For 2018 Officers and 2018-19 Board Members

2018 ELECTION CANDIDATE BIOS

(For 2018 Officers and 2018-19 Board Members)

President

Scott Egger, PE

Public Works Director, City of Lacey

I have had the privilege of working in the Public Works arena for 36 years. I am currently serving as the Public Works Director for the City of Lacey, a position that I have enjoyed for the past ten years. Lacey’s Public Works Department is responsible for engineering, transportation, water, sewer, stormwater, reclaimed water distribution, parks maintenance, facility maintenance, fleet maintenance, and plays a key role in emergency management.

Prior to working for the City of Lacey I had the good fortune to work for the City of Spokane for 8 years, Spokane County for 10 years and Morrison-Knudsen for 8 years. Having worked in design, construction, operations, and maintenance, I believe that the most important ingredient in a successful project is active communication during all stages of a project. The importance of communication between designers, builders, operators and maintainers during all stages of a project cannot be understated.

I served as an APWA Board member in 2012/2013 and I am currently serving as the Chapter Vice-President. One of the aspects of APWA that I find incredibly valuable is the diversity of our membership in regards to experience and occupation. APWA members work in a variety of fields such as operations, maintenance, engineering, construction, marketing, public affairs, contracts, administration, planning, sales, and education. The diversity within APWA creates a synergy that is rare and exciting. The networking opportunities available to members during conferences and at committee meetings are invaluable. APWA is a place where people can go to get valuable information that benefits themselves and their employers. I would like to see APWA continue to grow as an organization that provides great value to its members.

It would be an honor and a privilege to continue to serve as an APWA Officer and I would like to thank you for your consideration.

Vice President

Lorelei Williams, PE

Capital Projects & Roadway Structures Division Director, City of Seattle DOT

I have been working in the transportation industry, both as a private consultant and as a public employee, for over 20 years. I have a background in both transportation and aviation design, and have spent time as a designer, engineer and a construction inspector and over 16 years as a project/program manager. I am currently responsible for the project management, communications, engineering, real property, environmental, project controls and construction management aspects of project delivery for all SDOT-delivered capital projects, a portfolio with an annual average of $50-80M, as well as the operations and maintenance of our City’s roadway structures (bridges, retaining walls, stairways, and seawall).

I was fortunate enough to receive the APWA Washington State Chapter Young Leader recognition in 2009, service as a board member in 2014 and 2015, and most recently serve as your APWA Secretary for the Executive Board. I believe that positive relationships are the key to successful project delivery and that APWA is the best organization in our industry to help foster these relationships. The strong committees, events and conferences are unparalleled in the opportunity they provide to learn about what others are doing, new solutions, new technologies, and spending time working with those outside your immediate work circle. As an APWA Board Member, I have gained insight into our committee work and APWA National, and have been able to further support the impressive organization that is APWA.

Secretary

Donald Huling, PE

Geotechnical Engineer, Vice President, HWA GeoSciences

I am truly grateful for the opportunity to run for the Secretary position on the executive board of the Washington State chapter of APWA! Having established my career at HWA Geosciences serving public works projects across Washington. I am seeking the opportunity to continue to serve APWA and give back to the community and industry in return for all that it has given me. Over the past five years I have had the honor to serve on the board of our great chapter. The first year as the recipient of the Young Leader award and the last two years as an elected board member. Over this time, I have actively worked with our leadership to provide increased opportunities for our membership, increase the financial standing of our chapter and help reinvigorate our committees. My experience participating in the last two audits of our chapter’s finances has laid a foundation of knowledge (geotechnical pun) that will allow me to smoothly transition into the position of treasurer. As an officer of the executive board I will continue to be committed to improving our chapter and striving to further APWA’s mission to be the premier organization for public works professionals.

Our chapter has a lot of exciting plans for the next 4 years. We have made a bid for the 2019 national convention to be held in Seattle. As treasurer, I look forward to ensuring that our finances are in a position that will allow our chapter to capitalize on these opportunities while maintaining a strong financial standing.

In addition to my work on the board of directors I have also enjoyed working with the Scholarship and Emerging Professionals committees. Over the past 5 years my efforts with these two committees have included a tenure as chairman of the Emerging Professional’s committee, multiple woodworking charitable donations, organizing and implementing APWA poker nights and facilitating APWA Mariners nights. Through these events I have raised over $9,000 to support the Jack Pittis Scholarship fund.

Whether I'm completing my next woodworking project or helping to design a public works project, I give 100 percent every time. It is this energy, enthusiasm, and affinity for hard work that I would bring to the APWA executive board.

Treasurer

Scott Sawyer, PE

Principal, SCJ Alliance

I love solving technical problems and serving others, so it’s been very rewarding to work for 25+ years with public works and state government professionals in solving community challenges as a transportation engineer and project manager.
My involvement in APWA began 20 years ago. I’m a big advocate of continuing education, mentoring, and relationship building, and I see the value APWA provides in all these arenas. I have served on numerous committees including the APWA Division 1 Subcommittee since 2008 and the APWA Government Affairs Committee since 2012. I currently co-chair the Government Affairs since 2016. I would be honored to expand my APWA involvement by serving as Treasurer.

I am known for my straight-forward questions, integrity, and accountability. Professionally I draw upon strengths in leadership, communication and organization skills to keep projects running smoothly from start to finish. I was honored at last fall’s APWA banquet to be awarded with the Roy Morse Award for outstanding technical and professional accomplishments in public works by our Washington Chapter.

