Better Roads Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85910
Lattatudes ■ EDITORIAL Editorial Director, Marcia Gruver Doyle, mgruver@rrpub.com Editor-in-Chief, John Latta, jlatta@rrpub.com Executive Editor, Tina Grady Barbaccia, tbarbaccia@rrpub.com Senior Editor, Mike Anderson, mike.anderson@rrpub.com Editor Emeritus, Kirk Landers, kirk.landers@att.net Truck Editor, Jack Roberts, jroberts@rrpub.com Construction Editor, Tom Jackson, tjackson@rrpub.com Contributing Editor, Tom Kuennen, expwys@expresswaysonline.com Contributing Editor, Dan Brown, danbrown4@msn.com ■ DESIGN Art Director, Sandy Turner, Jr., sturner@rrpub.com Graphic Designer, Kristen Chapman, kristenchapman@rrpub.com ■ PRODUCTION Senior Production Director, Mary Springer, mspringer@rrpub.com Advertising Production Manager, Linda Hapner, lhapner@rrpub.com Production Director, Leah Boyd, lboyd@rrpub.com Production Director, Diane Klischer, dklischer@rrpub.com ■ PROJECTS Project Director, Leah Boyd, lboyd@rrpub.com ■ PUBLISHING/ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Senior Vice President / Construction Division, Dan Tidwell Executive Publisher Construction Division, Michael Porcaro Executive Publisher Construction Division, Joe Donald Controller, Paige T. Fair, pfair@rrpub.com ■ ADVERTISING SALES Listing on page 59 ■ CIRCULATION Circulation Director, Stacy Stiglic, sstiglic@rrpub.com ■ HONORS 2011 Jesse H. Neal Award Winner Three-time Jesse H. Neal Awards Finalist Boger Award Honorable Mention Richard E. Lowell President's Award Multiple ASBPE Awards ■ Des Plaines Office 2340 S. River Road, Suite 202, Des Plaines, IL 60018 Phone: 847-636-5060, Fax 847- 636-5077 BUST UPtheir fl oating crap game L 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406 800-633-5953 Mike Reilly, Chairman, President / CEO David Wright, COO / Vice President Shane Elmore, CFO / Treasurer Brent Reilly, Executive Vice President Jim Davis, Vice President, Interactive Media Linda Longton, Vice President, Editorial In Memoriam: H. Pettus Randall II (1911 - 1971) - Founder H. Pettus Randall III (1945 - 2002) - Chairman during election season. Let's take advantage of that. Polls and the goings on in Washington with the reauthorization of a surface transportation bill show us that the nation's infrastructure is important to most Americans. The public is increasingly aware of the issues, about the state of crumbling bridges and failing roads, about how much worse it can get and how much more it would cost to fix in the future. So it's an election issue. Let's pressure candidates from state level down to local bodies to cross our line in the sand and put their positions about infrastructure on the record. Funding is just as much a nightmare problem at state, regional and local levels as it is in Washington. Fuel taxes, bonds, deficits, tolling and the repair-the-old- or-build-new debate are just as important an issue where you live. Let's push them hard to reveal what they think and what they intend to do, and what they don't think and don't intend to do about our infrastructure. I've written something like this in previous election years, and I'll do it again because if we don't hold their feet to the fire, they will, with some mightily rare exceptions, keep their infrastructure feet buried in their boots. For a candidate, unasked questions can be a free pass, one that we pay for. We know some candidates' tax returns become hot buttons when they're not promptly laid on the table. It would be nice to see the public equally expect a candidate to outline his/her plans for infrastructure. A bit of a stretch perhaps. But even forcing candidates to answer questions could be huge. Because on the other side of the line, after the election, candidates are somewhat (although as we know not completely) accountable to promises made and positions taken. And when we know where they stand, we know better how to press them for what this industry needs. You need a candidate to be more than just an infrastructure candidate, of course. Schools and health and taxes and many more concerns are probably issues more important to you and your family than infrastructure. But for this industry, election season is an opportunity to try to elect as few candidates who are "undecided" on infrastructure as possible. In the frustration of endless extensions to et's be ruthless about this. Politicians and wannabe politicians are at their most vulnerable www.rrpub.com SAFETEA-LU we were hampered by a sort of floating crap-game in Washington where politicians who had never put their views on record could duck and weave and avoid doing what needed doing. Let's bust up the game. by John Latta, Editor-in-Chief jlatta@rrpub.com www.BetterRoads.com Better Roads February 2012 3