The American Public Works Association has honored Anaheim Public Works Director Natalie Meeks as one of the nation’s “Top Ten Public Work Leaders of 2015.”
From the City of Anaheim:
Anaheim Public Works Director Natalie Meeks was recently named as a 2015 Top Ten Public Works Leaders of the Year by the American Public Works Association, and at tonight’s City Council meeting was presented with her award by APWA Board Director for Region VIII, Ron Calkins, P.E.,
The APWA Top Ten Public Works Leaders of the Year program honors excellence and dedication in public service by recognizing career service achievements of individual public works professionals and officials, from both the public and private sectors. As one of the most prestigious awards presented by the association, the Top Ten Public Works Leader award is given to honor the public works professional’s career, in which he or she demonstrated excellence in public works, services and infrastructure in his or her community through advancement of public works services and technology.
As the Public Works Director for the City of Anaheim, Meeks directs and oversees the operations of the department and its six divisions that provide a broad scope of municipal services, including engineering, design and development services, transit planning, contract administration and inspection, streets and sanitation operations, and fleet and facility maintenance. She provides administrative support to the City Manager and City Council, and communicates directly with City Council regarding transportation initiatives and infrastructure investment. She also provides support to City Council members for their participation in regional boards and commissions.
Meeks has accomplished many significant projects in Anaheim, including the LEED Platinum-designed Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC), transformation of the Anaheim Resort District, the Anaheim Convention Center Grand Plaza, and has advanced a proposal to construct a streetcar connecting Anaheim’s destination centers. The innovative and progressive planning and design of these projects provide a foundation for Anaheim’s world-class destinations.
Meeks is also a strong supporter of APWA’s efforts to share information, educate and mentor on the local and national levels. She has also been an instructor with the APWA Southern California Chapter’s Public Works Institute, and was instrumental in bringing the 2012 APWA International Public Works Congress & Exposition to Anaheim. She also ensured that the team of dedicated committee members and hundreds of event volunteers succeeded. Her efforts helped to raise more than $250,000 in event funding and engaged more than 400 volunteers for APWA’s annual conference.
Each national Top Ten Public Works Leader will be honored during the Awards Ceremony of the APWA 2015 International Public Works Congress & Exposition taking place in Phoenix, Arizona August 30 – September 2 at the Phoenix Convention Center.
For more information on APWA’s 2015 Top Ten Public Works Leaders, visit APWA National Awards Program web page at www.apwa.net/awards.
“Meeks has accomplished many significant projects in Anaheim, including the LEED Platinum-designed Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) . . .”
I’m sorry, remind me why we’re celebrating this? Tens of millions to construct and millions a year to maintain, and for what? A light show?
This shouldn’t be considered a critique of Ms. Meeks. But come on– REALLY? The first project she gets credit for is the technicolor train station to nowhere?
Unbelievable.
Using borrowed money to repair your asphalt gets you an award? What kind of professional organization is that?
Ryan, sad to say it was HUNDREDS of millions to construct, and it may be LEED certified but it was UNNECESSARY. The greenest answer was to add a bus stop to the existing train station at the Stadium, which is where the trains pretty much still stop, you cannot actually USE the ARTIC station to wait for the train! Go team! Hundreds of millions to construct, and will now be millions per year in overhead that Meeks said would be covered, while the entire time she KNEW the ridership numbers upon which she based revenues COULD NOT POSSIBLY have materialized because she based them on high speed rail, with the idea that the bullet train would drop all these passengers, who would need to big lit-for mi quince party station to receive them, and of course the $319MM streetcar to transport these riders from the station to Disney. All on our dime. Ironically that award for Meeks came the same week that she was outed for busting her budget on the project. But the professional planners are circling the wagons, as they know it could be THEM next, desperately scrambling to make the majority of legislative body they answer to happy, even if it makes no sense for the taxpayers. In this case i think Meeks likes pulling the wool over the eyes of the public, but in many cases these poor schmucks are stuck, hated by taxpayers if they do the bidding of their elected bosses, unemployed if they don’t. Support for Meeks is a show of solidarity, they know it could be THEM with their butts on the line for the political will of idiots who got lucky enough to be elected.