On projects, I am committed to understanding big picture goals and anticipating needs so I can help find the best solutions. This same approach serves me well in my many volunteers roles including Vice President at Olympia Area Rowing, math tutoring, mission trips, and rebuilding projects for low income housing. I am a 2016 graduate of Leadership Thurston County, a program designed to develop informed, skilled, and committed leaders throughout south Puget Sound.

I earned my Bachelor of Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and I am the proud father of two boys. Outside of work I enjoy rowing, cycling, golf, travel and volunteering. I want to be your APWA Treasurer.

2018-19 Board Members

Jennifer Saugen, PE

Assistant City Engineer, City of Wenatchee

I have been active in the Washington State Chapter of APWA since 2013 when I started at the City of Wenatchee, and recently joined the Membership Committee. I look forward to taking on a leadership role in APWA.

I have been and always will be passionate about Public Works. I have spent my entire life with folks working in the Public Sector - growing up in a US Forest Service family, working for the USFS myself, and delving into a career in the public works after graduating from UW in 2004. After a few years working for CH2M in wastewater, I came to the Wenatchee Valley and have focused on design and construction of transportation projects. I was lucky to work for WSDOT in Wenatchee during a time of growth and big east-side projects, both in design and construction management. At the City of Wenatchee, where I’ve been since 2013, I manage delivery of our transportation improvement projects, and work with a great team of engineers, technicians, and maintenance crews.

Outside of work, I try to be a Public Works ambassador in the small community that I live in (Leavenworth). It seems that community members see all agencies as one large public works entity, and I often get to be a clearinghouse of information for nearby cities, counties, and even WSDOT. Folks ask me questions about every piece of equipment they see on the road and every road work ahead sign, and I relish in the opportunities to tell people about all the good work that our teams are doing and the public benefits provided. I am also passionate about getting young kids excited about careers in public works and engineering. I volunteer at my kids’ schools for engineer’s week, career days, and other STEM related activities like Lego Robotics. I can tell you that the future is bright in that regard!

I would be honored to serve and bring that same enthusiasm to the Board of Directors if elected.

Rocky Wallace

Public Works Superintendent, City of Toppenish

I became involved with APWA when I was promoted to the Public Works Superintendent for the City of Toppenish in July of 2016. Prior to my promotion, I worked for the City of Toppenish and Kitsap County Public Works for a combined 19 years of service. In my position as Public Works Superintendent, I am responsible for the daily operations of city water, sewer, solid waste, street, cemetery, facilities maintenance, and parks division’s. I felt it was important to become involved with APWA following my promotion because I saw the value it could bring to an organization when I work with Kitsap County, an APWA accredited organization.

I would be honored to serve on the board as a voice for Eastern Washington to help bring light to the specific needs of smaller organizations who have less access to the resources of larger municipalities. Public Service is a choice that I make every day. I have a passion for serving my community and working hard to deliver the highest level of service for our citizens, as efficiently as possible.

Dan Ford, PE

City Engineer, City of Pasco

I had, what I consider, the opportunity of a lifetime when I started at Huibregtse Louman Engineering in 1985 as a hand-draftsman. As I look back now, the people I worked with were individuals that inspired me to be more, try without fear of failure, and remember that anything could be accomplished through teamwork. I started on the ground floor and yet I was thrilled. I appreciated every opportunity. I was a sponge and just couldn’t get enough. And it wasn’t long, working in that environment with those individuals, that I realized what I wanted to do. I wanted to be like them, I wanted to be a Licensed Professional Engineer, and so the journey began.

Everything I did from that moment on was focused on that established goal. It wasn’t long before I taught myself AutoCAD and that offered more opportunity. I took a position at the City of Yakima as an AutoCAD Technician focused on the possibility of going back to school and finishing the education I now knew I needed if I were to going to ever achieve my goal of becoming a Professional Engineer. I spent 15 years at the City of Yakima but through all the hurdles and stumbles, I found myself with 2 Associates degrees, one being in Civil Engineering Technology, the successful completion of my Engineer-in-Training License and ultimately, yes, my Professional Engineering License. What seemed almost unattainable by some, and I did have my naysayers, wasn’t easy but I was motivated.

What followed next was dream upon dream. A trip to Central Washington University to visit with the chair of the very successful Construction Management Program resulted in the realization that I couldn’t spend hours a day away from work. It seemed as though my progress was stopped. But then the chair of the department said, “check with the ITAM department, they have a very successful program that might just fit.” Four years later, knowing that preparing for opportunity meant work without the promise of compensation, and I had achieved my Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Administrative Management from CWU. What a ride! But what to do now?

Although I had done all of this seemingly under the radar I quickly realized that preparing for opportunity before it presented itself had never let me down nor had the relationships I had built along the way. I also realized, with my first opportunity to attend an APWA conference in Wenatchee, that I was not alone with my goals, ideas, and more importantly questions. Here is where the relationships, the connections, the network of APWA became so important both to me and my employer as I was connected to a group of resources that I could never have dream existed. APWA is the organization that will provide me the resources, and the connections, that will take me to the finish line.

It would be an honor to serve as a APWA Officer as I so value the opportunities this organization offers its members.

Thank you for your consideration.

Jesse Thomsen, PE

Seattle Design Manager/Principal, Perteet

I believe that APWA is in a unique position to provide leadership for our communities. Throughout history, Public Works professionals have shaped our cities and counties by providing not only our technical expertise, but through our Vision of where we can go. Now more than ever, we have an opportunity to lead our communities through this turbulent and exciting time to provide more resilient, sustainable and vibrant infrastructure.