Susan Bryant, the Wake County GOP chair, says Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue's administration was attempting to stifle free speech when a senior DOT official accused a North Raleigh resident of practicing engineering without a license. [2/4/11 update: see today's story with reader comments.]
“The governor sets the tone for her administration, and I believe she should immediately take action to demonstrate the state welcomes input from its people," Bryant said today in a news release. "And just because the input is well researched and organized doesn’t mean the people are attempting to impersonate a professional. Licensing professionals has nothing to do with the Constitutional rights of citizens to make their feelings known."
Bryant cited Kevin Lacy, chief traffic engineer at NCDOT, who complained that David N. Cox and members of his neighborhood group appeared to be practicing engineering without a license when they submitted a report to bolster their campaign to have traffic signals added at two intersections on Falls of Neuse Road (see today's story, with dozens of reader comments).
"It’s a clear attempt to stifle free expression, freedom of speech and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances," Bryant said.
The document produced by Cox's group has the kind of boring technical title you might see on a boring technical report from a professional engineer: "Analysis of Traffic Signal Warrants for Selected Intersections of Falls of Neuse Road." But it doesn't call itself an engineering report or claim to have been produced by an engineer.
It says (and this is a stretch, of course) "Submitted by the Residents of North Raleigh." Actually it came from a group called the North Raleigh Coalition of Homeowners' Associations. Cox e-mailed it to U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, who then relayed it to DOT.
Now this document is Exhibit A in an investigation by the N.C. Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors.
The board will spend a few months deciding whether the public was misled into thinking this report (which became a public document when it was sent to DOT) had been produced by a licensed engineer. Read it yourself. What do you think?
Lacy had advised the North Raleigh Coalition of Homeowners' Associations to hire a licensed, professional engineer to make its case. He was surprised and apparently peeved when they decided to do it without professional help.
Bruce Siceloff reports on traffic and transportation. A News & Observer reporter, editor and blogger since 1976, he took over the
Comments
DOT versus reason in the Falls of Neuse "discussion"
Sun, 02/06/2011 - 03:44 — plusafplusaf@plusaf.com
i applaud the N&O for publishing the two letters yesterday rejecting the DOT's accusations about the report filed about the need for traffic signals on the Falls of Neuse.
nowhere in Bruce Siceloff's article was there ANY mention that the DOT found ANYTHING inaccurate, wrong, misleading or false in the "competitive" report.
to me, this smacks of Big Government not being able to stand ANY criticism, even if reasonable and valid, as they cowered behind the "they're not licensed engineers" alleged justification for their refusal and possible lawsuit.
given that kind of mentality at that level, how could ANY citizen, in the future, ask ANY DOT "official" to consider ANYTHING at all that the DOT hadn't come up with on their own?!
a suggestion for a roundabout? a critique of a traffic signal that's obviously NOT supportive of moving traffic through intersections? the need for filliing in a pothole that's going on two or three years old?
Yes, Governor Perdue SHOULD get a commission to look into the stupidity of any organization that rejects either poorly- OR well-constructed suggestions out-of-hand.
it simply makes the DOT look like a monopoly which, through these kinds of stupid actions, demonstrates that they're more interested in preserving their position power over us than solving problems and meeting the needs of the community.
when an organization fails that blatantly in the non-government marketplace, buyers can go elsewhere, essentially putting stupidity and arrogance "out of business."
it's a shame we have no private business alternative to choose. i feel ashamed to have a DOT operate like that in my state.
Sit Down and Shut Up
Thu, 02/03/2011 - 19:42 — rat9Only Terrorists tell the governmnet what to do. Our benevolent rulers know what is best for us, and this group should be punished for thinking they knew better than the gonvernment planners and licenced professionals. Practicing engineering without a licence can lead to death and then the terrorists win. Doing things that are not your job is not good for these United States and is un-American. Go to work, pay your taxes, vote for one of two parties, and obay.
reply to rat9...
Sun, 02/06/2011 - 03:47 — plusafplusaf@plusaf.com
rat9, the only shame is that you didn't use <cynical> or <tongue-in-cheek> or <irony> fonts for your comment, because there are probably some loons out there who'd take that seriously and start a movement to support those comments!
:)
Perdue should fire Kevin Lacy
Thu, 02/03/2011 - 15:29 — BourbonStNow we have to look forward to Perdue making a pronouncement in which she either supports Kevin Lacy or says that Lacy went too far in his verbal attack on a citizen. Perdue's term has been a comedy of errors, and only time will tell how she'll try to weasel her way out of this new mess.
it will be a good measure...
Sun, 02/06/2011 - 03:55 — plusafBourbonSt... Yes, it WILL be a telling indicator to see if the Governor circles her wagons to protect the DOT's position.
the whole incident, so obvious in Siceloff's excellent article, is that the DOT has come across as an organization made up of individuals whose attitude is one of "we're the only smart ones here, and nobody else, ANYWHERE is capable of making better suggestions or coming to better conclusions than we are."
in private business, they'd be laughed into bankruptcy by the open market. [except maybe on Wall Street or in Raleigh, where they might enjoy large bonuses?].
how could anyone, even like me, who's "just an engineer" suggest that MAYBE some intersections would be better served by roundabouts or that just MAYBE when i'm sitting at a traffic light watching NO cars go by for OVER A MINUTE that just MAYBE somebody, somewhere screwed up in their "perfect knowledge" of how to set the little computerized timers?
disgusting.