Yeah, Anaheim also wins an award every year for the budget, have you ever tried to READ that thing? (disclaimer this year’s looks pretty darn usable, not sure who did it, pretty sure they will be fired shortly for allowing mere homeowners access to insider info only the professional staff qualified to run the City should have access to. Educate us peasants and next thing you know we want to have a SAY in how that tax money is spent, and they cannot have THAT, now can they?
Better download the budget while you can, then, Cynthia.
Did you just pull down your OJ post for some reason Ms. Ward?
I thought that you don’t read our site….
I check all the blogs every day; doesn’t mean I read every post
Yes Dan I did, because a reader pointed out something else so bad that I wanted to rework the entire piece. It will be back up shortly. Thanks for reading.
BTW-Tait approved the ARTIC project based on Meeks’ staff report, which we now know to be loaded with horse manure, as the ridership numbers could not have produced first year passengers when she based them on HSR, and if the head of Public Works is unaware that HSR is not due to hit Anaheim in 2015-16 we have big problems. But then what does it say about the way City Hall is being run if Meeks put those numbers in there KNOWING HSR is not coming to Anaheim in time to produce first year numbers? Neither answer makes me confident about how my tax money is being spent.
are you sure its not because a mistake in your math was pointed out to you by another reader? You should have left it up and gone with a follow up story.
No Dan my reader, I believe it was Biff, was correct, the staff chart was correct when read UPSIDE DOWN but bore no resemblance to the supporting argument of the staff report it was included in. That is a bizarre convoluted blog post for even my wordy self to wrestle, so it was easier to take it down and rework the whole thing, starting from the basis of an even larger mistake that was brought up at the same time offline. You appear more interested in ensuring the egg ends on my face rather than seek genuine answers regarding where Anaheim’s tax money goes. When you begin to generate Anaheim tax money, let me know and we will have a discussion regarding its uses.
everyone needs an editor
The CATER crew above defines themselves by railing against anything Tait hasn’t touched. Interestingly, there have been two articles in the OC Register that quote Tate in support of development around the Stadium. Projects like ARTIC are key to that development but the CATER crew hasn’t made that connection yet. I think Tait has. It will be very interesting to see if CATER stays with Tait and becomes irrelevant or turns on him in order to keep up their crusade against progress in Anaheim.
That aside, a congrats to Ms. Meeks on a well deserved award.
That’s freaking ridiculous.
ARTIC is key to nothing for anything in Anaheim. It’s a monument to government excess. That’s it.
The notion that the city needed to plunk down nine figures to build it and seven figures a year to have any chance at developing the area around the stadium ought to get you committed.
Tom Tait is quoted numerous times supporting ARTIC as being vital to Anaheim. Let’s see Cynthia ward spin that!
I just searched Google for {ARTIC Tait vital Anaheim}. If he’s been “quoted numerous times,” it hasn’t made the search engines. He calls other things “vital,” and he says that ARTIC has an “iconic design” when pushing for public art to be added to it, but no published record supports your assertion.
He has promoted the project after its approval, as part of his official duties, regardless of what his private thoughts about the wisdom of the project may be.
So weak.
Tait supported ARTIC when he was running for Mayor in 2010. He made a number of promises during that campaign and flipflopped afterward.
Plus since when do you make excuses for elected officials making public statements he/she doesn’t believe? You are such a pathetic shill for Tait.
Does Tait call ARTIC “vital” in any of them? That’s “Proud Colonist’s” contention — that he’s done so often. Can you defend it?
If the city issues press releases over the wire, there would have been multiple pick ups. But wire releases are not archived forever. Please review Tait’s quote from the city’s news release I provided below.
https://ca-anaheim.civicplus.com/370/2012-State-of-the-City More positive ARTIC comments from Tait here
September 18, 2012 PRESS RELEASE from the City of Anaheim:
“This is a big day for Anaheim,” said Mayor Tom Tait. “ARTIC will change the way people move around our city and our county. ARTIC will be Orange County’s Grand Central Station.”
from the Daily Titan:
Anaheim City Council approved a $127 million contract to build a transportation hub in the area of southeast Anaheim on Katella Avenue and South Douglass Road.
