The following is a throwback to ULI Toronto’s Fall 2009 interview with City of Mississauga planner and current ULI member Ed Sajecki.

The ULI team recently reached out to Ed and asked him if he’d like to make any updates to the content of the interview so it would more accurately reflect recent developments in his life and career.

Portions of the original interview have been revised by Ed.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself, and what you do for a living?

A: I’ve been Commissioner of Planning and Building for the City of Mississauga for over 12 years. I lead a department of about 200 people which comprises 4 divisions (Strategic Community Initiatives, Development and Design, Policy Planning, and Building). The department provides professional advice on matters of planning policy, development applications, and building construction, as set out in the Planning Act, the Ontario Building Code, the Municipal Act and related legislation and regulatory processes. Mississauga is now the 6th largest city in Canada with a population approaching 800,000. For over three decades, we were the fastest growing city in the country. And now we’re the second largest in the GTHA and third largest in Ontario.

Q: How long have you been a member of ULI? Why did you choose to join ULI?

A: I’ve been a member of ULI since the mid-1980s, more than 30 years now. At that time I was Commissioner of Planning at the former City of Etobicoke, pre-amalgamation in Toronto. I was sponsored by Harold Shipp and Stuart Smith, both very active members in ULI. They both said to me you need to know a bit more about how the private sector works. It’s been tremendous in terms of bringing more of a balance to my thinking, especially on how processes actually work and what is involved in putting projects together.

Q: What makes ULI different from other organizations?

A: Many other professional organizations represent particular industry sectors and are biased toward the members that they represent. ULI really strives to take an objective and balanced view of issues. They’re not tied to any one organization and have a very broad member base across both the private and public sectors.

Q: What are the biggest benefits of ULI membership?

A: It’s a fantastic meeting space for planners, developers, engineers, architects and others to come and learn about sectors they may have contact with but might not know much about. It’s the personal contact you get from learning and from sharing each other’s experiences. In my own career, I’ve learned very quickly that I don’t know everything. ULI also carries out an extraordinary range of research, having over 30,000 members worldwide. ULI has very high standards and they’re proud of what their members have accomplished. There is usually a piece of research out there which can be extremely valuable to your work. They’re also not afraid to point out mistakes that were made along the way. I read Urban Land regularly.

Q: What would you like to see the Toronto District Council Accomplish?

A: The roots of major organizations are often in the local chapters. It’s through the Toronto District Council that we meet the people that are moving the profession forward and how we connect with the international organization. We’ve grown tremendously in recent years; I’d like to see the District Council take hold of certain issues. I’ll give you an example. When I worked at the Province of Ontario [as Assistant Deputy Minister, MAH] we were heavily involved in Smart Growth. We went down to Washington to meet with a number of organizations but specifically to meet with ULI. ULI was really leading the charge around Smart Growth. When ULI takes hold of an issue, it gets traction. Today they’ve built on that experience with recent initiatives around place-making and green development. Maybe the local chapter can push these issues in their own local area. Also, Toronto has a lot of good going on here that it can help market to the international organization. It may well be that ULI Toronto can lead the charge for things that we’re doing well and can share with our broader membership.

Q: Why would you encourage others to become members of ULI?

A: It’s the best organization I belong to, and I belong to a lot of them. ULI’s cross-disciplinary nature attracts leading-edge participants and very talented people.