Ask Ann

“I am looking for sample succession plans for positions in public works. Even with all the reductions in force and the retirements of the past few years, we are going to be faced with another group reaching retirement age within the next three to five years and we need to come up with some way of preparing to replace these valuable folks with all their history and knowledge before they are gone. Can you offer us any suggestions?”

Your question is not surprising. While large numbers, in many cases, of employees have taken advantage of early retirements in the past few years, many others are rapidly approaching the golden age and are beginning to look forward to their retirement. Developing a succession plan cannot be done soon enough, in some cases! A great example of succession planning has been in place in South Jordan, Utah, for several years and just recently resulted in the new public works director coming from within the organization after having received specific training from the previous director in preparation for taking that next step. South Jordan has developed a succession plan for all their positions, not just management. If you want to know what you need to do to advance, you can do so easily. For more information, contact Jason Rasmussen, PW Director, at jrasmussen@sjc.utah.gov and they will be happy to share the information.

“I was recently in San Francisco and saw something I’d never seen before, and I’m old and thought I’d seen it all! In the middle of a business area there was a little park, about the size of a parking space, but it looked like a park. What’s up with this?”

Made you look twice, didn’t they! What you saw was a “parklet.” The City began working with local businesses to convert parking spaces in front of their business into what they call a parklet. The idea is to bring a sense of community into the heart of the business area and to make the downtown more livable. San Francisco opened its first parklet in 2010 and today has 27 completed parklets with another 40 in the pipeline. How does it work? In most cases the business owners pay for the construction and maintenance of the parklet, which can vary from $15,000 to $20,000. The city may offer design help or a little extra cash and, of course, they are giving up the metered parking revenues, but most of the investment is private. Businesses say it’s a way for them to beautify their block and help attract more foot traffic. Cities see it as a next-to-nothing investment in innovation new public spaces. The best aspect of parklets is that, because they’re so simple and inexpensive, cities can easily experiment with what works and what doesn’t. Oakland and Long Beach, Calif., have launched parklet programs; others, including Chicago, Los Angeles, and Roanoke, Va., are exploring the idea. For more information, contact David Alumbaugh, Director of the City Design Group in San Francisco Planning Department, San Francisco, Calif. Send me a picture to share with everyone when you cut the ribbon for your first parklet!

“I know there are a number of automakers that have added cameras to these vehicles to help drivers park, or back up, and have even begun offering technology that will let the car actually park itself so you don’t have to struggle to parallel park. Is that the latest in technology?

It may be the current “latest” but the federal government is studying a new technology that would allow automobiles to communicate with each other wirelessly as they travel along roadways and provide drivers with warnings that could help prevent collisions. The idea under consideration is to equip cars with radios that can transmit up to 10 messages per second to vehicles around them using a signal similar to Wi-Fi. Cars would also be equipped with devices that can receive and interpret those signals in order to convey warnings to the driver. Hypothetically, if you’re driving and there’s someone cruising in your blind spot, that vehicle would send a signal to your own car that conveys its position. Inside your car, a radio would receive that signal and then prompt a flashing light or sound to warn you not to change lanes. Experts say the technology could also help

drivers prevent rear-end collisions, T-bone crashes, and several other types of accidents.

The U.S. Department of Transportation officials are hoping the technology could be the next big thing for auto safety. Even though the number of fatal auto collisions has fallen by 20 percent, auto crashes are still the leading cause of death among people ages 5 to 34. Federal officials contracted with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute to conduct a pilot, which will last for a year. Local governments would likely find the technology to have significant implications. Traffic signals could change their timing based on the volume of vehicles on the roadway. But they would likely need to upgrade their infrastructure to facilitate the new technology. The feds are working with manufacturers of traffic signal controllers to see if they can arrange to have transmitters built into their products in order to ease that transition. And we thought George Jetson’s form of travel would never take place! Stay tuned for the results from the pilot project next year.

Please address all inquiries to:

Ann Daniels

Director of Credentialing APWA, 2345 Grand Blvd., Suite 700 Kansas City, MO 64108-2625 Fax questions to: (816) 472-1610 E-mail: adaniels@apwa.net

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