6 minute read
A View from the Top: A diverse view of women in public works
Wendy Springborn, MBA
Engineering Services Manager City of Tempe, Arizona Chair, APWA Diversity Committee
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ere we come, Anaheim! The APWA 2012 International Public Works Congress & Exposition is just right around the corner and the Diversity Committee has been busy prepping for the many educational sessions we provide during the conference.
This year, the committee decided to shake it up a little. For the past seven years, we have presented outstanding women in varied fields and responsibilities within public works in a program entitled “A View from the Top – Women in Public Works.” The program has always been well received and I believe we leave people wanting to know even more about the opportunities and struggles experienced by our panel.
Two highly qualified women have been identified to participate on this year’s panel—Linda Petelka, Manager, Wastewater Program Planning for Peel, Ontario/Director, Region V and Erin Jones, Planning Director for Rowlett, Texas/Emerging Leaders Academy. Always wanting to find ways to increase our focus on diversity while broadening our need to continually improve our emphasis on inclusion, the committee decided to invite a gentleman to participate on the panel. We wanted to hear his perspective on embracing women in public works. How was he able to encourage and mentor women to succeed in what had been a predominantly male environment?
This session is scheduled for Tuesday, August 28, at 2:00 p.m. I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight a few of this year’s panelists and give you a little sample of what you will experience by attending this educational session.
First up: Linda Petelka, B.Sc., PWLF. As Manager of Wastewater Program Planning for the Regional Municipality of Peel, Ontario, Linda and her staff are responsible for programs and services such as the Inflow and Infiltration Program, Flow Monitoring Program, Standards Development, Hydraulic Modeling, Local Improvements, State of Good Repair, Master Planning and Servicing Feasibility Studies and leads the Division’s continuous improvement and business strategy initiatives. Prior to her current position, she worked for the Regional Municipality of Halton, Ontario, for 23 years, where she played an influential role in guiding the Region through a period of unprecedented industry-wide change. Linda played a critical role in transforming the Canadian National Water and Wastewater Benchmarking Initiative partnership into the Canadian standard for water and wastewater best practice development. She recently participated in the Abu Dhabi Benchmarking and Performance Improvement Initiative. Linda served as a member of the CPWA Board of Directors from 2009-2011. She has been a member of the Ontario Chapter’s Board of Directors since 2000, serving as Chapter President in 2008. She is a past chair of the Chapter’s Membership Committee and Hospitality Committee and currently serves on the Special Functions Committee. Petelka organized the chapter’s response to the St. Bernard Parish volunteer effort for the New Orleans Congress (2008) in support of APWA’s initiative. She was named one of APWA’s Top Ten Public Works Leaders of the Year in 2009 and was the recipient of APWA’s Community Involvement Award in 2010, and now serves as Director for Region V.
As a wife, mother and business partner in her husband’s business, balancing work/life is a constant requirement and a juggling act that requires excellent multi-tasking skills, great facilitation, conflict resolution and priority-setting capabilities.
Larry Frevert, P.E., PWLF, was one of the first men that came to mind when we discussed adding a male to the panel. I have not known him long; however, I have come to know him as an individual who reaches out to help others navigate their way through their professional
Linda Petelka
Larry Frevert
careers—women or men. We are very glad to have him participating as the inaugural male on the longstanding women’s panel.
Larry is a retired public works engineer. He has served that profession for over 43 years, including a combined total of 36 with state and municipal governments and nearly seven years as a consultant engineer.
Larry has lived in the Kansas City region since 1979 and in Kansas City, Mo. proper since 1987, at which time he began a 19-year career with the City of Kansas City working for the Public Works and Parks and Recreation Departments. Previously, he had worked for the Missouri Department of Transportation and just prior to retiring he was a vice president for HDR Engineering. From 1995 to 2003, Larry served as Deputy Director and later Acting Director of Public Works for Kansas City.
Larry’s wife of nearly 41 years has been the Director of Health Services for Avila University for over 30 years and like Larry is a graduate of the University of Missouri. Larry and Carol are elders and committee chairs at Raytown Christian Church which they joined, also in 1979. Larry and Carol have four grown children, including triplets, and are the proud grandparents of four granddaughters and three grandsons.
Larry is a member of APWA, the American Society of Civil Engineers, National Society of Professional Engineers, Missouri Society of Professional Engineers, and the Order of the Engineer. In 2001, he was president of APWA’s Kansas City Metro Chapter of APWA and in 2007-08 he was APWA National President. In 2010, he was named a Top Ten Public Works Leader of the Year. In 2009, he led a People to People delegation of public works professionals on an exchange to China and in 2011 led a similar group to Russia. In 2011, he became a charter member of APWA’s Public Works Leadership Fellows Program.
Our final participant is Erin Jones, Planning Director for the City of Rowlett, Texas, a rapidly growing suburb of Dallas with a population of approximately 56,000. Over the course of her four-year tenure the City has been in the midst of two major transit projects—the eastern extension of the President George Bush Turnpike which opened in December 2011, and the eastern extension of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Light Rail Blue Line which is scheduled to open in December 2012. These extensions will link Rowlett to the rest of the metroplex like never before and will position the city for significant development in the future. As Planning Director, Jones was integrally involved in the City’s recent adoption of the Realize Rowlett 2020 Vision Plan and looks forward to implementing the community’s vision throughout her time at the City of Rowlett.
Jones began her professional planning career in 2005 after receiving a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Arlington. She holds a dual bachelor’ degree from Baylor University in Environmental Studies and Journalism/Public Relations and has integrated those fields of studies into her planning career over the last six years. In 2009, the Planning Department at the City of Rowlett was reclassified under the Public Works Department. Jones is currently participating in APWA’s Emerging Leaders Academy, and has enjoyed learning more about the profession as a whole and how planning can best be integrated into public works.
In her free time Jones enjoys Saturday morning bike rides, reading, Broadway musicals, and spending time with her husband of seven years, Bryan, and their English bulldog, Harley.
All of these panelists have truly amazing stories regarding their journey into public works and the trials and tribulations along the way. What key event(s) triggered their interest? What were the high points and low points during their journey? If they could have done something different that would have helped them along the way, what would it have been? How were they able to assist women in advancing through their careers? What other advice can they lend women in the public works field? All these questions and much more will be answered at the 2012 Congress education session “A View from the Top”—two girls and a guy in public works talk about their lives and careers in Anaheim, California on August 28. We’ll see you there!
Erin Jones
Wendy Springborn can be reached at (480) 350-8250 or wendy_springborn@ tempe.gov.
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