2018 ELECTION CANDIDATE BIOS

Transcription

1 President Scott Egger, PE Public Works Director, City of Lacey I have had the privilege of working in the Public Works arena for 36 years. I am currently serving as the Public Works Director for the City of Lacey, a position that I have enjoyed for the past ten years. Lacey s Public Works Department is responsible for engineering, transportation, water, sewer, stormwater, reclaimed water distribution, parks maintenance, facility maintenance, fleet maintenance, and plays a key role in emergency management. Prior to working for the City of Lacey I had the good fortune to work for the City of Spokane for 8 years, Spokane County for 10 years and Morrison-Knudsen for 8 years. Having worked in design, construction, operations, and maintenance, I believe that the most important ingredient in a successful project is active communication during all stages of a project. The importance of communication between designers, builders, operators and maintainers during all stages of a project cannot be understated. I served as an APWA Board member in 2012/2013 and I am currently serving as the Chapter Vice-President. One of the aspects of APWA that I find incredibly valuable is the diversity of our membership in regards to experience and occupation. APWA members work in a variety of fields such as operations, maintenance, engineering, construction, marketing, public affairs, contracts, administration, planning, sales, and education. The diversity within APWA creates a synergy that is rare and exciting. The networking opportunities available to members during conferences and at committee meetings are invaluable. APWA is a place where people can go to get valuable information that benefits themselves and their employers. I would like to see APWA continue to grow as an organization that provides great value to its members. It would be an honor and a privilege to continue to serve as an APWA Officer and I would like to thank you for your consideration. Vice President Lorelei Williams, PE Capital Projects & Roadway Structures Division Director, City of Seattle DOT I have been working in the transportation industry, both as a private consultant and as a public employee, for over 20 years. I have a background in both transportation and aviation design, and have spent time as a designer, engineer and a construction inspector and over 16 years as a project/program manager. I am currently responsible for the project management, communications, engineering, real property, environmental, project controls and construction management aspects of project delivery for all SDOT-delivered capital projects, a portfolio with an annual average of $50-80M, as well as the operations and maintenance of our City s roadway structures (bridges, retaining walls, stairways, and seawall). Page 1

2 I was fortunate enough to receive the APWA Washington State Chapter Young Leader recognition in 2009, service as a board member in 2014 and 2015, and most recently serve as your APWA Secretary for the Executive Board. I believe that positive relationships are the key to successful project delivery and that APWA is the best organization in our industry to help foster these relationships. The strong committees, events and conferences are unparalleled in the opportunity they provide to learn about what others are doing, new solutions, new technologies, and spending time working with those outside your immediate work circle. As an APWA Board Member, I have gained insight into our committee work and APWA National, and have been able to further support the impressive organization that is APWA. Secretary Donald Huling, PE Geotechnical Engineer, Vice President, HWA GeoSciences I am truly grateful for the opportunity to run for the Secretary position on the executive board of the Washington State chapter of APWA! Having established my career at HWA Geosciences serving public works projects across Washington. I am seeking the opportunity to continue to serve APWA and give back to the community and industry in return for all that it has given me. Over the past five years I have had the honor to serve on the board of our great chapter. The first year as the recipient of the Young Leader award and the last two years as an elected board member. Over this time, I have actively worked with our leadership to provide increased opportunities for our membership, increase the financial standing of our chapter and help reinvigorate our committees. My experience participating in the last two audits of our chapter s finances has laid a foundation of knowledge (geotechnical pun) that will allow me to smoothly transition into the position of treasurer. As an officer of the executive board I will continue to be committed to improving our chapter and striving to further APWA s mission to be the premier organization for public works professionals. Our chapter has a lot of exciting plans for the next 4 years. We have made a bid for the 2019 national convention to be held in Seattle. As treasurer, I look forward to ensuring that our finances are in a position that will allow our chapter to capitalize on these opportunities while maintaining a strong financial standing. In addition to my work on the board of directors I have also enjoyed working with the Scholarship and Emerging Professionals committees. Over the past 5 years my efforts with these two committees have included a tenure as chairman of the Emerging Professional s committee, multiple woodworking charitable donations, organizing and implementing APWA poker nights and facilitating APWA Mariners nights. Through these events I have raised over $9,000 to support the Jack Pittis Scholarship fund. Whether I'm completing my next woodworking project or helping to design a public works project, I give 100 percent every time. It is this energy, enthusiasm, and affinity for hard work that I would bring to the APWA executive board. Page 2

