Our firm offers a multi-disciplinary project team approach through established relationships with varied specialized professionals. We can assemble the right mix of professionals to meet a client's project needs. Meet the Lehe Planning professionals below.
James E. Lehe, AICP
Manager
Birmingham
Leader and innovator, Jim has over thirty years of experience in professional planning. Consulting
part-time since 1993, he began his full-time practice in 2000 with the
establishment of Lehe Planning, LLC. He previously held professional planning
positions with the City of Birmingham, Alabama; the East Alabama Regional
Planning and Development Commission; the Birmingham Regional Planning
Commission; the Roanoke County, Virginia, Planning Department; and the
Shreveport, Louisiana, Metropolitan Planning Commission. He completed the U.S.
Department of HUD Urban Intern Program as a Community Planner in 1981. Associates
Amanda Capps
Senior Hazard Mitigation Specialist
Birmingham
Amanda Capps assists with hazard mitigation project identification, feasibility, and funding. She has over seven years of experience in hazard mitigation and disaster relief. She began her career in mitigation planning with the Alabama Emergency Management Association in February 2004, where she worked as a Mitigation Planner and Program Manager until late 2007, when she left to work for a large non-profit disaster relief organization. During that period, she gained extensive experience and training in State and local mitigation planning and the management of FEMA grant programs. Amanda holds a B.S. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is Advanced Level Emergency Manager (ALEM) through the American Association of Emergency Managers. She has drafted comprehensive mitigation strategies and community action programs for multi-hazard mitigation plans and has assisted with securing FEMA grant funds for various hazard mitigation projects.
Lori E. Gardner, AICP
Principal Planner
Birmingham
Lori Gardner has over seven years of professional planning experience. Lori holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, 2003, from Birmingham-Southern College and a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning, 2005, from Florida State University. Her professional experience comprises community planning, hazard mitigation planning, transportation planning, and environmental planning with large national and global firms and with the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Lori excels in project coordination, public involvement, and communication with project partners and the public.
Candace L. Snipes
Senior GIS Analyst
Mobile
Candace Snipes has over 25 years of professional planning
and GIS experience. She provides GIS analysis services for hazard
mitigation and comprehensive planning project assignments. Previously, she was the GIS Manager for the
City of Mobile GIS Division for 16 years (1989-2005), where she established its
GIS program and managed the City’s GIS Division, directing a professional and
technical staff of twelve. She began
with the City of Mobile Planning Department as a Planner for five years before
her promotion to GIS Manager. Prior to
her work with the City of Mobile, she was a Programmer/Analyst with the Atlanta
Regional Planning Commission. Candy holds a B.A. in Geography from Georgia State University in Atlanta, 1983. She has completed extensive GIS training throughout the course of her career, including a series of FEMA training courses in HAZUS-MH at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, MD.
Celeste Boydston
Planner
Auburn
Celeste Boydston, based in Auburn, Alabama, has
professional experience in a broad range of planning activities.
She rejoined Lehe Planning in 2008, having previously worked for the
firm as a mitigation planner during 2002 – 2004. During that period,
she assisted with the preparation of multi-jurisdictional natural
hazards
mitigation plans for 18 Alabama counties, among other assignments.
Prior to Lehe Planning, she had managed her own consulting firm, Business
Development Specialists;
worked for Hendon Engineering, Birmingham, Alabama, in business
development; served
the City of Irondale, Alabama, as City Planner and Zoning
Administrator; and
was a Planning Intern for the Jefferson County, Alabama, Department of
Land
Development. Celeste holds an M.P.A. degree in Public Administration from
the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a B.A. from Auburn
University.
Kay Jones
Project Administrator
Birmingham
Kay Jones
provides administrative services for all projects, including grant
administration, financial management and monitoring, research, and
technical support. Kay began work at Lehe Planning in January 2005,
not long after she and her family lost their home, which was destroyed
by the Brookside, Alabama, flood of Five Mile Creek in May 2003. Her
personal experiences in that flood provide her with unique
qualifications to serve as the lead point of contact on all flood plain
property acquisition projects. Kay has over 20 years of
administrative experience.