June Newsletter
by Ross Dunfee, P. E.
Last year Tyrce, my oldest grandson, celebrated his tenth birthday. This year Christian, grandson number two, hits that magic number. Both Tyrce and Christian have told me that being ten is important because "ten" has two numbers and "nine" only has one. Apparently, having two numbers to represent an age is somewhat akin to a right-of-passage, all "big boys" and adults have two digits to represent their age (at least until we hit one hundred). To Tyrce's chagrin there has not been a lot of change from when he was nine. I think that I actually have detected the development of a muscle so he is growing into a big boy, but he still is required to attend school, he is still dependent upon his parents for daily support and sustenance and, except for a party, the last day that he was nine looked pretty much like the first day that he was ten. This is my last newsletter as President of WSACE. Assuming that the "wheels" grant me right-of-passage, I will pass into the iconic class of "Past President". Our organization is fortunate to have extremely talented individuals to take up where I leave off and advance us into a more mature organization. Do I detect a muscle forming? As our organization matures, while one day looks pretty much like the next, we still have some significant development to pursue. Our new leaders will need our help to guide our organization toward a more formal (and recognized) organization with staff support, and guide us away from our informal and volunteer past. We must do this to be effective in today's competitive world.
Three words have guided me in writing these newsletters. Informative - I have tried to place information in the newsletter to help our members understand the direction our organization is heading. Encouragement - Our jobs can be very difficult, politically. We serve a lot of masters and at times we fall out of grace. I hope that in some way a comment in a newsletter may have helped you to comprehend the importance of our jobs: we save lives. Entertainment - I hate boring newsletters. For those of you that may have been entertainment fodder in the newsletters; get over it, cuz I'm not changing. Because of time and schedule constraints I missed a couple of newsletters, my apologies.
What is important at this juncture is your continuing support of our organization. This organization is not perfect and, collectively, we make lots of mistakes, but the future is bright and we can create very positive impacts for our counties. Whatever your reservation may be for involvement in WSACE, please express it while being an ACTIVE member. Apathetic and passive membership hurts our organization and weakens our effectiveness. We must pull together for maximum effectiveness.
Your next opportunity for involvement is the Summer Conference at Walla Walla. I unabashedly solicit your attendance and participation. In addition to the usual business agenda, we will be meeting jointly with our Commissioners to hear from the Washington Transportation Commission. Bob Fogle from NACO in Washington DC was tentatively scheduled to discuss national transportation issues. Unfortunately Bob's schedule prevented his visit, but we are hoping that he may be able to fit our fall conference into his schedule. There are some technical sessions (that Gary Predoehl can sleep through) about performance measures, bridges and pavement. Another hole in the agenda that may fit into a future agenda is meeting with the Joint House and Senate Transportation Committee chairs. Consequently, I am scrambling right now to fill the gaps in the summer conference agenda. Maybe the best part of the agenda is the swearing in of new officers to lead our organization. I have been told Past President is the best leadership chair to fill.
It is not too early to place the fall conference into your calendar- the week of November 16. With only two annual WSAC/WSACE conferences there may be some renewed interest in considering the need for WSACE Eastern/Western District conferences, possibly in conjunction with APWA. At each spring and fall APWA conference there is a joint City/County Engineers meeting. This is likely another subject for our WSACE business meeting in Walla Walla.
To your good fortune, this is my last newsletter. It is time to pass the leadership of WSACE on to new and certainly, more capable hands. During this year I have had the opportunity to get better acquainted with Kent Cash, President Elect and Derek Pohle, Secretary/Treasurer. We have spent time together wrestling with issues, trying to solve dilemmas and setting future direction for our organization. This past year I have experienced your support in many ways. I was never told "no" from anyone that I made a request. Many of you "volunteered" to assist in numerous ways. I cannot put into words the depth of my appreciation for each of you and I ask that you give the new leadership the same support.
It is time for my right-of-passage. For our organization July will probably not look much different than June, but positive and progressive change will occur and maybe we will be able to detect a little more muscle in July than June. One last thought as I sign off - the only constant in this world is change. Grandchild number nine is in the oven.
Sine Die
Ross Dunfee
Almost Past President
