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 t
o establish a long term solution to the infrastructure woes of Florida has never been clearer.
o establish a long term solution to the infrastructure woes of Florida has never been clearer.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
No comments:
Post a Comment