Al Zelinka is the Community Development Director for the City of Riverside, CA. Prior to coming to Riverside on July 2012, Al served as Community Development Director for the City of Fullerton, CA, for four years where he oversaw the Planning and Development Services Division, Building and Code Enforcement Division, and Housing and Neighborhood Services Division.

In Fullerton Al was highly successful leading efforts to improve and revitalize neighborhoods, commercial districts and downtowns by working with community members in highly engaging, outcome-focused processes. His work earned him and the department awards from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, California Strategic Growth Council, Southern California Association of Governments, Urban Land Institute Orange County/Inland Empire, Orange County Section of the California Chapter of the American Planning Association Award, and the California Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Before joining local government, Al was vice president with RBF Consulting and served as principal of RBF Consulting's URBAN DESIGN STUDIO. For the past 20 years, Al's practice has upheld his original planning and urban design career objective: to "make a difference" in communities and the profession. He is a registered planner with the American Institute of Certified Planners, a Certified Main Street Manager and a Fellow of the Institute for Urban Design, and is certified in Community Economic Development and as a Certified Green Building Professional.

Al has practiced planning conducted training, delivered presentations or training in more than 28 states. He authored many publications including a co-authored book for the American Planning Association entitled SafeScape: Creating Safer, More Livable Communities Through Planning and Design (March 2001), and an APA Planners Advisory Service Report entitled Placemaking On a Budget (December 2005). Al received the Kenneth Jones Excellence in Training Award from the NeighborWorks Training Institute in May 2007 for being an "innovator, mentor and collaborator." He holds a BS in Public Planning from Northern Arizona University and a Master of Regional Planning from Cornell University.