3 Treasurer Scott Sawyer, PE Principal, SCJ Alliance I love solving technical problems and serving others, so it s been very rewarding to work for 25+ years with public works and state government professionals in solving community challenges as a transportation engineer and project manager. My involvement in APWA began 20 years ago. I m a big advocate of continuing education, mentoring, and relationship building, and I see the value APWA provides in all these arenas. I have served on numerous committees including the APWA Division 1 Subcommittee since 2008 and the APWA Government Affairs Committee since I currently co-chair the Government Affairs since I would be honored to expand my APWA involvement by serving as Treasurer. I am known for my straight-forward questions, integrity, and accountability. Professionally I draw upon strengths in leadership, communication and organization skills to keep projects running smoothly from start to finish. I was honored at last fall s APWA banquet to be awarded with the Roy Morse Award for outstanding technical and professional accomplishments in public works by our Washington Chapter. On projects, I am committed to understanding big picture goals and anticipating needs so I can help find the best solutions. This same approach serves me well in my many volunteers roles including Vice President at Olympia Area Rowing, math tutoring, mission trips, and rebuilding projects for low income housing. I am a 2016 graduate of Leadership Thurston County, a program designed to develop informed, skilled, and committed leaders throughout south Puget Sound. I earned my Bachelor of Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and I am the proud father of two boys. Outside of work I enjoy rowing, cycling, golf, travel and volunteering. I want to be your APWA Treasurer Board Members Jennifer Saugen, PE Assistant City Engineer, City of Wenatchee I have been active in the Washington State Chapter of APWA since 2013 when I started at the City of Wenatchee, and recently joined the Membership Committee. I look forward to taking on a leadership role in APWA. I have been and always will be passionate about Public Works. I have spent my entire life with folks working in the Public Sector - growing up in a US Forest Service family, working for the USFS myself, and delving into a career in the public works after graduating from UW in After a few years working for CH2M in wastewater, I came to Page 3

4 the Wenatchee Valley and have focused on design and construction of transportation projects. I was lucky to work for WSDOT in Wenatchee during a time of growth and big east-side projects, both in design and construction management. At the City of Wenatchee, where I ve been since 2013, I manage delivery of our transportation improvement projects, and work with a great team of engineers, technicians, and maintenance crews. Outside of work, I try to be a Public Works ambassador in the small community that I live in (Leavenworth). It seems that community members see all agencies as one large public works entity, and I often get to be a clearinghouse of information for nearby cities, counties, and even WSDOT. Folks ask me questions about every piece of equipment they see on the road and every road work ahead sign, and I relish in the opportunities to tell people about all the good work that our teams are doing and the public benefits provided. I am also passionate about getting young kids excited about careers in public works and engineering. I volunteer at my kids schools for engineer s week, career days, and other STEM related activities like Lego Robotics. I can tell you that the future is bright in that regard! I would be honored to serve and bring that same enthusiasm to the Board of Directors if elected. Rocky Wallace Public Works Superintendent, City of Toppenish I became involved with APWA when I was promoted to the Public Works Superintendent for the City of Toppenish in July of Prior to my promotion, I worked for the City of Toppenish and Kitsap County Public Works for a combined 19 years of service. In my position as Public Works Superintendent, I am responsible for the daily operations of city water, sewer, solid waste, street, cemetery, facilities maintenance, and parks division s. I felt it was important to become involved with APWA following my promotion because I saw the value it could bring to an organization when I work with Kitsap County, an APWA accredited organization. I would be honored to serve on the board as a voice for Eastern Washington to help bring light to the specific needs of smaller organizations who have less access to the resources of larger municipalities. Public Service is a choice that I make every day. I have a passion for serving my community and working hard to deliver the highest level of service for our citizens, as efficiently as possible. Dan Ford, PE City Engineer, City of Pasco I had, what I consider, the opportunity of a lifetime when I started at Huibregtse Louman Engineering in 1985 as a hand-draftsman. As I look back now, the people I worked with were individuals that inspired me to be more, try without fear of failure, and remember that anything could be accomplished through teamwork. I started on the ground floor and yet I was thrilled. I appreciated every opportunity. I was a sponge and just couldn t get enough. And it wasn t long, working in that environment Page 4

