Just wondering....... Why do we have a Blue Ribbon Transportation panel AND a Washington State Transportation Commission? Both with the same mission? Both peopled by individuals of similar background? (Heck, at least one of the commission members is ALSO on the panel) Both beholding to Governor Locke?

My guess, is to spread the blame around. How much is this duplication costing us, anyway?

Introduction

The Transportation Commission serves as the board of directors of the Department of Transportation, providing oversight to ensure the Department delivers quality transportation facilities and services in a cost-effective manner. The Commission also proposes policies, plans and funding to the legislature which will promote a balanced, inter-modal transportation system which moves people and goods safely and efficiently.

Ed Barnes

Aubrey Davis

Tom Green

George Kargianis

A. Michhle Maher

Chris Marr

Connie Niva

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Ed Barnes

Ed retired as the Business Manager for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union No. 48, a position he held since 1983. He has been involved in the union's activities and the construction industry for more than 40 years in southwest Washington and Oregon. He represented the International IBEW on the Council for Industrial Relations and Maritime Trades for the electrical industry in the US and Canada. Mr. Barnes served on the C-Tran/Tri-Met Light Rail Committee and on the advisory committee for The Colombian newspaper. He currently serves on the Portland/Vancouver I-5 Corridor Policy Committee. He served in the U. S. Army during the Korean Conflict and completed trade school with a Journeyman Electrician certificate with further labor-related classes at Wharton School of Business, the University of Oregon and the George Meany Labor Institute. Ed was appointed by Governor Lowry in June 1995; his term will expire in June 2001.

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Aubrey Davis

Aubrey, a graduate of Occidental College with graduate work at American University and the University of Washington, is Chair of Coastal Environmental Systems. He recently retired as President Emeritus of Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound and now serves as vice chair of the Cooperative's Board. He has many years of experience in transportation, having served as Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) Regional Administrator from 1979-1988 and Regional Representative for the U. S. Secretary of Transportation from 1978-1979. Davis, a former Mayor and Councilman of Mercer Island, has been very active in the greater Seattle area and served on METRO, the Puget Sound Council of Governments (now the Puget Sound Regional Council), the King County 2000 Committee, and the Mayor's Task Force on the Arts. He also served as chair of the Transportation Committee of the National League of Cities in 1975. He served as Chair of the Expert Review Panel, charged with oversight over planning for High Capacity Transit in the central Puget Sound. Aubrey was appointed by Governor Gardner in February 1992. He was reappointed by Governor Lowry in February 1993 and in July 1995; his term will expire in June 2001.

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Tom Green

Tom served 29 years as a career military reservist with the Washington Army National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve, retiring as a colonel in January 1996. He served in several command assignments-as an Inspector General and as a staff officer. Tom served as a Chelan County Commissioner for five terms, 1977 through 1996. He served as Chair of the Chelan County Commission for six one-year terms. Tom has been appointed twice to the Washington State Emergency Management Council, serving as its Chair and currently Vice Chair. He also served as the first and a subsequent Chair of the Board for Link, the Chelan and Douglas Counties Public Transportation Benefit Area. Tom was appointed by Governor Lowry in August 1996; his term will expire in June 2000.

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George Kargianis

George is a law graduate of the University of Washington and has served on a number of civic, corporate, and Bar boards and committees. He is a partner with the Seattle law firm of Kargianis Watkins. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a fellow in the International Society of Barristers, and a past member of the Board of Governors of the Washington State Bar Association. He is currently a member of several different Bar Associations and Trial Lawyer Associations. George served on the Board of Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Bellevue Arts Commission; was a member of the King County Solid Waste Advisory Committee; and is a member of the Board of Directors of The Columbia Tower Club and Past President of The Harbor Club. He has received the United Nursing Home Appreciation Award; the Joan Vonada Memorial Award presented by the Washington Mobile Home and Recreational Vehicle Association; Man of the Year Award - Bellevue Junior Chamber of Commerce; and Boss of the Year Award presented by the Greater Seattle Legal Secretaries Association. George was appointed by Governor Locke in September 1998; his term will expire in June 2004.

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A. Michhle Maher

Michhle has been the owner of Freight Management Resources (formerly J. White & Associates), a freight transportation consulting firm dealing in both international and domestic issues, since 1993. While working with Western Digital Corporation in California, she served as a world-wide network administrator providing global support in the areas of sales and contract administration and, prior to that, as the Standard Microsystems Corporate Business Acquisition Team and manager of World Wide Channel Support Services. Michhle is the president of the Hispanic Business/Professional Association and is a member of the Spokane Transportation Club. She currently serves on the board for the International Trade Alliance in Spokane, and as a trustee of the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce, having also been a member of the Chamber's Diversity Workforce and Transportation committees. Michhle was appointed by Governor Locke in December 1997. She was reappointed by Governor Locke in June 1999; her term will expire in June 2005.

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Chris Marr

Chris holds both a bachelor of arts and a master of business administration degree from San Francisco State University. Since 1986, he has been Vice President/Managing Partner of Foothills Lincoln-Mercury/Mazda in Spokane, which was a recipient of the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce 1997 Agora Award for Small Business Excellence. Prior to that, Chris worked as an Area Supervisor/Field Consultant for McDonald's Corporation. Presently, he is a member of the Spokane Regional Transportation Council, and serves on the Physician, Hospital, Community Organization and New Century Plan Boards. He is past Chair of the City of Spokane Community Development Board and past Vice President of Eastern Washington State Historical Society's Board of Trustees. Chris also is a member of Representative George Nethercutt's Small Business Advisory Committee and a past board member of the Citizens League of Greater Spokane and active in Spokane's Bloomsday Roadrunners Club. Chris was appointed by Governor Locke in December 1997; his term will expire in June 2002.

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Connie Niva

Connie is a graduate of Washington State University with a B.S. in Bacteriology, and received a master's degree in Public Administration from Seattle University in 1992. She is a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation and Snohomish county Citizens for Improved Transportation (SCCIT). Connie is a former member of the Everett City Council, serving from 1986-1989, and served as congressional liaison for the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority in 1990 and 1991. Connie was appointed by Governor Lowry in February 1993; she was reappointed by Governor Locke in August 1997, and her term will expire in June 2003. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/commission/about/commissioners.htm#ed

-- (craigcar@crosswinds.net), January 12, 2000

Answers

Is it really a suprise to find 'duplication' of services and/or departments in the government. I'm sure they are all over the place and the government themselves will not remove them, but won't hesitate to cut services people use. Our governor brags that he has cut people on welfare from 90k to 58k but they are hiring over 1,000 new employees?????? We just need to keep cutting off their lifeline to rediculous spending...its the only way to make this stop.

-- Jack (jack@yakivegas.com), January 12, 2000.