Staci Cann, Pre-design, Bemidji/District 2, checks mittens, hats and scarves donated by employees to an area organization that helps homeless people. Last year, Cann led a drive that collected gifts for children in the Bemidji Hospital. Photo by Karen Bedeau

Many children throughout Minnesota who may not have received a gift this holiday season will have a present or two to enjoy, thanks to the efforts of Mn/DOT employees to brighten their celebrations.

This year’s efforts range from Toys for Tots collections to Christmas trees growing a collection of hats, mittens and scarves on the Central Office’s fifth floor and at the district headquarters in Bemidji.

From mitten trees to silent auctions, Mn/DOT people are collecting clothes and toys for the needy as well as money for food shelves and other charitable causes.

Mn/DOT employees at Brainerd, Rochester and Owatonna support the Toys for Tots drive conducted each year by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. The offices contribute toys as well as serve as public collection points in their areas.

At Detroit Lakes, employees sponsor a potluck lunch that supports a local hospice program. Ticket sales and proceeds from an auction of employee-made items such as venison sausage, jellies, cookies and quilts raise funds for the program. Last year, the event raised more than $600, said Pam McLeod, district public affairs coordinator.

The district office has raised about $3,000 for the program since the event replaced an employee gift exchange in 1995, she said.

Ellie Quarry, Brainerd/District 3 headquarters, sorts gifts for the Toys for Tots campaign. Photo by Bob Girtz

Further west in the district, employees at Morris contribute one day’s share of their coffee club contributions and collect items for a local food shelf.

Bemidji district staff employees mount a campaign to provide an area shelter for homeless people with mittens, hats and other winter necessities.

On the Transportation Building’s fifth floor, a Christmas tree’s branches hold hats, mittens and scarves for needy families. Employees in the offices of Financial Management and Financial Planning and Analysis also collect for the Toys for Tots program and for food shelf programs.

Bobbi Iverson-Roesler, Management Analysis Unit, said the Hiway Federal Credit Union will match employee food and cash donations by as much as $3,000 for items brought to the fifth floor collection area.

The Office of Aeronautics continues to serve as a major contributor to the Minnesota Business Aviation Association’s winter campaign.

Tim Valento, a pilot with Aeronautics and association president, said the MBAA places gifts around its Tree of Hope and then distributes them to patients at the University of Minnesota/Fairview Cancer Hospital for Children.

At the Metro Division, Kent Barnard, Metro News editor, urges employees to practice "re-gifting," donating, for example, unused bars of hotel soap and other toiletries to homeless shelters and giving new or used coats to drives sponsored by the United Way and other charities. Old cell phones may be given to wireless service providers or police precincts which collect them for use by domestic abuse victims or other vulnerable members of society. And coffee buyers at Twin Cities area Starbucks coffee shops can drop off stuffed toys while picking up their morning brews.

The gift tree in the Central Office gets another contribution from Pam Newsome, Management Analysis Unit. Photo by Craig Wilkins

The Office of Communications and Public Relations will continue its holiday silent auction tradition to raise funds for Second Harvest. Last year, the auction raised more than $250.

The Hiway Federal Credit Union conducts several charitable programs supported by Mn/DOT employees and other members. The credit union collects Toys for Tots gifts and non-perishable items for food shelves. During the holiday season, credit union employees also support the Adopt-A-Family, a program that provides gifts for a needy family in the St. Paul area.

Capitol area employees will have another opportunity to make an important holiday season contribution on New Year’s Eve Day—blood. The Red Cross Bloodmobile will visit the Transportation Building from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Dec. 31.

Jon Elftmann, Technical Support, CO blood drive coordinator, said the need for blood typically increases at this time of the year.

"People can give a precious gift, the gift of life," he said.

By Judy Jacobs and Craig Wilkins

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Motorists and other users of the 511 traveler information system can now obtain another kind of information to guide their travel decisions—weather.

The system, which enables people to dial 511 or log onto www.511mn.org for road condition information, now provides weather-related updates. The 511 system also provides information about road conditions, traffic incidents and construction-related bypasses and detours.

The service makes weather information available from the National Weather Service to travelers based on data from its Web page, said Ginny Crowson, 511 program manager, Traffic Engineering/ITS.

