Building for the future

Seen on many a beach bar chalkboard, the popular local witticism, ‘In Florida, we salt margaritas, not sidewalks’ may allude to both the region’s alluring tropical climate and the residents’ genial approach to life. But over the years, the state has become a veritable people magnet for reasons above and beyond just sun and surf.

The employment market continues to boom across multiple sectors, no doubt fueled by a long-held administrative aversion to collecting personal income taxes, while Palm Beach International Airport, one of best-rated airports in the country, provides connectivity to the rest of the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

That’s without even mentioning the other source of lighthearted Floridian humor – retirees – and all the juicy disposable income they bestow.

In the eyes of David L Ricks, County Engineer of Palm Beach County, located on the peninsula’s south-eastern flank in the Miami metropolitan area, the mass migration to the Sunshine State can be framed as a boon and a gauntlet thrown down.

“It’s an area that people want to come and live in, and so our population is increasing every day,” he says proudly. Most recent figures put net migration at 430,000 for the year.

“Our transportation network is being challenged to handle that capacity, providing projects that can relieve and enhance our existing structure.

“We’re always behind that power curve because it takes a long time to design and construct those types of improvements; when people drive those roads, for example, they want to see stuff happening, like, yesterday.”

Leadership and achievements

Ricks is armed with an innate awareness of the job in hand. The 22-year military veteran has a rich background in the public sector through previous roles in Ohio and Virginia, and has overseen a series of major infrastructure enterprises and initiatives in Palm Beach County.

These include upgrading the county’s stormwater operation; establishing a comprehensive asset management system for traffic signals and related traffic frameworks; and a bike lane network installed with a concrete barrier to separate cyclists and motorists, which won a coveted Safe Street Community Award and underscores the county’s ongoing commitment to public safety.

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“Palm Beach County is thriving like never before. We work together with our public works partners to deliver the reliability our growing community needs, because we’re not just keeping the lights on – we’re powering strong communities and building the foundation for a brighter future.” – Amy Kemp, External Affairs Manager, Florida Power & Light Company

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Somewhat humbly, Ricks credits recently retired County Administrator Verdenia Baker, a local government official for almost four decades, as the catalyst for a tenure that has endured for eight years and counting.

“A key attribute of a great organization is great leadership,” Ricks says, tipping his hat to the woman responsible for hiring him.

“One of the things Baker did was create cross-departmental teams to work on joint issues. We have about 10 people on our team from different departments, and we do joint collaborations to provide efficiencies. And that is kind of unique, especially at the county level, because a lot of times people work in their own little silos.

“Another key aspect we espouse is collaborative leadership. Whether you’re new to the team or have been here a while, if you see something and think, ‘Why are we doing that?’ then ask the question. There might be better ways to do things. We highly encourage ‘cloud leadership’ and thinking out of the box, because a lot of our new initiatives come from those perspectives.”

Public knowledge

Ricks reveals Palm Beach County Engineering and Public Works has also had to remain fleet-footed in the face of an expanding population, particularly in regard to keeping the county’s citizens informed of current projects.

“Engineers, we don’t tell our story very well,” he says with a chuckle. “So three or four years ago, we created a public information division to really look at how we get the word out on a regular basis about our capital projects.

“Last November, we had a major ribbon cutting on a US$10 million Sixth Avenue bridge project. We had to close down a major arterial roadway for about two years because of different utility issues related to that.

“But when the project was underway, everybody expected things to happen at a different pace, so our challenge is to keep the public updated on a regular basis, especially on some of these critical projects that interrupt people.”

Executing a project

For Ricks, remaining close and congenial to commercial partners is just as crucial as staying tethered to the local community. He describes design and construction alliances with the private sector as an essential part to getting the job done.

Often he will hold open houses during bidding processes, encouraging questions or concerns about the upcoming projects, with smaller local businesses actively encouraged to become subcontractors if they can’t take the prime role. In the right circumstances, such as unforeseen delays, Ricks is also happy to extend contracts without doling out punitive penalties.

“We’re not here to put people out of business,” he says. “We are here to get the project done.”

In a region blessed with an average of around 250 sunny days per year and the unruffled tropical culture to match, it’s no surprise that the state’s bright disposition has rubbed off on Ricks – though one suspects positivity has always been woven into his DNA.

“You don’t just do the job for the money,” he reflects. “That’s the reason why I stayed in the public sector after I left the military, because I like helping people. The ability to help people at a lot of different levels is pretty powerful.”

We’ll raise a nice, crisp, salt-rimmed glass of margarita to that.