Letters to the Editor

We welcome letters to the editor. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Please send your thoughts, ideas, and inquiries to publications@lincolninst.edu.

Congratulations! The 75th anniversary of the Lincoln Institute is an event to be very proud of, and the special anniversary issue of Land Lines (January/April 2021) tells the story excellently. I am glad the history of the Lincoln family is included. It is an inspiring story, and it helps explain the deep roots of commitment that underlie the Lincoln Institute.

Phil Hocker
Alexandria, Virginia

I am originally from Cleveland. My great uncle worked for Lincoln Electric and he was the envy of the family. They took good care of their employees. What I am personally most grateful for are the annual employee picnics they had at Euclid Beach amusement park. As our whole extended family would go, it was a summer family reunion. Who’d have thought I would become a land use planner and continue benefiting from the Lincoln family in my professional life.

Maria Rudzinski, Senior Planner
Ontario County Planning Department, Canandaigua, New York

I celebrate this 75th anniversary of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, recognizing its great work educating professionals in Latin America about land policies that can promote the good development of the cities of our countries; I want your mission to reach the century mark and more. Greetings to all the collaborators of the Lincoln Institute, and a special one to the great teacher [Senior Fellow] Martim Smolka.

Jorge Gallegos Contreras
Mexico City, Mexico

We wish to extend our most sincere congratulations on the 75th anniversary of the Lincoln Institute. It is a joyful occasion to celebrate John Cromwell Lincoln’s dream. Today, the Institute’s work is a great legacy for the Americas. For IFAM [Institute for Municipal Promotion and Assessment], as well as for the rest of the institutions of the Territorial Management and Human Settlement sector of Costa Rica, it has been a great honor to work with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in the promotion of sustainable, efficient, and inclusive urban development.

Your support in the advancement of workshops and courses for our public officials and collaborators, as well as on the important multisector dialogues and planning tools, has been of immense value . . . . We wish to reiterate our support on any endeavor on which we could be of value to you. Once again, thank you for all the joint work we have done together over the past years.

Patricio Morera Víquez, President
IFAM Costa Rica

I graduated from the University of Papua New Guinea in public policy and joined the Department of Lands and Physical Planning of the government of Papua New Guinea as principal physical planning research officer. I had no knowledge of physical planning and land matters and badly needed specific training. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy came to my rescue by sponsoring me to attend a short course on Land Management and Informal Settlement Regularization at IHS [Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands]. This course was the entry point for me to become a land and planning expert. I later studied for a Master’s in Urban Management and Development at Erasmus University. Now I am contributing a lot to land and planning issues in this part of the globe. That’s why I hold the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy before my heart. I am one of the frequent surfers of your website and regular receiver of your emails. I read most of your publications and your newsletters. I have complex land issues in my country and wish to work with your institution to help us address them. I trust you more than others.

Vincent Pyati
Papua New Guinea

Congratulations on your anniversary! I’m grateful to the Lincoln Institute for your support of Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820–2000. [Vice President of Programs] Armando Carbonell advised my work. May you continue to help authors whose research connects land use to social equity.

Dolores Hayden, Professor of Architecture, Urbanism, and American Studies Emerita
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

The Lincoln Institute’s longstanding commitment to promoting sound tax policy and providing annual education opportunities for state tax decisionmakers deserves to be celebrated and congratulated—cheers to the tax team admirably led by [Senior Fellow] Joan Youngman. Thank you! Here’s to another 75 years of outstanding achievements attributed to a team of dedicated and innovative professionals.

Jill Tanner, Oregon Tax Court (retired)
Portland, Oregon

It was lovely to see all of you in the celebration videos. [Editor’s note: Our 75th anniversary video, Life of an Idea, is available at www.lincolninst.edu/75.] Since we first started to work with the Lincoln Institute in the late 1990s, it has always been an organization that is evolving and growing in new ways. It was remarkable how much we did not know about Lincoln’s work, which was also part of the enjoyment of watching the programs. The values that the founders made foundational to the Lincoln Institute and the work are as important if not more so today.

So glad you took time to celebrate. We look forward to supporting you in the challenges and work ahead.

Georgie Bishop, President
Public Sector Consortium, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Land, the common ground we all live on, pertains to all kinds of human activities such as agriculture, urban development, and taxation. Social grievances or even upheavals often follow the unjust distribution of the benefits derived from it. It takes a man of vision and perseverance like John C. Lincoln to contribute to the endeavors in changing that fate. I am respectful of what he did for the world through the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, which he created 75 years ago. On this significant moment of its 75th anniversary, I am pleased to offer my hearty congratulations . . . . Since the creation of the ICLPST [International Center for Land Policy Studies and Training], the Lincoln Institute has played an important role in sharing its expertise and resources to help make the ICLPST a successful organization in the education of agriculture and land. Its courses benefit not only government officials and experts from around the world, but also their countries . . . . To improve quality of life through various programs is our common goal. I am happy to enjoy the celebration and also anticipate our relationship to grow stronger and strive harder to better serve the world in our areas of expertise in the future.

Dr. Chin-chen Huang, Chair, ICLPST Board
Deputy Minister, Council of Agriculture Taiwan