President’s Report – March, 2013

  1. Transition update: the transition has been going well. Sherry left on 12/31 and Danielle has been fantastic as the new office manager. She grasps the work and is reorganizing the work process to fit her method of operation. I am very pleased with the change.
  2. Linda Bartek-Smith, the Safe Routes to School Coordinator resigned at the end of the year. I believe that she took the job as an “employment-gap” filler and that she was over-qualified for the job. We found a replacement rather quickly. Andrew Lappit started on Feb. 4. He has a background in bike/ped issues and I think he fits in well. We are not limiting him to SRTS but rather getting him involved in all bike ped issues. This will add dimension to the SRTS job and make it more effective and satisfying to him.
  3. A big test of the ongoing transition exercise was my absence for an extended vacation for the first time since I have been at TransOptions. Although Don was here, the responsibility fell mostly on the new triumvirate of supervisors. While all performed well, Joe Weiss was a stand-out. He kept all work programs going, made sure all staff were focused on their jobs and made sure all issues that arose were handled properly. I was in email contact with the office throughout my trip and Joe kept me informedof issues but I let him handle things as they came up. Although I had no doubt that he would be fine, I was really impressed with his level of professionalism and a clear grasp of factors that affect the management of an organization. My confidence in his abilities has increased immeasurably. I also think he had a new perspective on the challenges of organizational management. I am comfortable in my decision to have his role in the organization grow when Don leaves on May 30 and I believe that we have a good succession path in place for the next four+ years.
  4. Joseph Caravella started his half-retirement, part-time work with us on March 4. However, it will be more gradual than expected because his programs are so popular it was hard for him to just cut them off to keep to a shorter schedule. He will adjust as time goes on. He has spent a lot of time working on the gradual expansion of JSS. This year we will have a fifth day of races located in Hunterdon County. In addition to the schools from that county, we have some schools from Bergen, Union, and Somerset coming to the races. We have even agreed to the request for a Philadelphia school to participate. We have no intention of expanding into Pa. but they had participated in the South Jersey event for years when the races was under the NESEA auspices. We will grow slowly, as planned.
  5. Joseph will also assume the position of ANJEE President as of June 1 and this will be a TransOptions function. ANJEE has nominated Joseph to be their representative on the NJ Environmental Advisory Committee, a group that provides input to the NJ DEP. These positions reflect well on us.
  6. We have been successful in getting some new grants. Thanks to the work of Cathy Boccard, we have received a $5000 JSS sponsorship and a $500 Bike to Work sponsorship from Thor Labs in Newton. Also we will also be getting a significant sponsorship from Linde Corp. (gases supplier including hydrogen) for the H2 Challenge. They are also providing technical assistance and judges for the event. We have grant requests pending with Hyde & Watson, Gannet Foundation, Avis-Budget, JCP&L and PSE&G. Still more are being developed. We are also making progress on developing a cadre of volunteers. Thor Labs will provide some for JSS in Sussex and we are reaching out to the schools we work with to get some “community service” students involved. It is still my goal to reduce paid staff time on these events.
  7. The recognition breakfast is scheduled for July 11 at the Villas at Mountain Creek. We decided on a new location to keep the event fresh. Speaker possibilities include Jack Lattiere, former DOT Commissioner and/or Lt. Col. Jerome Hatfield, Supt. of the NJ State Police Department of Homeland Security. We will need Board support funding this breakfast.
  8. With Danielle in the financial office, we are trying to dig deeper with sub-budgets for various programs and expense needs. We are developing specific budgets for capital investments (big ticket software development for example), budget for program supplies, budgets for program designated promotional items and a budget for office supplies. I also want to have a discussion with the Executive Committee and the Board as to format and content of future reports.
  9. One of the website development features we deferred last year for cost was a “challenge module”. This would allow for on-line registration for events, progress tracking, and “leader board” tracking for all types of events. We can see its value in the Bike to Work Challenge, Walk this Way Challenge, JSS and H2 registration and the development of carpool promotions with intercompany competitions. There are many uses. However, it is expensive primarily because of all the back end functionality required. Our first estimate for L Form (the website developer) was over $20K. We looked elsewhere and thought we had a good replacement for $8K with a $2K customization charge. However, it turned out to be a licensing agreement for $8K per year!! We sat with L Form and he reduced the price to $16K payable in four installments without interest. Since he knows the website and our company, and because of the long-term utility of this module, I agreed to proceed with this.
  10. On April 18th and 30th, there will be all day team building programs for all TransOptions staff facilitated by Regina Podhorin. This will assist with the transition, the biggest lift of which lies ahead. Although we now have three supervisors, I anticipate with Don’s departure, that Joe Weiss will rise to the clear Operations Manager position. He has the capacity and talent to fully replace Don over time and there will be some backlash to that from some staff members. I also want Regina to address issues of negativity. In every organization there are those who are never happy – the half-glass folks. We need to minimize their impact on the rest of the staff and hopefully turn them around. That is the purpose of having an outside facilitator.
  11. We are moving to a one day annual salary adjustment process. Heretofore, reviews and raises were given on an employee’s anniversary date. Now however, we need to submit new budgets and staffing plans each time a salary is changed. In the past we could just write a memo appended to the invoice. With fourteen staff and anniversary dates spread over the year, Danielle is forever redoing these forms. So, all staff will have reviews and salary adjustments effective July 1, the new fiscal year, except the President who will retain the November 22 review date.
  12. We have started a Share your Story promotion for Earth Month. We are asking for videos or photos about alternative modes to get to work and we will be giving prizes. We are also developing a teen distracted driving contest that will be limited to high schools in our service area. We anticipate prizes of $1000, $500 and $250. This idea is still germinating and Anne Vivino will be seeking Pam’s assistance in its development. Dan has been doing a great job coordinating all marketing and making sure everything has a TransOptions “look”. The Newsletters look great, as do the sponsorship packages. He developed a great “make your match” theme for Valentine’s Day and more are to come. I am incredibly pleased with Dan’s work and he interacts very well with all of the staff.
  13. TMAC remains an important collective for advancing the interests of all. We have been working with NJTPA on the new RFP for a rideshare program and Joe Weiss represents us on that committee. We are also involved in their incident communications technology development and are participating in their study of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) possibilities in NJ. TMAC is preparing an emergency response plans for the TMAs working with the NJTPA and New York to address future Sandy style events. We are also working with the NJTPA to assist in dealing with issues caused by the Super Bowl, closure of the Pulaski Highway and the proposed NASCAR and WWE events.
  14. As always, if any Board members know of any corporate “leads” for TransOptions to pursue or any possible Board candidates, please let me know.

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE BOARD SUPPORT THE RECOGNITION BREAKFAST AND THE LUNAR GOLF EVENT WITH SPOSORSHIPS, PARTICIPATION OR SECURING PARTICIPATION AND VOLUNTEERS. MORE TO FOLLOW ON THIS.