5 with those individuals, that I realized what I wanted to do. I wanted to be like them, I wanted to be a Licensed Professional Engineer, and so the journey began. Everything I did from that moment on was focused on that established goal. It wasn t long before I taught myself AutoCAD and that offered more opportunity. I took a position at the City of Yakima as an AutoCAD Technician focused on the possibility of going back to school and finishing the education I now knew I needed if I were to going to ever achieve my goal of becoming a Professional Engineer. I spent 15 years at the City of Yakima but through all the hurdles and stumbles, I found myself with 2 Associates degrees, one being in Civil Engineering Technology, the successful completion of my Engineer-in-Training License and ultimately, yes, my Professional Engineering License. What seemed almost unattainable by some, and I did have my naysayers, wasn t easy but I was motivated. What followed next was dream upon dream. A trip to Central Washington University to visit with the chair of the very successful Construction Management Program resulted in the realization that I couldn t spend hours a day away from work. It seemed as though my progress was stopped. But then the chair of the department said, check with the ITAM department, they have a very successful program that might just fit. Four years later, knowing that preparing for opportunity meant work without the promise of compensation, and I had achieved my Bachelor s and Master s degree in Administrative Management from CWU. What a ride! But what to do now? Although I had done all of this seemingly under the radar I quickly realized that preparing for opportunity before it presented itself had never let me down nor had the relationships I had built along the way. I also realized, with my first opportunity to attend an APWA conference in Wenatchee, that I was not alone with my goals, ideas, and more importantly questions. Here is where the relationships, the connections, the network of APWA became so important both to me and my employer as I was connected to a group of resources that I could never have dream existed. APWA is the organization that will provide me the resources, and the connections, that will take me to the finish line. It would be an honor to serve as a APWA Officer as I so value the opportunities this organization offers its members. Thank you for your consideration. Jesse Thomsen, PE Seattle Design Manager/Principal, Perteet I believe that APWA is in a unique position to provide leadership for our communities. Throughout history, Public Works professionals have shaped our cities and counties by providing not only our technical expertise, but through our Vision of where we can go. Now more than ever, we have an opportunity to lead our communities through this turbulent and exciting time to provide more resilient, sustainable and vibrant infrastructure. Page 5

6 I have been involved in APWA for more than a decade, including various positions within the MPAC Committee. I have been the Chair/Co-Chair of the committee for the last three years. Through this involvement, I have had the opportunity to coordinate presentations on a number of topics for APWA members. We have arranged joint MPAC sessions with the Student Chapter at University of Washington and the Transportation Committee. This teaming has helped the different committees grow their membership and expose their members to some excellent learning opportunities. Currently, I am a Principal at Perteet Inc and the Director of Seattle Design Services. I have been designing and managing public works projects throughout the state for more than 16 years. My experience has ranged from Planning through Design and Construction for transportation, utility and transit projects with a focus on improving our communities through thoughtful, sustainable projects. Dan Ireland, PE Engineering Manager, SCJ Alliance If it wasn t for APWA, I wouldn t be where I am today. Four years ago, an APWA conference introduced me to not only the best place to live and recreate in the state (Wenatchee) but also finding an amazing group of people dedicated to public service. I ve never missed a conference since that week in Wenatchee, and now I m looking to provide more of a service to the association by becoming a board member and representing the central part of the state. I wasn t conscious of APWA until after time spent with Thurston County and 11 years at WSDOT. When I joined SCJ Alliance, I attended my first conference and it immediately resonated with me, I knew this was where I needed to be. The conference provided topics that related to me personally and professionally: leadership tools, lessons learned, alternative methods, and what is next in our industry. I am a big believer that the sharing of knowledge in committees and conferences is vital in our industry. We cannot all solely learn via books and the internet. We are humans and we need to be able to gather where we can socialize, connect faces to addresses, and share our stories of successes and we ll do it differently next time. This simple concept of sharing experiences and knowledge is important to me, a fundamental of APWA, and the underlying passion of why I would like to be a board member. The value I can bring to the board is a diverse set of eyes that has had experience working at the county, state, and consultant level over the past 15 years. My experience in providing planning, engineering, and construction administration services for local agencies, WSDOT, and the tribes explains my wide range of interest and why it is hard to focus solely on one technical committee. My ability to interact, listen, be accountable, and work as a teammate with the board will be my greatest assets to provide. We have the greatest public works association in the country and I want to help keep the synergy and momentum moving forward. P.S. Make sure to sign up for the APWA Golf Tournament! (I do that too) Page 6

