When I wrote the message for the November Newsletter, the mid-term election was a few days away. The election brought mixed results for our ACEC community. It was heartening to see that Proposition 6 was defeated which assures badly needed funding for infrastructure development and maintenance for our State. Proposition 3, which ACEC supported and would have brought funding to water projects, was defeated.
With the election behind us, it is time to focus on the future, enjoy the holidays, and prepare to welcome the new year. We have some exciting events planned for 2019. We will start the new year with our Joint APWA/ACEC Meeting on January 4th featuring Assemblyman Kevin Kiley. Past President’s Dinner Meeting is planned on February 20 where we can honor those who have served our Chapter in the past and probably learn a thing or two from their collective experience. On March 20, we will have a joint meeting with Cal Mentor. Our April meeting will feature Young Professional Forum. Our chapter initiated this event last year and was a very successful event. We plan to continue this event with the objective of getting engineers and land surveyors of the next generation involved in ACEC and be ready to take leadership roles.
Legislative Visit Day is scheduled for May 15. It is great opportunity to meet with State legislators, make them understand the important role of engineers and surveyors in the community, and promote ACEC agenda. Please mark your calendar. If you have not participated in this event in past, I would strongly urge you to do so. It is also a good networking opportunity as you will get to meet with ACEC members from other chapters.
In my last message I talked about the idea of the Agency Excellence Awards to recognize the dedication and commitment of public agencies. Additional information on the nomination and award process including a simple nomination is included in this newsletter. Please take a moment to review and submit your nomination to show your appreciation for your favorite public agencies. We will need your help to make this event successful. Let’s show our local agencies we recognize their dedication and hard work! The event is planned for June 5. The deadline to submit your nomination is March 15, 2019.
See you all on January 4th at our next meeting! I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous 2019!
Debanik Chaudhuri
2018/2019 Sierra Chapter President
