ASCE FLORIDA SECTION GOVERNMENT RELATIONS BLOG 2009- COMING SOON

September 30, 2008

I wanted to take a moment and transition my blog from the ASCE Broward Branch Presidents Blog 2008 to the ASCE Florida Section Government Relations Blog 2009. Although I am proud that I started the blog for the Branch and I wrote the groundbreaking inaugeral blog posting, I am over all of that now and am ready to continue to help make a difference (as small as it may be) and continue to advocate for the American Society of Civil Engineers, particularly as it relates to improving our nations infrastructure.

So that being said, I will continue to post a blog with random thoughts about this topic in this blog as I begin my role on the ASCE National State Government Relations Committee beginning in November.

I will also share some personal experiences as I go on a 9 month journey as part of Leadership Broward Class XXVII (Rocks!). So if you are here to read about infrastructure, great. Just ignore the other items that do not interest you. Thanks for reading. Feedback is appreciated.

Eric Czerniejewski, P.E.

Broward Branch Past President (2008)

MY TERM AS BROWARD BRANCH PRESIDENT NEARS END

September 5, 2008 12:00 p.m.

I have enjoyed leading the Broward Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers over the past year as President. It seems that time flys when the gavel is placed in your hand. I want to thank the current Board for their continued service to the Society and volunteer time that made this such a great year.

As I reflect on the past twelve months, I want to think back to the goals we set at the summer planning meeting in August of 2007. Some of the main milestones that we set forth to improve the Branch have been accomplished. They included the following:

1. We were going to improve our web site and the reach that it can provide to our membership. Bob Wilson had previously been our web master and retired from that Committee position. I want to start by thanking Jean Carlos Rosario-Montalvo for his willingness to take on this Committtee role as webmaster. It seems that I only hear good things about the web site and that is a true testament to the efforts that J.C. has put forth in this important Branch endeavor. On behalf of the Board and the Branch, thank you for all that you have done to improve the web site.

2. We were going to switch banking institutions and reevaluate the placement of Society/Branch funds. This was accomplished and the bank accounts were created and a money market fund was established to assist in creating reserves for the Branch as they may become necessary in the future. Thanks to Angelina Rosenberg and Shaun Bamforth for accomplishing this goal of the Branch.

3. We held the joint meeting and roundtable discussion with FES, ITE and WTS with the program entitled "State of Transportation in Broward". I am proud to say that we were able to secure our keynote speaker, FDOT Secretary of Transportation, Stephanie Kopelousous and other Transportation leaders in the industry for this exciting event in November. We drew almost 200 people to this joint meeting, which was a success for our Branch. Thanks to all that helped make this happen. You know who you are.

4. Continued growth of active participation and advocacy in Government Relations by the Broward Branch. I have covered this in detail in past blogs, but we were represented in Washington D.C. by 3 Branch members during the ASCE Leadership Training in Government Relations. This was coupled with the release of the Report Card by the Florida Section where our Branch was represented and volunteered. Nice job to all that assisted with this important strategic initiative by the Florida Section.

5. The Younger Members group was active and led successfully by Jennifer Fought. This is a key group that helps the Branch with continued increase in membership from the younger member level (especially students who transition from college to the workforce). Keep up the good work.

6. We received recent appointments by members to ASCE National Committee's starting in November. Talia Garcia was appointed to the National Engineers without Borders Committee, Eric Czerniejewski was appointed to the National State Government Relations Committee, Shaun Bamforth was appointed Corresponding member, etc. This continued leadership will serv the Branch well.

7. The Branch continued to be represented at the Region and Section level with Peter Moore as Section Officer, Secretary/Treasurer; Jose Acosta continued as the At Large Region 5 Governor.

8. Chris Zavatsky led the Bowlathon Committee to another great event recently in July. This Bowlathon again raised money for our scholarship award. The event was again held at Don Carters lanes and we filled the whole bowling alley for the first time. Nice job to all the helped out.

There were other accomplishments that I could add, but I need to wrap this up. I have enjoyed my four years of service to the Broward Branch Board of Directors. I will continue to assist where appropriate as Past President next year. Good luck to the Board next year as you continue to improve the Society Branch operations and provide the membership all of the great benefits they deserve.

