About the Firm
Established in October of 2000, Lehe Planning, LLC, delivers customized services designed to fully meet each client's needs. We give local governments and agencies access to professional planning and project management services. Our extensive experience across public sector organizations assures responsiveness to a community's planning, project development, funding, and implementation demands. Leveraging Federal funds, where available, we help local governments reduce their financial burdens. 

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.

Managing Principal 

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. 

He is a graduate of the University of Central Florida program in Legal Studies, B.A. 1977, and holds a master's degree in Public Administration from Florida State University, M.S.P.A. 1979, and a master's degree in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia, M.P. 1982. A charter member of the American Planning Association since 1978 and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners since 1985, Jim has served on the Executive Committee of the Alabama Chapter as President, Treasurer, and Section Representative.

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.



Administration

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.