The motion for the contract was approved Aug. 28, and was unanimous with Mayor Tom Tait abstaining from the vote due to his contacts with the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC).
So Tait has a conflict which implies there’s some sort of contractual issue.
The City Attorney has taken a very broad view of what might represent a conflict of interest for Tait, while taking a far narrower regarding his colleagues. Much of the time when he declares a conflict, he probably need not, but if the City Attorney wants it then Tait accommodates him.
“ARTIC will change the way people move around our city and our county.” Yes, that is a correct statement. When road budgets have been cannibalized to keep ARTIC running we will certainly change the way we move around Anaheim. Choosing the less potholed roads as favorite routes to work might be one. Let’s make a list, how else might having our Measure M money diverted to ARTIC change the way we travel?
Toll Roads.
I’m sure Matt is already all over it.
Please let me know where these potholed Anaheim roads are; I’m in the city easily once a week and don’t see the streets to be in any different shape than any other city in OC.
The quote is from Tait’s mouth. Your defense of it is loaded with caveats. Classic.
Tait’s company has significant contracts with the county and OCTA. He has serious conflicts that limit his abilities to carry out his mayoral duties that require interacting with various branches of the county. Rather than surrender those contracts, he abstains. Don’t put this on the city attorney.
Caters crack legal adviser searches google for Tait quotes on ARTIC when all he had to do was go to the city’s own website and look at the press releases he’s quoted in. No wonder their win ratio is so poor!
I’m looking for any evidence of Tait ever calling ARTIC “vital,” which you say he has done “numerous times.”
Has he made “positive comments” about ARTIC? Sure, he no doubt hopes that it succeeds and wants to make thes best of it. (I’ve made positive comments about it too: I think that it’s pretty at night and would make for a great homeless shelter until the Kraemet and Karcher sites are developed. That doesn’t mean that I think that it was a wise idea, let alone being “vital.”)
“Vital” — as is “essential” for Anaheim? I’ve seen no evidence that Tait had said it or that he believes it.
You’re really going to nitpick over whether he used a particular word? So, if he didn’t use the exact word “vital,” that means he hasn’t really spoken in support of ARTIC? Are you that much of a lapdog?
If you’re going to play dumb, I’ll explain this to you slowly:
Proud [adolescent humor deleted] said: “Tom Tait is quoted numerous times supporting ARTIC as being vital to Anaheim. Let’s see Cynthia ward spin that!”
I’ve heard that tossed around discussions many times in various places. It is flat out wrong. That’s not nitpicking. It intentionally (or recklessly) gives a false impression of the project’s prospective value to Anaheim: could have been, if it was done right, but thanks to the “Insiders” of the City it was of course not done right. Once done, though, Tait has tried to be a good Scout and make the best of it.
If the contention was that Tait has spoken in support of ARTIC, that is true. I wouldn’t, and haven’t, denied it. But he never called it “vital” to Anaheim (in those words or ones of similar strength), certainly not prospectively, and certainly not the way that you and your co-conspirators structured the deal.
So join me in saying that Proud [adolescent humor deleted] doesn’t know what she or he is talking about and we’ll be pretty much on the same page — except that I’m not one of the ones responsible for streets not getting repaired.
I don’t know if you’ve been there, but CATER’S legal office is bustling with activity, especially in the morning, when the kids are getting ready for school! It has that homey feel, almost like my first apartment.
Besides where else can you get “legal advise” from a guy eating cheerio’s at his kitchen table?
It never takes too long for you to expose your identity.
I work from home. That’s a conscious choice. Not having to fund an office allows me to put in the enormous amount of unpaid (until and unless we win) attorney time needed to serve as a watchdog for Anaheim (among others.) It’s not like anyone else writing here except Cynthia or Ryan is going to do it — although most of them seem to have their hearts in preventing it.