Weather reports are the latest enhancement to the system the Federal Communications Commission designated as a nationwide number for travel information.

Minnesota started providing the service on July 1, 2002. Twelve other states, including Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska, offer the 511 system.

The service is free; cell phone users pay for normal airtime and roaming charges. Access to 511 system is not yet available for Verizon cell phone subscribers.

In the first four months that Minnesota provided the service, 511 provided information for more than 250,000 trips in Minnesota. The number of people who have received information by using the new system has increased by 400 percent, Crowson said.

"The 511 system is an important tool to improve efficiency in government services," said Doug Weiszhaar, acting commissioner.

Minnesota is part of an eight-state consortium that shares the cost of $975,000 to design and develop the system. Weiszhaar said the 511 service has saved about $500,000 on telephone lines and cut the cost of calls from 11 cents to 4 cents per minute.

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Vicky Sarner and Jeff Barslou, Information Resource Management, check wiring in the Network Operations Center that was flooded on Dec. 14. Photo by David Gonzalez

Going to work at 6 a.m. on a Saturday might not be ideal, but it definitely paid off when Network Operations Center staff came into the Central Office Dec. 14 to perform server maintenance. Their early arrival saved the center from major flood damage.

When they entered the NOC, staff members Robin Smith, Bob Bennett, Brian Jensen, Diaa Abu-Shaqra and Vic Conocchioli found water spraying from a ruptured pipe, with as much as an inch of water already covering most of the core server room’s floor.

They quickly turned off the water, called Capitol Security and John Moreland, network operations manager. Greg Heintz and Jeff Barslou were also called. Subsequent calls brought in Plant Management staff; Ed Clarke, Administrative Services director; Sarah Kline-Stensvold, network infrastructure manager, and electricians and building contractors.

Supported by other NOC staffers who arrived later, the hastily assembled team vacuumed more than 100 gallons of water from the core server and customer server rooms and assessed the damage. They shut the system down about 8 a.m. after preliminary reports from electricians indicated power would have to be shut down in the NOC. They also set up fans to speed the drying process.

However, it was later determined that power would not have to be turned off while repairs were made and the network was reactivated at about 1 p.m.

Tom Glancy, manager, Data and Applications Infrastructure Management, members of his staff and other IT staff from other Central Office sections came in to shut down application and data base servers and then returned to restart them later in the day.

There was damage, Kline-Stensvold said, but not as much as first feared.

The water seeped into the raised floors and damaged some router wiring, she said, and forced shutting down an auxiliary generator located in the building’s sub-basement.

However, Kline-Stensvold said, if the staff had not come in at 6 a.m., the situation would have been much worse. Had the flooding continued, she said, it could have knocked out Mn/DOT computer operations statewide. But quick and effective teamwork avoided that, she said.

"The staff from the NOC and everyone else did a good thing," she said. "Their efforts should really be appreciated."

By Craig Wilkins

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Mn/DOT’s managers met during the 10th Commissioner’s Forum Dec. 11-12 to acknowledge the department's successes and to hear that further efforts to improve efficiencies and cut costs will be needed due to the state’s $4.56 billion budget deficit.

Speaker Barbara Raye told the managers they need to use further discretion to determine how the services Mn/DOT performs provide maximum customer value.

Raye, a consultant with the Center for Policy, Planning and Performance, said the department and its managers must determine their highest value customer services and the budget implications of providing them and continue to measure its performance.

"We must ask, ‘What are the right things to do, did we do the right things and are we doing them right?’"

Raye said Mn/DOT’s successes and performance measurement practices place the department ahead of other agencies in terms of its ability to provide essential services during the budget shortfall.

Acting Commissioner Doug Weiszhaar told the meeting that the "dashboard" performance management system Mn/DOT uses received favorable reception from Gov.-elect Tim Pawlenty. Weiszhaar said Mn/DOT’s overall dashboard rating is green. Areas in the green include state highways, local roads and multi-modal operations. The next steps, Weiszhaar said, involve including all Mn/DOT operations in the dashboard performance reporting system and determining the agency’s priorities in terms of declining revenue and growing public demand for transportation services.

