When I was being interviewed to be an ITE Vice Presidential candidate, I was asked “What happens if you don’t accomplish all that you expect during your ITE presidency?” My answer was simple. “Being that the role is one year, I won't complete everything.” Much like any job, during the course of a year some initiatives will get started, others will be completed, and some will span several years. The president’s role is to keep the organization moving forward.
At the start of the year, I had little sense of the extent of the commitment of being ITE International President. Between ITE, work, and family commitments, I have completed 18 flights this year, most of those occurred in the three-month period from May to July attending District meetings. I am proud to say that I was able to visit almost all Districts, including the Global District. I am extraordinarily pleased with the outcome of the year and I wanted to share a few memorable highlights.
It was my privilege to chair the International Board meetings in 2019. I was appreciative of the collaborative nature of the everyone on the Board. These individuals passionately care about the health of this organization.
The Mountain District was formalized during the year, the first wholly new District within ITE in more than three decades. I saw to the formation of the Reauthorization Committee with Mark Norman as Chair. ITE continues to show leadership and timeliness when responding to government policy change.
I presided over the appellant hearing for the Traffic Signal Clearance Interval Recommended Practice. I was pleased to appoint Past President, Shawn Leight as Chair and develop the roster of ITE leaders who are tasked with preparing the 2021–2023 ITE Strategic Plan.
I worked with headquarters on developing the concept for the Micro-Mobility “Sandbox” Design Competition (see page 22 for more information on this exciting opportunity), which will culminate in the presentation of new and innovative complete streets ideas at the ITE Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA, USA next year.
Town Halls were conducted at each District meeting across ITE and provided invaluable feedback, learning how we can work closer as an organization to support activities and goals. The insight gathered at these sessions is now being used for the new strategic plan.
An undeniable highlight this year was a study tour of ITE Australia and New Zealand (ITE-ANZ). We spent time at Monash University speaking to students, met with business leaders, and visited transportation projects in both countries. I had the opportunity to present on the top five transportation issues affecting North America at the ITE-ANZ meeting in Melbourne.
This was an exceptional year with a lot accomplished and I was honored to serve as the ITE President. I believe we have continued to “move the yardsticks” this year, and that was my main goal. I would like to thank all of you who have thought strategically about our future and worked hard to improve our organization and, in particular, would like to thank Past Presidents Shawn Leight and Michael Sanderson for their friendship and organizational leadership during this time of significant change. To the phenomenal staff at headquarters, you care deeply about our 16,000 members and together we have worked swiftly and consistently as a team. I look forward to watching ITE prosper and continue to be a valuable voice in the transportation industry.
This blog post is from the President's Message in the December 2019 issue of ITE Journal.
https://staging.nxtbook.com/ygsreprints/ITE/ITE_December2019/