Acting Commissioner Doug Weiszhaar

Earlier this month, Gov. Jesse Ventura appointed Doug Weiszhaar as Mn/DOT’s acting commissioner to succeed former Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg, whose last day was Oct. 4.

You’ve been an integral part of Mn/DOT for more than three years. What do you see as the department’s most significant accomplishments during that time?

DW: Clearly, the Moving Minnesota initiative is up there. The one-time legislative funding of $459 million in 2000 allowed us to accelerate projects by a total of 113 years and save about $65 million in inflation costs. None of the success with Moving Minnesota would be possible if we had not improved some of our processes. More importantly, we couldn’t have done it without our employees, many of whom have gone into overdrive to make it happen.

The streamlining initiative is another significant accomplishment that helps us to deliver projects and speed up our construction processes. It encompasses a number of practices, such as design-build, which involves designing and building a project in overlapping stages to save time and money. Electronic bidding saves the state an estimated $1,000 per letting and footprinting allows land to be purchased based on estimated right-of-way needs rather than traditional site surveying. These initiatives are shaving many months off typical project delivery timelines.

It’s difficult to name all of Mn/DOT's accomplishments, but others include the Hiawatha light rail transit system in Minneapolis, which is now more than halfway done, and intelligent transportation technologies such as the special vehicle that increases safety for snow plow drivers, ambulance drivers and others who must drive in bad weather to provide services to the public

What’s the biggest disappointment you’ve experienced during your tenure here?

DW: I’d say it was the Legislature’s failure to provide a long-term permanent funding source for transportation. Its inaction, plus the poor economic climate of the last year or so, led to our announcement in June that we will likely need to defer or drop 163 projects that were scheduled to begin during the next 10 years. And, although we have streamlined agency operations, improved efficiency alone cannot pay for the increased demand on the transportation system, nor can it make up for 15 years of inadequate funding.

What are your top priorities for the next few months?

DW: My plan is to continue the course we have set forth for Moving Minnesota, and to ensure a smooth changeover from this administration to the next. I want the next administration to have the information it needs to make solid decisions as well as build upon what we’ve already done. We have a transition team right now working on just that.

Do you plan to continue with the Shaping Our Future effort?

DW: Absolutely. Shaping Our Future is not a short-term initiative with a beginning and end point. It is a new way of doing business. We are constantly looking for ways to better meet the needs of our customers. In fact, we are ahead of a national trend of transportation agencies that are beginning to use some of these approaches to speed up project delivery.

Although a lot of the Shaping Our Future attention to date has been focused on the products and services we deliver and the movement of staff and resources to best meet our customers’ needs, the change management initiatives are just the beginning of a continuous process. There are many other activities going on that contribute to shaping Mn/DOT’s future.

Such as?

DW: Streamlining program delivery, which we’ve already talked a bit about here. Also, we’ve consolidated the shared business services functions in the Capitol complex and modal offices to achieve greater efficiency processing transactions. We’re also coordinating training and we’re developing the biennial budget.

In addition, we’re looking at staffing to ensure that we have the right people with the right skills in the right place. This is especially important since two-thirds of our engineering and technical workforce is eligible to retire within five years. We must prepare now.

About the budget—what’s going on with the additional 10 percent budget cuts agencies were told to make? Are people in danger of being laid off?

DW: In August, the Department of Finance told all state agencies to make recommendations on how to cut their budgets by 10 percent. This was on top of the cuts we were asked to do several months ago. Our budget recommendations were completed Oct. 15.

Unlike before, it looks like we won’t be able to absorb the losses through retirements or leaving vacancies open. We may need to defer additional projects in the construction program or, in the worst-case scenario, lay off some employees.

Our goal still is to retain a skilled workforce, but the economic reality is we may need to cut back on staff. We won’t know what our course of action will be until we have further direction from the Department of Finance. In the meantime, we will continue to show them what we’ve already done.

Besides the obvious budget difficulties, what do you see as the toughest challenge for the next administration?