7 Janice Fahning Engineering Manager, Snohomish County Janice Fahning has a passion for bringing people together. The Snohomish County Engineering Services Division Director has worked in the transportation and engineering industry for nearly 25 years, but it is that passion that got her involved with the APWA. Janice values the APWA s network of Public Works employees across the state and the members ability to use the numerous resources to learn about industry issues, new products and professional development. I want to encourage the next generation of engineers and leaders to get involved so they can work together to create the future of our transportation industry and viable communities. Within Snohomish County, Janice oversees the right of way, design, survey, geotech and construction teams with an annual budget of about $40 million. My goal is to build a strong Public Works team and bring the best out in every employee. She is proud that the county brings in 10 interns each year and creates networking relationships from which young engineers can build their career. Janice began her career after earning a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota. She has also worked for WSDOT in construction and design, managing an office with projects totaling $100 million and served on the Association of General Contractors of Washington from She was presented with the 2016 President s Award from the Washington State Association of County Engineers and presented Partnering to Rebuild after the Oso Landslide during the APWA Spring 2016 Conference. Scott Rood Fleet Services Manager, Clark County I have been a member of APWA since 2010 and I am very pleased to be nominated to serve on the Washington State APWA Board of Directors. Over the last few years, I initiated a Fleet Management Committee for our chapter and helped host several Fleet Pre-Conference workshops, recruited speakers, and presented at both spring and Fall Conferences. I became the Fleet Committee Chair in 2013 and implemented a new event to go along with the ROADEO called the Fleet Tech Challenge. This event has been held each fall since My goal is to get more Fleet Professional involved in our chapter by offering educational opportunities that have real value to them. I am an U.S. Air force veteran of 22 years. That is where I started my fleet career. After retirement from the Air Force I moved to Washington State and started working in the public sector. I have a Master s Degree in Business Administration from Saint Martin s University and I am a Certified Automotive Fleet Manager. Page 7

8 As a board member, I will continue to work hard to increase the number of fleet professionals involved with our chapter. I will also work with other committees to increase their membership. I am a good steward of government funds and always looking to be more efficient. Thank you for consideration. Erik Martin, PE Public Works Director/County Engineer, Lewis County I have been a member of APWA since 2010 and have been involved with the Maintenance and Operations committee since Last year I was named as the co-chair for the committee and have been heavily involved in planning the Roadeo and Maintenance Training Track for several years. I began my career surveying, drafting and designing for all types of public infrastructure projects in 1998 in a small firm in Corvallis, OR and soon after continued working in my home town of Olympia. I went to work in design for Pierce County in 2001 and then jumped back to the private side in 2004, shortly after becoming licensed, to partner in a business with family members who are also engineers. I landed in Lewis County in 2009 as the Traffic Engineer and, aside from a short stint at the City of Tumwater, have been here ever since. My passion for APWA stems from the people and the culture of the organization. From the very first Roadeo that we held in Yakima, APWA has embraced the idea that Public Works runs on leadership and that leadership is needed at all levels and all branches of an organization. The inclusion of some of our front line maintenance personnel as well as supervisors and managers from the Maintenance side of the Public Works family has inspired me to continue to work closely with the Washington Chapter promoting the vital work done by our Operations and Maintenance staffs. I am very excited about the future of APWA and want to help in any way that I can. APWA has also afforded me the opportunity to meet some truly amazing people and make professional connections that I would never have made otherwise. The spirit in APWA has always been to lift each other up and help out others in the Public Works arena and that comes through in every event I attend. If there is one goal I would have as board member for APWA WA it would be to continue to promote the benefits of membership, offering up my knowledge and assistance to my fellow members as so many have done for me. Jeremy Ferguson Road Services Administrator, King County Early in my career I spent several years as a Bus Driver; my route being an incredibly diverse part of Portland, Oregon. This position allowed an intimate Page 8

