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Periodic posts from the K-TOC community manager.
Posts: 82
| Created on January 15, 2009
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This morning, Transportation Secretary Deb Miller appeared before the Kansas Senate Transportation Committee to brief the committee on the details of T-WORKS. the proposed new 10-year transportation plan for Kansas. She'll continue her testimony tomorrow. We live-tweeted this morning's appearance, and will tweet tomorrow's appearance, as well.
Tomorrow's hearing, like today's, is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. I hope we don't run too long, because at 10:00 tomorrow morning, Secretary Miller will hold a press conference to announce the release of the preliminary Amtrak study on passenger rail in Kansas.
This morning went well, I think. It's a stunner to hear the list of budget cuts KDOT experienced this fiscal year--more than $250 million so far. One senator commiserated with Secretary Miller and observed that the Legislature has sometimes treated the agency like "the First National Bank of KDOT." Another noted that KDOT is spending less on highway maintenance now than it was spending in the 1970s (in inflation-adjusted dollars).
Today's testimony was largely devoted to an overview of some of the changes in the proposed new plan, including a couple of options involving the state Motor Fuels Tax. (One option calls for a 7-cent increase in the tax beginning in 2013; the other would reduce the tax, but eliminate the state sales tax exemption on fuel sales.) Tomorrow will be devoted to a more detailed examination of the new program. Please follow along with us on Twitter @KDOTHQ. I think it will be a fun day.
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Total cuts amount to more than $85 million. Transportation Secretary Deb Miller issued a statement immediately after the Governor's presser. This from her statement:
"Today I am suspending
$86 million – or 65 percent – of the $133 million in state-funded projects we’d
planned to have under contract for the remainder of the fiscal year. That will
eliminate jobs for both contractors and suppliers. The saving grace is that the
federal Recovery Act will fund $112 million in new projects to be under way
this summer. We will also continue as planned with projects that involve
federal and local dollars."
Secretary Miller called the cuts "beyond stunning."
We've established a discussion group for this topic here. The Secretary's statement is here. A breakdown of all budget adjustments is here. We'll have a list of the affected projects up shortly.
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Friday, 2 p.m. UPDATE:
We've posted a KDOT budget fact sheet, plus the lists of projects to be let to construction and projects to be cut in FY 2010, all here.
The short version:
1. KDOT has lost $257 million in fiscal year 2010 and a total of more than half-a-billion dollars in the past three years.
2. Our construction spending (in real dollars) is lower than it was in the 1970s.
3. Planned preservation work for this year has been cut by more than 55 percent.
4. KDOT's operating budget has been reduced by $25 million. Equipment purchases have been cut in half. The agency has cut 136 positions and let 300 more go unfilled, reducing salary expense by about $6 million.
There's a lot more. Follow the link to see the details.
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On Twitter.
The Secretary reached out to state Departments of Transportation to give everyone a heads-up about his latest blog, in which he thanks all of us for our efforts in implementing the Recovery Act.
"Look, a Federal agency does not get 13,770
projects underway in a single year without significant heavy lifting by the
state and territorial DOTs across the country," LaHood wrote. "And that's exactly the kind of
support these agencies stepped up and delivered." Read the whole thing here.
Secretary LaHood was one of the first Cabinet Secretaries to adopt social media, and he's been one of the most effective. Government adoption of social media is increasing at a dizzying pace. Not surprisingly, many agencies are looking at Facebook, a network so big that were it a country, it would be the fourth-largest on Earth. If you're interested in learning about how government agencies can effectively deploy Facebook as a public-outreach tool, I encourage you to participate in a webinar scheduled for next Friday to be conducted by the folks at the Web Manager University. The webinar is free and open to anyone with a government email address. Registration information is available here.
Finally, you're no doubt tired of the weekly email you've been receiving from K-TOC announcing new members that have joined the community in the past seven days. I'm tired of it too, so this week we're trying something new. The new approach for the email will include links to community activity from the past week, and down the line will also include notification about cool upcoming stuff. We may not get it exactly right at first, but give us a few weeks, and we'll have this thing nailed.