Not my problem if you fancy yourself some kind of Mitch Dodge, minimalist. But, just don’t pretend that you are some kind of legal mind.
I suppose you’re right that there’s no real reason for some people involved with CATER to want to shield themselves from puerile but vicious anonymous attacks that are accepted by the guy who runs a website on behalf of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and Anaheim Insider’s boss.
Who is “Who is CATER,” Matthew? Do you even care?
I do not run Anaheim Blog “on behalf of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce or Anaheim Insider’s boss.” This tendency of yours to blur fantasy with reality likely explains CATER’s awful litigation record.
I flat-out do not believe your denials. But I’m heartened to know that, to make such a statement, you have to know who AI’s boss is. Who is it? And, to repeat, who is “Who is CATER” — or do you not know and not care.
“I flat-out do not believe your denials.”
Of course you don’t, illustrating why it is useless to bother denying your conspiracy delusions; you WANT to believe them.
I said nothing about “knowing who AI’s boss is” – I was just quoting you directly in a futile attempt to place some reality in front of you.
And I do not know the identity of “Who is CATER,” nor do I really care (although I do edit his/her comments when I see something objectionable). But it is hard to take cries for decorum and civility seriously when they come from a member of the OJB crew.
2:39 AM? Pondering your personal and professional failures? What else to expect from OC’s leading political psychologist? Please Greg, when you practice what you preach about anon commenters on OJ, you can make demands elsewhere. But you’re blowing smoke here
Hey Greg, I found this gem on your Brean blog…..
The Brean
January 23, 2015 at 8:49 pm
Hadn’t noticed this gem before. You tell me how much you’re getting paid (or otherwise compensated) on your blog and I’ll tell you how much I am on mine.
(Usually, on the Internet, throwing out a wild accusation that someone is being paid is seen as sort of like waving a white flag, as in “I have no actual argument to make.” Didn’t “they” tell you that?)
So we should apply this to your ongoing charge that the Chamber pays for this blog?
The funny part is, after a dozen or so post, NOBODY can name a single member of CATER besides Brian and Cynthia……..
So Again, WHO is cater, Ms. Ward has repeated her membership has “deep political” dealings which would be at risk…..Should that not be exposed/transparent?
Why the secrecy, if the “PUBLIC” is behind you why hasn’t a SINGLE person identified with you?
Diversion 101, doesn’t work with me.
And nobody here finds it creepy that someone is stalking Greg at his home? By the way, the only “office” listed for CATER is at my address, you wanna come see what I eat for breakfast? We toast busybodies at Casa Ward. Great with a nice raspberry jam and hot coffee. Be sure to ring the bell and let me know you are here, so i can invite you in.
Uh, Greg reported this himself is seeking a continuance on a case he was handling for you. His practice is done from his kitchen table, without a separate room or benefit of staff. It’s a public record — not stalking. But a nice try at setting a false narrative.
No, my practice is run from my home office, which is not my kitchen table — not that you show any sign of giving a damn about the facts. The only people who say “kitchen table” are you and the anonymous commenter I banned, who I believe is now commenting as “Who is CATER?” (and is about to lie about it.)
http://anaheimobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Application-to-Continue-Demurrer.pdf
Your own words counselor.
Page 4. Line 6. A home office without a separate wall is a desk in the living room or the kitchen table.
and no one is stalking Greg Diamond. Stalking is what Cynthia Ward did at Lorri Galloway’s campaign launch party…a view from the parking garage, right Cynthia?
Oh.
My.
God.
You’re unstoppable, Dan.
She admitted it last fall Ryan.
Sure she did, Dan.
I’ll let you know when the S.S. The Point comes back into port.
You obviously missed it the first time.
Did she admit to “stalking,” PR Pro? Or do you think that all outside reconnaissance of a public held event is “stalking”?
Is this another “kitchen table” sort of claim?