During the meeting, office directors and district engineers had an opportunity to highlight accomplishments from their areas.Weiszhaar credits Mn/DOT’s managers and employees with enabling the department to prepare as well as it can for the future.

"In over three- and-a-half years, we’ve delivered six-and-a-half years' worth of projects," he said. "We didn’t think it would come all that quickly, but we’re ready and you helped us to shape our future."

Tim Worke, government relations director, discussed the outlook for the 2002 legislative session. Worke said that the direction for Mn/DOT’s legislative agenda is uncertain until a new transportation commissioner is appointed.

Kevin Gray, Mn/DOT’s chief financial officer, talked about how Mn/DOT will address the coming budget deficit. Gray stressed the importance of thinking and doing things differently and the need to link Mn/DOT’s priorities to business plans.

Forum participants also heard from Brian Lamb, director of Driver and Vehicle Services Division, Department of Public Safety, who described how his department focused on streamlining and assessing customer needs to improve service to motorists, vehicle owners and other customers.

The event also included presentation of Mn/DOT’s Diversity Award winners for 2002. (See the following Mn/DOT Newsline story.)

By Craig Wilkins

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Detroit Lakes/District 4 earned honors for improving the work atmosphere, including the diversity garden it plans to build at the district headquarters (above) and other initiatives. Artist’s rendering

During ceremonies at the Dec. 11 Commissioner’s Forum, teams and individuals who earned diversity awards received them from acting Commissioner Doug Weiszhaar. These awards recognize teams’ and individuals’ efforts to promote workforce diversity.

This year’s winners include teams that put together the first Tribes and Transportation Summit and the diversity Web site, along with seven winners of individual awards and a group award for "general atmosphere" efforts.

"I’m impressed with the range and creativity of all of the people and teams who were nominated this year," said Linda Bjornberg, director, Management Operations Group. "Their efforts to promote a multicultural workforce and increase our understanding of others’ backgrounds enriches both Mn/DOT and the communities in which we live. We are proud of them and of the contributions they have made to Minnesota."

The winners include:

General Atmosphere:

• Detroit Lakes/District 4 Diversity Team

The Tribes and Transportation Summit held earlier this year was an historic contribution to diversity relations. From left: Stanley Crooks of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and Al Steger, FHWA Minnesota Division director, confer during the conference. Photo by Craig Wilkins

Individual efforts:

• Scott Theisen, Management Information Systems

• Randy Halvorson, assistant director, Program Delivery Group

• Janet Heuer, Bemidji/District 2

• John Tompkins, Investment Management

• Cindy Coker and Sandy Lear, Mankato/District 7

Special Programs – Team: Diversity Web Site Development Team

• Teresa Elkin, employee development specialist, Detroit Lakes

• Lee Berget, district engineer, Detroit Lakes

Single Event – Team: Tribes and Transportation Summit

• Mn/DOT

• Minnesota Division of the Federal Highway Administration

• Red Lake Band of Chippewa

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Tim Lee, assistant director, Office of Electronic Communications. Photo by Marsha Storck

Tim Lee was appointed as assistant director of the Office of Electronic Communications, succeeding Donald Wicklund who retired. Previously, Lee served as the 800 Megahertz System director with Electronic Communications.

Lee began working for Mn/DOT in 1991 as a graduate engineer, left in 1994 to work for Minnegasco, then returned to Mn/DOT in 1998 to work as a communications systems engineer. His work experience includes radio and radar repair in the U.S. Coast Guard, digital hardware design for Sperry Univac/Unisys and telemetry analysis for Minnegasco. He holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Lee will divide his time between Metro’s Waters Edge office and the Central Office. He can be reached at 651/296-3458 or 651/582-1772.

By Marsha Storck

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Tightened security at Metro Division's Waters Edge means visitors must have escorts and identification badges to move around the building. Photo by Marsha Storck

Visitors to the Metro Division headquarters in Roseville will experience more scrutiny as the division tightens security at its Waters Edge building. Building access is now restricted to the lobby area for visitors without identification badges. Visitors who need to meet with staff in the rest of the building must obtain a temporary badge.

Metro Division policy requires employees to escort visitors to and from the lobby area.

By Sheila Grabowske

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