Jason Giffen Selected as New SLO County Director of Planning and Building

SAN LUIS OBISPO-The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors has offered Jason Giffen the position of Director of Planning and Building.  Mr. Giffen will be the department head, providing leadership and administrative direction to the Planning and Building Department.  He will replace Vic Holanda who retired in June of 2009.  Contract negotiations are currently underway and he is expected to report in approximately forty- five days.  

Mr. Giffen has a background in Planning, Land Use, and Environmental Policy in the public sector.   He has spent the past eleven years with the County of San Diego, and is currently the Land Use Chief in the Department of Planning and Land Use.  Mr. Giffen holds a Master’s degree in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey California.  He was selected from among eighty-one candidates in an extensive recruitment and selection process that included work sample and essay submissions, candidate presentations, and several interviews. 

“I am extremely pleased with the Board’s selection,” said Frank Mecham, Chairman of the County Board of Supervisors.  “Mr. Giffen’s experience with complex planning issues and policy development as well as his engaged management style will serve the department and the County well.  We will leverage his strengths in these areas to help shape the future direction of the Planning and Building Department.”

The San Luis Obispo County Planning and Building Department is staffed by ninety employees serving the public and other agencies through six divisions which include: Building, Current Planning, Environmental, Long Range Planning, Community Relations, and Department Operations.  The department mission is, “Promoting the wise use of land / Helping to build great communities.”