DW: Just as we did, the next administration is going to have to tackle transportation financing. It doesn’t matter if you’re a proponent of the "more roads" or the "more transit options" approach. If no long-term permanent funding source for transportation is established soon, we will have a difficult time preserving and maintaining what we have and all of the other issues will be moot.

Note: On Oct. 15, Weiszhaar sent a memo to Gov. Ventura’s staff to help them brief the incoming administration about four key transportation-related issues and Mn/DOT’s recommendations for addressing them. Click here to read the memo to the governor-elect.

By Chris Joyce

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Because legislative action prohibits Trunk Highway Fund monies from being used to pay the state sales tax, Mn/DOT has placed a freeze on purchases where it applies.

The 2001 Legislature appropriated $4.3 million from the General Fund to reimburse Mn/DOT for sales tax payments in FY 2002. Those funds, however, have been spent and there is no similar General Fund appropriation for FY 2003.

If Mn/DOT continued purchasing but didn’t pay sales tax, the department would be violating state law. However, if Mn/DOT does pay the sales tax, it would violate a different state law.

Mn/DOT has instructed managers to halt purchases that include sales tax until Mn/DOT, Department of Finance and the Governor’s Office can resolve the issue. Staff members believe the freeze should not be in effect longer than from five to seven days.

Items for emergency situations where public safety is a factor—such as road repair—are not affected by the purchasing freeze.

Dick Stehr, director, Program Support Group, said, however, that purchases for program activities such as fuel, right of way purchases and contractors’ payments aren’t affected because they’re not subject to the state’s sales tax.

The freeze also doesn’t apply to purchases made from specific funds such as the State Airports Fund, the Greater Minnesota Transit Fund or state transportation bonds used for local bridge construction.

Typically Mn/DOT spends about $5 million each year in state sales tax. Purchases include computers, furniture, asphalt, aggregate, patching materials and janitorial supplies.

Bruce Briese, director, Financial Planning Analysis, said the problem stems from conflicting state laws. One law, he said, requires that state agencies pay state sales tax. However, another specifically prohibits expenditures from the Trunk Highway Fund for any purpose other than highway maintenance and construction. This includes sales tax payments.

Briese said negotiations are underway by representatives from Mn/DOT, the Department of Finance and the Governor’s Office to resolve the situation quickly.

The Legislature will have to address the issue during its next session to eliminate the conflict in the laws, he said.

Questions about the purchasing and payments may be addressed to Jim Kinzie, 651/297-2510, or Roy Kill, 651/215-1983. Questions about funding sources’ taxable status may be addressed to Gordy Kordosky, 651/296-3225, or Larry Schmitz, 651/296-7090. All four are in Financial Management.

By Craig Wilkins

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FHWA official James Cheatham receives a survey from Barb Connolly, human resources manager, Business Services Section, at Mn/DOT’s booth at AASHTO’s annual meeting in Anchorage. Photo by Sandy East

More than 1,300 delegates attended the 88th annual meeting of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in Anchorage Oct. 11-15. Delegates represented all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Mn/DOT representatives included managers, engineers, communications staff, conference planners and support staff. Minnesota will host the national AASHTO conference in September 2003.

AASHTO, a nonprofit, nonpartisan association founded in 1914, represents five transportation modes: air, highways, public transportation, rail and water. AASHTO's primary goal is to foster the development, operation and maintenance of an integrated national transportation system.

Weiszhaar said that the contacts with other states benefit Minnesota in delivering quality service to its customers. Mn/DOT has been exchanging knowledge, research and best practices with AASHTO members since the Minnesota state highway system was established in 1922.

Emil Frankel, U.S. DOT assistant secretary for policy, opened the session by stating that both the events of 9/11 and reduced revenues will complicate the process of reauthorization of the federal transportation bill by Congress. At the conference, AASHTO presented a variety of funding alternatives and financing tools to help meet the financial crisis.

Mn/DOT will host the next AASHTO annual meeting Sept. 4-9, 2003, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Mn/DOT staff surveyed conference participants about their interests when they come to the Twin Cities at the Mn/DOT "Express yourself!" exhibit and encouraged them to visit and experience Minnesota.