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The degree to which government is actively engaging with social media is truly impressive. What's happening here at KDOT is happening at dozens--perhaps hundreds--of agencies across the country.
Here in Kansas, several groups are looking into the various technologies and techniques adopted by KDOT and other agencies as they integrate social media into agency operations. I've talked to several people engaged in those investigations, and I'm impressed by their willingness to give the technology a fair chance.
The best current example known to me of effective SM outreach in Kansas government is Roundabout the Dome, the blog maintained by Lindsey Douglas of KDOT's Governmental Affairs Office. She's been posting twice a week during the legislative session, keeping a close eye on transportation legislation, as well as the state's ever-changing revenue situation. It's an excellent read, highly recommended.
There is no better place to get a bird's-eye view of these changes than at GovLoop,
the online community for government employees. A great many key
discussions are happening there, as agency professionals reach out to
colleagues at all levels of government to learn what others are doing
to adapt to new challenges. GovLoop itself is changing as fast as the
media environment, so expect to see a lot of new features if you
haven't dropped by for a while. The community is host to more than
26,000 members now!
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On a more general note, the earthquake in Chile, coming so soon on the heels of the earthquake in Haiti, has stretched emergency-responders to the breaking point. Click here if you're interested in making a contribution to the folks at the American Red Cross.
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KDOT is marking the one-year anniversary of the Recovery Act this week. We've assembled a large amount of data pertaining to the Act's effects here in Kansas, and we're sharing that information with the media and public. Right now I'm tracking down a couple of Kansans who found their current jobs thanks to ARRA, and in coming days I'll be posting about that, and about the larger effects the Act has had on our transportation system.
Here's some happy news for passenger rail advocates in the Sunflower State. And here's some big news for those following the construction of the new Amelia Earhart Bridge in Atchison. And here's an example of forward thinking in public transportation.
This afternoon I'm accompanying Secretary Miller to Wichita, where she's participating in a debate aout transportation policy and funding with Dave Trabert, President of the Kansas Policy Institute. I'll be live-tweeting the debate at www.twitter.com/KDOTHQ. The debate begins at one p.m. Please follow along!
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K-TOC experienced its first case of external spamming last night. An account was opened in the name of "Vivian." The account-holder, almost certainly a bot, sent out "
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I
will like to have you as my good friend whom i will like to share my life
experience with" messages to a number of K-TOC members. Vivian's account was erased first thing this morning. If you find such a message in your inbox, just delete it.
The account was created using a webmail account that traces to an IP address in Senegal. The same email account has been used to spam a large number of dating sites around the world; I tracked it down on an online list of "Love Scammers." Apparently the spambot recognized K-TOC as a "social" site, self-registered and sent private messages to a number of community members. I'm a little surprised this hasn't happened before.
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We've been holding meetings to chart the course for K-TOC for 2010. If you have some thoughts about where the community should focus it's attention, post them below, or even better, in the K-TOC discussion group. And I'll keep you posted on developments on this end.
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Right here.
Julie Lorenz, our Public Affairs Director, has presented on K-TOC twice during the TRB Annual Conference, underway now in Washington D.C., and Marie Manthe, the KDOT Librarian, has also presented on the community--so if any of the Conference attendees see this, I hope they sign up and join in!
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The 2010 legislative session is underway. Lindsey Douglas, KDOT's Legislative Liason, will be blogging the ins and outs of the whole business right here. Kyle Schneweis, our Governmental Relations Director, will also weigh in at Across the Street, the blog he launched during last year's session.
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Yesterday's earthquake in Haiti is producing staggering casualty figures. Those who wish to help are encouraged to look into a number of well-established agencies already in-country and providing emergency services under unimaginably difficult conditions. (Here's the American Red Cross.) Social media has proved helpful for some first-responders; Wyclef Jean, the great Haitian musician, returned immediately to his native land upon hearing the news and has been tweeting regularly.