9 street-level view as to how folks maneuver throughout their lives. This also permitted me a great amount of empathy to how greatly infrastructure impacts our community. My passion for empowering people to be able to successfully navigate throughout their town was ignited. I ended up staying with Portland s regional transit authority (TriMet) for over 17 years in various capacities before taking on a role for the Portland Bureau of Transportation. As I approached my mid-thirties I was presented the opportunity to use my devotion to society s infrastructure needs in a Mayoral capacity, serving as Mayor for the City of Milwaukie Oregon for six years. It was there that critical community issues became more urgent. However, with the job also came an increased ability to affect real change. In my capacity as Mayor I was able to settle a decades-long wastewater issue in the region, help bring light rail from Portland to Milwaukie, and approve several master plans to provide mobility connections as well as conveyance of water, storm water and waste water. Since 2015 I have served as King County s Road Services Operations Administrator. It s a great honor to have a dedicated crew of talented individuals maintain King County s 1,500 miles of roads and over 180 bridges. I get to play a critical role in keeping communities connected literally. The APWA is an essential part of warranting the changes necessary for all of our diverse community members to adequately move about and thrive while protecting the environment. It is my goal to get involved in building the membership of the APWA, and bring light to the reasons that Public Works are remarkable, so that more people can benefit from an increased awareness of how infrastructure is essential for a community to not only survive, but thrive. Gloria Van Spanckeren Senior Planner, Pierce County I would be deeply honored to support the Public Works profession by serving as one of your APWA-WA board members. I bring a broad understanding of public works disciplines to the table from my 25-year career supporting wastewater, surface water, roads, airports, and ferry systems. My focus is on what we do, who we do it for, and how to be our best at doing it. I look forward to helping our chapter prepare to host the 2019 National PWX in Seattle, and providing an ongoing professional resource to our membership. I have previous leadership experience with professional organizations, serving as president, treasurer, and board member in the 1990s for the Society of Wetland Scientists, Pacific Northwest Chapter. I joined APWA in 2012 and volunteered for the chapter s emergency management committee. Over the years I have become increasingly aware of the value of public works services during an emergency, and how emergency response planning in public works organizations is sometimes overshadowed by the demands of capital projects and service delivery. In 2016, I received a master s degree in Crisis and Emergency Management from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Today I serve as vice-chair of the APWA-WA chapter s EM committee, sit on an APWA-National emergency management subcommittee, and am a member of the Washington State Emergency Management Division s Infrastructure Resilience Subcommittee. I ve also Page 9

10 published articles in the APWA state and national journals and have been a speaker at APWA-WA and national PWX conferences. Since 2004, I ve been with Pierce County Public Works where I ve managed programs and projects for emergency management, safety, policies and procedures, education and outreach, and large event planning. I have also been a strategic planner for airport and ferry systems. Some of my key projects include providing local coordination for the 2016 Cascadia Rising regional earthquake exercise, creating a wastewater spill response plan, an employee emergency accountability system, an event action plan for the 2015 U.S. Open golf tournament, annual flood bulletins, and a disaster preparedness guide. Prior to that I was a transportation planner for the Washington State Department of Transportation, where I managed environmental projects and programs, developed freight strategy and policy, and contributed to the 20-year transportation plan. Thank you for considering me for the APWA-WA chapter board. I appreciate your vote. Ken Witt Lead Worker, City of Olympia I have spent the past 24 years working in Public Works. Currently I am the Operations Lead in the Drinking Water section at the City of Olympia. During my time as Lead, my team and I have embraced change, challenged the status quo and pushed our programs to the next level. We encourage innovation and always look for the next best way to do business. I joined the APWA last year and currently serve on the Diversity Committee. I recently spoke at the APWA Spring Conference on Leading Innovation and have been selected to speak on the same topic at the 2017 PWX in Orlando. In October of last year one of my teams received the 2016 Achieving Dreams through Empowered Public Works Teams award at the APWA Fall Conference in Spokane. I look forward to the opportunity to serve on the Washington State Chapter Board of Directors. I am passionate about helping people succeed and am excited for the future of Public Works. With my current position and my involvement through APWA, I will help provide the path for getting more operations staff involved. My bottom up approach to change has been successful in our organization and I hope to carry that over to APWA. Page 10