"It's important for Minnesota to advocate our needs at a national level," said acting Commissioner Doug Weiszhaar. "Congress is again considering a federal transportation bill that will guide our programs for the next six years."

There is another benefit to hosting the meeting: participants will spend an estimated $2 million in Minnesota during the week-long conference.

By Sue Stein

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How do you prepare to become a leader at Mn/DOT? How do you gain the technical and/or managerial skills to fill positions Mn/DOT will need most in the future?

"With the help of two tools designed to develop employees with leadership potential, we will be able to get the right people in the right job at the right time," said Wayne Brede, Human Resources staffing manager.

Those tools are succession planning and strategic staffing.

"The challenge to government in this decade will be to find ways to attract, train and retain qualified workers within a shrinking, aging labor market," said Doug Weiszhaar, acting commissioner. "Succession planning and strategic staffing will help employees find work situations that are the best fit for the department and allow them to grow and achieve in a changing environment."

"Succession planning identifies critical leadership roles that need to be filled in a timely manner through internal development or through external recruitment when internal development is not practical or timely," said Brede.

Succession planning begins by determining if critical positions can be filled with the employees available. If not, managers look for succession planning candidates with the aptitudes, interests and decision-making abilities leaders possess. But leaders don’t become leaders overnight. Candidates must be developed for key leadership positions. Their competencies must be assessed and training plans developed to help them gain leadership skills.

These qualities and skills can be gained through Mn/DOT’s mentoring program which matches experienced employees with other employees interested in receiving career guidance. The Leadership Academy training will also help provide leaders with additional skills. It will begin in 2002 with management and supervisory level candidates but eventually will expand to include employees at all levels of the organization.

"Mn/DOT is committed to becoming the kind of organization that values the contribution of all its employees--of all backgrounds, all interests and all cultures." Weiszhaar added.

Currently, 37 positions have been identified as part of the succession planning process, but Mn/DOT will need more leaders in the future. All managers are eligible to participate in succession planning and, since the program started in 1994, their participation has been voluntary. However, the Senior Management Team recently directed that all managers must participate in succession planning as candidates or as coaches or mentors to other participants.

"The idea that Mn/DOT has predetermined who is going to be selected for succession planning is far from the truth," Brede added. "Managers must keep their eyes open for employees with good leadership aptitude. But it’s also up to employees to express their interest in leadership opportunities and do what it takes to be recognized."

"Succession planning is not the only way we develop leaders," Weiszhaar added. "Because Mn/DOT could lose 65 percent of its technical and professional workforce to retirement and attrition by the year 2007, we must find ways to help employees at all levels make the best use of their skills."

Succession planning focuses on executive-level staffing needs, whereas strategic staffing applies to all employees. It helps determine where employees need job development, including mentoring and formal training, to reach their full potential. Strategic staffing can, however, help identify employees who are ideal candidates for succession planning.

"The concept of strategic staffing is relatively new to Mn/DOT," said Trent Weber, HR strategic staffing coordinator. "It was first introduced as a pilot effort in 1999 in Willmar/District 8 and was expanded to the Program Delivery Group in August 2001. The plan is to include the entire department in the formal strategic staffing process within the next six months."

One key supporter is Sue Mulvihill, Metro Division area maintenance engineer.

"My leadership interests and abilities were recognized at Mn/DOT, she said. "My supervisors, co-workers and mentors worked with me to help me develop those skills and to advance. I’ve learned a lot from all the people I’ve worked with, which has helped me become a better leader. My experience shows that there are opportunities for women and other underrepresented groups at Mn/DOT if you work hard, take on new challenges and make the changes necessary to advance."

"Making Mn/DOT and our transportation system work better is not about the products and services we create it’about the people who create them," Weiszhaar said.

For more information, contact Brede or Weber via GroupWise.

By Donna Lindberg

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Mike Robinson, Duluth/District 1 engineer, welcomes visitors to the new Pike Lake maintenance facility shared by Mn/DOT and St. Louis County maintenance forces.  Photo by Maureen Talarico

The trend toward consolidated state, county and city maintenance facilities continues with the opening of the new facility on Hwy 53 about 10 miles northwest of Duluth that serves Mn/DOT’s Duluth metro crews and St. Louis County’s maintenance operations.

