one of Hood River's three urban renewal districts." - Steve Wheeler, Hood River City Manager/Urban Renewal Administrator 2018

"I wanted to let you know that we received a number of compliments on Scott's presentation at last week's council meeting. Some believe that his thorough presentation answered a number of questions of those in the audience and thereby made it so those people did not feel the need to testify. Thanks!" - Rodger Craddock City Manager, Coos Bay 2018

" Elaine's service was exemplary. She was accurate and timely, providing critical advice in difficult circumstances, helping produce a winning urban renewal plan for our city." - David Sawyer - City Admnistrator, September 2017

"Elaine is a master technician when it comes to urban renewal planning. She provided staff and the Astoria Development Commission with the right technical information at every juncture and consistently provided timely responses to issues that always bubble up in a public process. We completed a "substantial amendment" in about five months: On time, under budget, and best of all no controversy or, better yet, property owners and businesses excited about the new opportunities. At the end of the day, Elaine makes urban renewal look easy and we all know how complicated it can be for policy makers, let alone seasoned staff." - Kevin Cronin, Community Development Director, Astoria, December 2016

"We were very grateful to Elaine for helping us navigate a complex urban renewal "substantial amendment" to our plan. She has extensive knowledge of the state statute governing urban renewal areas. She also possesses the ability to explain intricacies of the statute to both staff and the Council. We appreciated her skills as we successfully passed our amendment." - Seth Atkinson, City Manager, Sandy, December 2016

"Hiring Elaine and her firm is the best decision we could have made. This being our community's first venture into establishing an urban renewal district, it was essential that the firm leading us have an extensive knowledge of this process, and an ability to communicate that knowledge clearly and confidently to the community. Elaine was not only more than able to meet those requirements, but added professionalism,a collaborative attitude, and an engaging personality to the mix, making for a very successful outcome to our effort. As a testament to her work, there was overwhelming community support for the district, and the project was completed on time and under budget. It was a pleasure working alongside Elaine on this project, and we hope to be able to engage her firm's services in the future. Her firm would certainly be at the top of our list."- Doug Montgomery, Planning Director, City of McMinnville, May 2015

“Harrisburg’s urban renewal agency is back on track and moving forward projects thanks to the great work of Elaine Howard. Her knowledge and professionalism led to very smooth approval of substantial amendments which more than doubled our original maximum indebtedness. Elaine is wonderful to work with, responds promptly, and handles herself well under pressure. We will be repeat customers!” - Brian Latta, City Administrator, City of Harrisburg, May 2015

"This training (Urban Renewal 101) is valuable for new and experienced elected and appointed officials. Experienced city councilors say they wish they’d had this training when they first started serving on the council. Newer members are grateful that they were able to ask and have answered their array of questions in an open, non-threatening environment. It is a very well-spent two hours.”- Charlie Mitchell, Community and Economic Development Director, City of La Grande April 2013

"Elaine is a consummate professional and a pleasure to work with. She brings a deep background in public outreach, planning, project management and urban renewal to her consulting practice, along with a responsive and collaborative attitude. Her firm has been invaluable in assisting the City of Lake Oswego with formation of new urban renewal districts."- Jane Blackstone, Economic Development Manager, City of Lake Oswego, June 2013

"Elaine Howard is a knowledgeable and very competent professional in the difficult and complex field of Oregon urban renewal. She was always right on time with her work and totally supportive of city staff throughout Lebanon’s process of a substantive and complicated urban renewal plan amendment.” - John Hitt, City Manager, City of Lebanon

"We hired Elaine based on the high quality proposal she submitted as well as the strong recommendations we received from others. We were working in a very short time frame as our urban renewal district was close to reaching maximum indebtedness. Elaine committed to our project with enthusiasm and high energy - which she gave throughout the project. With the 2009 legislative changes, we were covering new territory. Elaine was up to date on these new requirements and did not take anything to chance to ensure we followed the process without ramifications. We all enjoyed working with Elaine, her warm personality, professionalism, and experience gave credibility to a process which had more than its share of skeptics and obstacles - but more importantly credibility with our elected officials." Susan Gahlsdorf, CPA, Keizer Finance Director, Keizer

"In order to complete priority projects in the urban renewal plan, the Sherwood Urban Renewal Agency found it necessary to increase maximum indebtedness which requires a substantial amendment to the plan. Elaine was instrumental in leading us through this very complicated process,including preparing correspondence and testimony for overlapping taxing districts, planning commission, agency board, and the city council. Without her professional guidance, we would not have been succesful in achieving the increase in maximum indebtedness." - Tom Nelson, Economic Development Manager, City of Sherwood

"I worked with Elaine on a project in Wilsonville. Her turnaround time and work qualitiy are both excellent and she does a great job in public meetings. She prepared a new urban renewal plan for us under very tight time constraints. We did not put the plan into place, but Elaine did a great job meeting all of our requests and expectations." Kristin Retherford, Urban Renewal Manager, City of Wilsonville

"Elaine has been terrific to work with.  She is quick to respond to questions and her deliverables are complete and easy to understand. Her presentation skills are excellent and she was very effective at explaining the Urban Renewal and TIF processes to the City Council and the public so it was easily understood. I will definitely use her services for other projects. - Bob Francis, City Manger, City of Hood River

"The Florence Urban Renewal Agency was preparing to do our first loan and needed to have a review of our plan and an update of our tax increment projections. Elaine Howard's company was highly recommended, so we contacted her for a proposal. We were on a tight time frame to get this work done. Elaine and Jeff Tashman came to Florence to view our district, meet with our committee and outline what we needed.They did a great job of reviewing, updating and communicating with us. The project was done on time and budget and we are very pleased with the end results.” - Nola Xavier, Chairwoman, Florence Urban Renewal Agency

“Elaine Howard has provided consulting services for the Port of Hood River on a number of occasions. Most notably, she prepared an urban renewal plan for the Hood River Waterfront, an idea that had been discussed for many years but never implemented. Elaine and her team successfully moved the plan through final adoption, a significant achievement. Elaine made a sincere and prolonged effort to get to know Hood River and the issues and the major stakeholders on these important projects. She is skilled in communicating the technical and policy issues of complex projects. She demonstrates excellent abilities in all facets of public outreach.

Most importantly, Elaine’s work built trust among the various stakeholders – an absolutely critical factor in the project’s success. I would not hesitate to recommend Elaine Howard for a wide variety of planning and consulting assignments.”

- Michael McElwee, Executive Director, Port of Hood River

"There is a small group of knowledgeable Urban Renewal professionals in Oregon and the Lincoln City Urban Renewal Agency was fortunate to have worked with one of the best, Elaine Howard."

- Kurt Olsen, Director, Urban Renewal, Lincoln City