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The 2010 legislative session gets underway on Monday, and it's all about revenue, and the lack of same.
KDOT Governmental Affairs Director Kyle Schneweis blogged yesterday about the two proposals for a new transportation plan released Monday by the Special Committee on Transportation. From that blog:
"Both concepts contain
a built-in method for revenues to automatically increase slightly over
time and help transportation revenues keep up with the cost of
maintaining the state’s infrastructure. This signals a clear
understanding that the standard per gallon motor fuel tax is not
sustainable in the long run. The first concept is to decrease the
per-gallon tax and replace it with a sales tax. The other is to tie
the per gallon tax to the consumer price index."
We're hosting a conversation about these topics in the new T-WORKS discussion group. The latest estimates suggest that the revenue shortfall for this year is in the vicinity of $390 million--a gap the Governor and Legislature are obliged to close. The tumultuous fiscal picture has obvious implications for the prospects for a new transportation plan. But, as Kyle's blog suggests, the dismal revenue projections haven't dissuaded transportation advocates in and out of the Legislature from brainstorming creative ways to keep Kansas in a position of national leadership on transportation issues.
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By now everyone has a gaggle of Storm Stories. Probably not many people can match the tales of KDOT's road crews, who have been absolutely killing it on snow removal since Christmas Eve. Some members of the public have tweeted their appreciation of the agency's efforts--here are a couple of those tweets:
"BIG time KUDOS to city of Olathe street crews and @KansasCityKDOT @KDOTHQ crews!! Thanks for making my drive to work safe. Wonderful work."
"Thank you @KDOTHQ for clearing the snow off the air hose at the Topeka service area. Otherwise, I might've gotten a flat driving home!"
I'm happy to accept the thanks on behalf of KDOTHQ, but I'm an office guy: The real heroes are the road crews out there in the teeth of the storm battling this ghastly weather face-to-face. Thanks to all our KDOT crews for keeping the roads open!
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...and they're purty darned big.
KDOT will transfer $50 million from the State Highway Fund to the State General Fund. The Maintenance Fund will be reduced by $25 million this year, and $25 million next year. The budget for equipment purchases has been reduced 50 percent, several studies have been suspended, and equipment purchases for the Wichita traffic management project have been indefinitely deferred. The latest round of cuts makes a total of $229 million in adjustments to the State Highway Fund since January.
Secretary Miller sent an email to all agency employees explaining the cuts, which include a $15 million reduction in KDOT's operating budget. The latest cut in the agency's operating budget comes on top of a $10 million reduction implemented in July, so KDOT's operating budget has been reduced almost nine percent just this year. Agency leadership saw the cuts coming and implemented belt-tightening measures over the summer, so KDOT will avoid staff reductions or furloughs, but the Secretary noted that "further budget cuts could bring that option back into
consideration.
More cuts are said to be likely in the coming legislative session, as lawmakers wrestle with what the Secretary described as "declining revenues and looming shortfalls." Given the gloomy economic picture, it's encouraging to see that a new statewide transportation plan can still find support.
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Close observers of the community will note that more than a dozen files and discussions have been deleted today, and a few more moved. The deletions and movements were prompted by the fact that a number of projects were double-posted--a lot of projects located in District 6 were also posted in District 3, for example--and a few others were mistakenly posted to the wrong group.
I'm in the middle of making corrections right now. I interrupted myself to get this update posted right away, because I don't want users to conclude that we've changed the rules and are deleting inconvenient content: We're not. We're just fixing some of my errors.
On first glance I've not found any public comments posted to any of the erroneous files, which makes sense; folks in Colby probably don't have much to say about the local impact of a proposed project in Liberal. Should I find comments attached to any of the files I'm moving/deleting, we'll find a way to maintain the comments after the change.
No public comments will be removed.
So I'm off the wield the Deletion Axe. I'll update this blog once I've finished cleaning up the mess with a full account of the changes.
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