The new building is the most recent combined facility built by Mn/DOT and local government agencies. The first, at Hutchinson, was completed in 1997 to serve Willmar/District 8, McLeod County and the city of Hutchinson.

Dedication ceremonies for the new $5.5 million Pike Lake facility were held Tuesday by officials from each agency as well as from Canosia Township where it’s located.

Mn/DOT’s share of the total cost is $1.6 million. The project required no Mn/DOT cash cost. Mn/DOT’s share of the county-financed bond issue will be covered by payments from the city of Duluth for leasing space in the district headquarters maintenance shop.

The consolidation allows the county to close two truck stations in residential areas and affords Mn/DOT crews easier and faster access to Hwy 53 and the other highways it maintains in the Duluth area. Moving nine snowplows from the Duluth headquarters building provides a central location for part of the city’s snowplow fleet.

The new facility includes amenities such as an automated truck wash and adequate storage as well as maintenance and administrative areas for Mn/DOT and county crews and equipment. Sharing the facility also reduces costs via the joint purchase and storage of the sand, gravel, and de-chemicals that each agency uses for its work.

Crews from St. Louis County and Mn/DOT did the grading work for the new facility, which underscores the cooperative atmosphere the new building represents.

By Craig Wilkins

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This billboard reminds drivers to "Stay Back Stay Alive." Design by Roberta Link

Football fans heading into the Metrodome on Nov. 9 to see the University of Minnesota take on the University of Michigan’s Wolverines will get a bonus—a blitz of winter work zone safety messages. Mn/DOT employees will staff display a tandem-axle snowplow on the plaza and staff an informational exhibit inside the Dome.

The "Stay Back Stay Alive" message will be repeated at the game and many times during the month of November with alerts to Minnesotans urging them to use extra caution when snowplows are operating.

Nov. 4 marks the start of National Winter Safety Awareness Week. During that week, several state agencies including Mn/DOT will use various means to urge the public to focus on winter safety. Nov. 8 will focus on winter driving safety.

On Nov. 12, Mn/DOT will invite news reporters to visit the Metro Division’s annual snow and ice kick-off event, which is an opportunity to learn about snowplowing techniques, plowing equipment and safety priorities. Mn/DOT will encourage reporters to ride with a plow operator to become familiar with plowing operations and the need for safer driving behavior by motorists.

Mary Meinert, work zone safety coordinator, Communications and Public Relations, said the winter campaign would use radio ads, bus advertising, theater adverting and attendance at conferences and expos to convey its message about winter safety.

"Safety is Mn/DOT’s first priority, " she said. "This year we are planning to extend a special effort to reach the Latino, Hmong and Somali communities to share our safe winter driving information."

Meinert said that there is an average of 110 crashes involving snowplows every year in Minnesota. She added that the number of people who get hurt in these crashes averages 10 per year.

"We need to constantly repeat our message--Stay Back Stay Alive--in order to protect our snowplow operators and everyone else using the state’s roads," she said.

Tickets to the game, which cost $11 and include a hot dog and soft drink, can be ordered by calling 612/624-7342.

By Craig Wilkins

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From left: Jim Cray, Metro MIS, discusses computer security issues with Garland Jackson, Metro MIS, and Moses Her, Design. Photo by Kent Barnard

Employees from throughout the Metro Division gathered Oct.16-17 at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood for the annual Metro Employee Days.

Set up outside the arena was a truck with cones, barrier and all signing needed to establish a safe work zone. A new type of truck-mounted attenuator (crash cushion) on the back of the vehicle rounded out the truck’s safety features.

Inside the building, exhibits on health and safety-related topics drew attention from participants. Employees could also get more information on health and dental plans that are available during October’s open enrollment period.

Functional area exhibits highlighted the ways in which various offices work together in Metro to carry out its responsibilities.

Participants could also vote on their favorite functional area booths. First place honors went to the Office of Maintenance booth. Design employees captured second place while the Human Resources booth finished third.

By Kent Barnard

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