By Kevin Gutknecht

Eliminating death on state highways was the focus of the 2006 Toward Zero Deaths Conference on Nov. 2-3 in Duluth.

More than 500 child passenger safety advocates, law enforcement members, emergency service providers, state and local government representatives and interest group representatives took part in the two-day event.

The purpose of the conference was to provide a forum to share information on best practices in the areas of engineering, enforcement, education and emergency medical and health services, and to identify new approaches for reducing the number of fatalities and life-changing injuries on Minnesota roads.

The conference, sponsored by the Minnesota Departments of Transportation and Public Safety and the Toward Zero Deaths program, took place in the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center.

Conference attendees were able to select from 31 different sessions on various aspects of road safety.  

Near its end, the conference gave awards to a number of attendees for their outstanding accomplishments in improving traffic safety in the past year. The awards, known as STAR awards, recognized the recipients for their efforts in promoting and implementing TZD programs and concepts.

Minnesota voters passed the transportation amendment on the Nov. 7 ballot by 57 percent to 43 percent, according to the unofficial final results reported by the Secretary of State’s Office.

The amendment changes the constitution so that 100 percent of the sales tax revenues on motor vehicles are dedicated to statewide transportation improvement. The amendment calls for a phased-in transfer of the revenues over five years, with up to 60 percent of the dedicated fund going to state highways and local roads, and at least 40 percent to public transit statewide.

The Pawlenty-Molnau Administration and Mn/DOT will work with the Legislature to determine the future use of the new revenues.

For more information, go to Mn/DOT’s transportation amendment Web page, http://www.dot.state.mn.us/information/mvst/index.html.

Details of the vote, including a district-by-district breakdown, can be found on the Secretary of State’s Web site.

Mary Skarda, Human Resources, now serves as the labor relations representative for Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8 from her office in the District 3 headquarters in Baxter.

Skarda was appointed to her position on Nov. 7.

In her new role, Skarda provides labor relations consulting in areas such as contract administration, investigations and grievances.

Before joining Mn/DOT, Skarda served in labor relations positions with the Department of Employee Relations and the Department of Human Services.

A St. Paul native, Skarda holds a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo. She is also a certified legal assistant.

Skarda joins Karin van Dyck, Human Resources, who serves the Central Office and the Rochester, Mankato and Metro districts.

Van Dyck was appointed to her labor relations position in August.

Before accepting her position with Mn/DOT, van Dyck served as human resources director with the Minneapolis Community and Technical College and as an equal employment opportunity specialist with a U.S. Department of Homeland Security contractor.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in human resources management from Metropolitan State University, St. Paul.

Skarda may be reached at 218/828-5826. Van Dyck may be reached at 651/282-6752.

By Lt. Gov./Commissioner Carol Molnau

I am grateful and humbled that Minnesota voters re-elected Gov. Pawlenty and me, and I want to assure you that transportation will continue to be an important issue for this administration.

I want to thank you for your hard work and dedication over the past four years. We accomplished much and still have much to do. We must remain focused on providing a safe and efficient transportation system to the citizens – that’s our job.

You’ll see another article in this issue about the passage of the transportation amendment. That is truly great news for Minnesota’s transportation network. The governor soon will announce his transportation budget and funding plan, which will be presented to the 2007 Legislature. You’ll be hearing much more about that in the coming weeks.

We’ve seen some significant changes in the Legislature and its leadership. Stay tuned for how they will impact transportation issues. I look forward to working with the Legislature to forge new partnerships in addressing Minnesota’s transportation needs.

Thanks again for all you do for your fellow citizens.

By Chris McMahon

I heard a friend utter those words about 10 years ago when someone lit up a cigarette in his house.

Since then, I have read much about the effects of secondhand smoke. Today, we know much, much more:  

• We know that exhaled toxins may be worse than the ones that are inhaled;
• We know that it causes ear infections in kids;
• We know that people who never smoke but live with smokers get lung cancer in alarming numbers.

Yet still, we must often walk through a smelly haze to come to work at Mn/DOT, or smell the noxious and disgusting ashtrays. It appalls me that the very people I work with (whom I admire for being public servants and choosing to work for less money than most in the private sector) still lack the care and respect for the rest of us, by smoking where they are not supposed to be.

Mn/DOT Central Office has one designated smoking area—a bench, which often has sunshine. Before I came to Mn/DOT, I was relegated to an enclosed room in the bowels of the building—a room with concrete walls and no ventilation. Smokers at Mn/DOT have it pretty nice; they don’t have to leave the grounds, yet they still choose to smoke in non-designated areas.  

While I, as a fellow employee, can ask them to move, I am not able to make them, and won’t risk “a scene.” Only their supervisors can enforce the rules.

Being a recovering smoker myself, I have compassion for those who are still slaves of the nicotine drug (or demon, as some call it). I find myself, however, unable to stop the anger and displeasure that comes when I must breathe it all in as I walk, fresh and clean from my shower, through the door in the mornings.

I wonder if they realize that they truly ARE hurting the rest of us.  

I wonder if they do not feel the same embarrassment that I do, when a member of the public comes in while the smokers are lingering outdoors, sending the reek of the smoke to the nostrils of those who choose not to hurt their bodies with the poisons that are put into cigarettes today.

I wonder how to plead with them, “Please…don’t hurt me with your secondhand smoke.”  

The annual Great American Smokeout that encourages people to stop smoking for one day happens Nov. 16 this year.