Benjamin Schuster Email & Phone Number

Walnut Creek, California, United States

Walnut Creek, California, United States

I currently serve as the Community Development Department's resident Technologist in which I leverage my extensive technical background and intimate knowledge of land use planning to help create a more efficient and data driven department. I'm currently focused on identifying ways to automate internal processes, creating a robust GIS environment, building.

Walnut Creek, California, United States

I served as a member of the Community Development Department's Special Projects team in which I led a variety of efforts related to improving and automating processes and building out the department's technical and GIS capabilities. I also served as a project planner for discretionary entitlement projects and manage the ongoing implementation of the city's.

Martinez, CA

I served as the lead duty planner and sole staff planner for a City of 40,000. I handled general planning inquiries, reviewed and approved business licenses, managed development projects, and supported long-range planning efforts such as the City's 2035 General Plan Update. I also actively worked to identify process improvements, conducted extensive GIS.

San Jose, CA

I served as a do-it-all transportation planner with a strong emphasis on data analytics and systems building. I served as the go-to "data guy" for the transportation planning division and continually focused on ways to better connect current and future DOT systems and workstreams to become more efficient. I also managed a number of standalone planning.

San Jose

I served as co-lecturer for the graduate-level course URBP 278 Intro to GIS for Urban Planning, Summer Semester 2019. I helped develop and lead course lecturers, created course material, met with students during office hours, and graded assignments with an emphasis on providing in-depth feedback.

I served as project manager for a number of long range planning efforts within the Department of Planning & Building. These projects include the Resource Summary Report - a resource deficiency forecasting document; the Los Osos Habitat Conservation Plan - a communitywide HCP to mitigate take of state and federal endangered species habitat for installation.

City Of San Jose

I served as the primary policy aide in conducting extensive GIS analysis and in-depth research to aid the City and Department of Transportation's effort in becoming one of the first California cities to adopt a VMT CEQA metric pursuant to SB 743.

City Of San Jose

I conducted GIS analysis and policy research for half a dozen major grants to help the City's Department of Transportation win over $50 million in planning and capital funds. I also supported DOT's Vision Zero program by creating outreach materials and street pole banners using the Adobe Creative Suite.

San Jose

I went above and beyond the typical student assistant administrative tasks by also creating maps and classroom materials for faculty within the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. I also suggested and led an effort to redesign the main office and lounge space for the department to better meet the needs of staff and students.

San Jose

I created an existing conditions survey using ESRI's Survey123 for use by students in this capstone class for the Master's in Urban Planning Program. I also held office hours, answered student questions, and graded assignments to help students succeed in this course.

San Jose

In this dual role, I helped oversee a team of 35 resident assistants and 8 student assistants to run a student housing building with 1,500 beds. I served in an on-call rotation responding to emergency situations and after-hours concerns, often coordinating with emergency personnel. I also managed the Living Learning Center, which served as Housing's sole.

Master'S Degree, City/Urban, Community And Regional Planning

Activities and Societies: Certificate in Applications of Technology in Planning Selected Coursework in: Geographical Information Systems.

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), Political Economy / Minor In Public Policy

Selected Coursework: Intro to Economics, Intro to Statistics, Intro to City Planning, Property & Liberty, Intro to Public Policy Analysis.