She and Jason Young watched the Galloway Party from a nearby Parking Garage like paparazzi stalking a celebrity. Sure meets a definition of stalking better than anyone hanging outside your rental.
Uh…Dan, where are patrons of the Kraemer Building expected to park? That’s right, IN THE PARKING GARAGE. The few street spaces were taken. We parked in the garage provided for patrons of the Kraemer Building, as I am sure you must have, and we did a quick head count, had a nice chat with the security guy who was good enough to tell us the top floors were packed with brand new cars being stored for some car dealer with a sweet deal with the City, (Hardin?) and having verified the party was a total dud, in keeping with the theme of the campaign, we left. Stalking? I don’t think so. Pity…definitely.
The Party wasn’t a dud; I was there inside. Hard to move around with the people there. Yes, it’s stalking….
Do you see the words “kitchen table” there?
First you defend Proud [adolescent insult deleted] assertion that Tait repeatedly called ARTIC “vital” when what he actually said was more along the lines that it was “significant” and “beneficial.” Now you’re saying that your using the phrase “kitchen table” — which carries misleading connotations here — is not really what you mean, but it’s still OK because it’s close enough.
Could you and your PC friend perhaps let those of us who actually take the meanings of words seriously know when a word that you’re you’re using should not be taken literally? If you had any credibility, this would call it into question.
Or maybe I should just include a link to this conversation in the future, noting that the PR professional feels no obligation to use words in such a way that they say things that are, well, true. (If you need a definition of any term in this post, like “vital” or “kitchen” or “credibility” or “true,” just ask.)
Actually I see a lot of words in your filing that call into question your competence as a lawyer. “Running ragged” oh my. You have either a desk in a living room or use your kitchen table. Perhaps you could take a photo of your home office and share it.
Just call ARTIC “Orange County’s Grand Central Station” like Tait did. It will be defended by his fans as a quote he gave before he had adequate context.
That was the aspiration, all right — which I’d describe as being overly optimistic by an order of magnitude or two.
But it *would* make a good homeless shelter.
are there showers at ARTIC? Is there a kitchen facility? Is ARTIC close to resources the homeless need? I think Pam Keller is a much better resource for what constitutes a good homeless shelter. She’s done her homework.
I presume that (1) it has bathrooms, (2) it will be air conditioned during hot summer nights and heated during cold and wet winter nights. Not all homeless facilities need to provide services to a couple of hundred people max. Sometimes what people need is just shelter from the elements. That is why, rather than the term “facility,” I use the word “shelter.”
As I like Pam, I will ignore your endorsement of her.
I’ll ask Pam what she thinks of your idea. Many commercial buildings shut off heat or air conditioning overnight. Seeing that you work from a home office, you might not know that (sarcasm in case you couldn’t tell)
win ratio? You have to have a win first….
I would like to address a question to Ms. Ward:
Is there any situation as a mother, where you would abandon your (or any) chill?
I am not talking about dogs, a real juman and under what circumstances?
LOVING MOTHER OR SHAMELESS uh…I’m not sure what context this question is presenting? “abandon” a chid? I can’t see myself doing that, no, and my four kids are now grown and unable to be abandoned, although it crossed my mind a few times when they were teens (KIDDING!!!) On the other hand, if someone puts a child up for adoption, that can be the most loving gift a mother can offer, to provide her baby with the love and support of a family who desperately wants one, and sadly some see that as abandonment. We will not even discuss abortion as an option for “unwanted” babies, there is no such thing, somewhere in the world someone wants your “unwanted” baby, even if you don’t. But I am not sure that is what you are asking either.
I also suspect a set-up…and not sure what I am walking into here…can you expand on that question? What is it you are asking? Are you looking to share info on someone you think abandoned a child?
By the way Dan, that is a nice effort you are making to keep things rolling over here, when the blog master has left the building. Nothing posted since June 2 and “editorial staff” posting before that. We hear the sound of crickets chirping, and frankly I find the sound pretty sweet.
blame on your lawyer who is “sleepless in Brea”