Take care, I hope to see you at the 40th Anniversary celebration on the 11th next week where we will install our officers and hand out our awards.

Eric Czerniejewski, P.E.

ASCE Broward Branch President: 2007-2008

Refocus, Reform and Renew the National Approach to Highway and Transit Systems in America

08/08/08

I had the unique opportunity recently to attend a function where the United States Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters unveiled the Bush Administration's Visionary New Plan to Refocus, Reform and Renew the National Approach to Highway and Transit Systems in America. The event was put on by the Broward Workshop and it was held at the Towner Club in downtown Ft. Lauderdale on August 1, 2008 at 7:30 a.m.

Secretary Peters took the time to detail the plan on how the administration proposes to refocus, reform, and renew our approach to the nation’s highways and transit systems by completely overhauling the way U.S. transportation decisions and investments are made. The plan starts by refocusing the nation’s transportation programs. The federal government will take responsibility for maintaining and improving the condition and performance of the Interstate highway system. These highways carry over 25% of the nation’s traffic and three quarters of the nation’s long-haul trucks. Making sure they are safe, well maintained, and un-congested must be a key federal priority.

This new plan confronts the growing problem of urban traffic by giving federal officials the flexibility to make investments based on what gets people where they need to go as quickly and as reliably as possible. If new subways, street cars, or bus routes represent the best investment, communities will have greater freedom – and significantly more resources – to pay for those projects.

The new plan reforms the nation’s approach to transportation by consolidating the 102 various programs that have been created this past two decades into 8 strong consolidated programs. The Secretary also noted that changes to the federal review process should be made because it shouldn’t take more than a dozen years to design and build new highway and transit projects.

Secretary Peters also noted that the United States must focus on the long overdue process of weaning the Country from the gas tax. She indicated that the transportation policies must not contradict the national objective to reduce fossil-based fuel consumption. The goal is to make it easier for states to create infrastructure banks, expand the use of federally backed transportation loans, and eliminate federal taxes the discourage facilitate investments in transportation projects.

The Secretary said that the United States must make it easer to implement road pricing, making it easier for states to take advantage of the over $400 billion in private-sector funds available worldwide for infrastructure investments. The idea is simple: have federal funds leverage new investments in transportation, instead of replacing them. This plan will renew the nation’s transportation network by encouraging massive new investments in Interstate highways –by expanding roads and supporting new transit systems in the nation’s cities, to bring easier and quicker commutes, and to cut shipping times.

Secretary Peters turned her focus on the new I-95 hot lanes project that will be a landmark transportation project that the rest of the Country will model in the future. The Secretary applauded Florida Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos for working with all regional leaders in South Florida to find a workable project that does not get bogged down over jurisdictional boundaries. The I-95 hot lanes will be a model project that will help transportation leaders in other regions of the United States create these type of transportation solutions.

The Secretary asked that engineering professionals stay involved and be engaged in the the process with your local legislators. It is important to try and be a part of the solution and not the problem. With a new Transportation bill slated for September 2009, the time is now to stay engaged and get involved with these important issues.

The Secretary closed with the following comment "We must if we are going to keep our cities competitive and clean, if we are going to keep our economy vibrant and vital, and we must if we are going to get America moving again."

Please visit our web site in the near future. A portion of the Secretary's talk will soon be available to stream on the ASCE Broward web site under the (past) Meetings and Events page.

A copy of the published one page summary of the "New Approach for American's Transportation Future" can be found on our web site.

I will post one more blog as a summary and wrap-up of this past year as your President next month.

Eric S. Czerniejewski, P.E.

ASCE Broward Branch President 2007-2008

ASCE BROWARD 2008- Government Relations, Florida Section Report Card on Infrastructure and more

June 5, 2008

It is an interesting time in the good old United States of America. This is history making year in United States Politics with the Democratic Primary race, first African American Party nominee and many other things keeping most of us interested and at least once in awhile watching the cable news channels each week.

That said, the most important thing to come out of US Politics this year is hopefully a better understanding and an inspired new path to fix our nations infrastructure. It has been three years since ASCE national published this document and has been hard at work over the last three years with appropriate updates.

The Florida Section completed its update in March and officially released it at a press conference on the Capitol steps in Tallahassee. The highlights - err… lowlights of the Report Card include the need for a $200 Billion investment over the next 20 years and grades of “D +’s” for Florida’s schools and Energy conditions. While Florida did receive an overall grade of “C”, it, like much of the country, is experiencing significant population growth and the existing infrastructure there is already strained to keep up with the current needs.To quote the Report Card, “Florida’s already overburdened public services will be further threatened without proper investment in the additional capacity needed to support the increasing population.”Unless these problems are addressed I am afraid that the next time Florida’s infrastructure is assessed the grades will be much worse. The need to establish a long term solution to the infrastructure woes of Florida has never been clearer.

To view Florida’s Report Card please visit
http://www.fla-asce.org/

A big thank you goes out to Frasor Howe and the rest of the Committee for a job well done crafting this important document. The Broward Branch has been hard at work getting the word out on this report card to our local national and state legislators. Peter Moore (Florida Section Treasurer), Shaun Bamforth (Broward Branch Treasurer) and I all went to Washington D.C. to participate in the Leadership Training in Government Relations in early March. We delivered the hi-lights to Florida Representatives Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Alcee Hastings as well as Florida Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez. It is important that whoever gets into the White House next, a major focus is on rebuilding our nations infrastructure, including the State of Florida.

I continued delivering this message in April when I took a trip to Tallahassee and lobbyied our state legistlator in the Florida House and Senate on infrastructure funding as well. I met with all of our Broward Delegation and others on the relevant Transportation/Infrastructure committees. We need to now take this message to our local County and Municipal leaders through meetings with the County and City Commissioners.

Another item I would like to note is the current price of gasoline. We have seen an unprecedented rise in gas prices over the last 6 months. Transit ridership is up across the country and Tri-Rail is seeing an increase in users. We need to urge our local leaders to continue to support mass transit as it is and will continue to be fail safe form of transportation to lean on in the midst of these types of energy crisis.

Please join us at our next Branch meeting on the 10th of June to hear about what is going on now and in the future at the Florida Turnpike. Please also participate in this years Bowlathon to be held in July. It is for a good cause as we raise money for our annual Scholarship. Please see one of the officers if you are interested in taking on a committee role or if you would like to join us in our Report Card public relations campaign with the local county and municipal officials.

I have enjoyed the first 9 months of my term as President and look forward to the rest of the Summer. I hope to see you next week, at the Bowlathon and then at the Annual Florida Section Meeting in Orlando at Disney.

Eric Czerniejewski, P.E.

Broward Branch President- 2007-2008

ASCE ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND "THE STATE OF TRANSPORTATION IN BROWARD"

I just returned from ASCE's 137th Annual Civil Engineering Conference held at Lake Buena Vista Palace in the Orlando, Florida metro area this past week. While there I attended the Younger Members Symposium, Florida Section Board of Directors meeting, Plenary and General Sessions.

Exiting National President William F. Marcuson III had some empowering comments in his Farewell Address. Our Past President left us with the following key points that I would like to recollect and pass on to each of you:

1. When you speak of our Society, refer to it as a Professional and a Technical Society


2. Our Profession must be founded on Integrity and Ethics. Integrity is 'Doing what you say you will do'.


3. Civil Engineers need to earn the public trust and take ownership of the engineering infrastructure failures and be leaders in the profession in regard to the public safety and welfare.

The three recent catastrophic infrastructure failures including the Bridges and Levees in New Orleans, the collapse of one of the Big Dig Tunnels in Boston, the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis and the bursting of a gas main in New York City are examples to the public that the nations infrastructure is failing and needs to be addressed.

I take this moment and ask you the Broward Branch members to take an active role in 2008 in spreading the message of the soon to be released Florida Section Infrastructure Report card to our elected officials at the state, county and municipal level. Frasor Howe (Chair) and the rest of the Florida Section Government Relations Committee of the ASCE will be releasing the data and facts of this Report Card in early 2008.

We will convene in early 2008 at one of our Branch meetings to review this process with a member of the ASCE National Government Relations Committee along with reviewing the details of the Report Card with Frasor Howe. It is one of our duties as a member of the ASCE to get involved with public policy as it relates to Civil Engineering.

I look forward to this months program entitled "The State of Transportation in Broward". Please help me welcome FDOT District Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos and other Transportation leaders to our November 29th meeting.