Chapter 27 Spring Education Seminar &

Region 1 Spring Forum 

SACRAMENTO, CA

Register Now! *Price increase if registering after 2/18

Please note that International Directors must register for the region forum. Please click the button above to register for the Region 1 Forum.

Approved by IRWA for 7 hours recertification credits.  Certificates of Completion will be handed out at the end of the Seminar.

Approved by BREA for 6 hours recertification credits.  The approval number will be provided to attendees at the close of the seminar.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Thursday, March 2nd

Course 103 - Ethics - 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM 

Instructor: James Finnegan, SR/WA

Topic: This course outlines the concept of ethics and acquaints the right of way professional with the Rules of Professional Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures. This course combines lecture and practical learning exercises as a means of exchanging ideas and solutions to ethical conflicts within the right of way profession.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR ETHICS

Friday, March 3rd

CALIFORNIA GOES BIG! a look at major infrastructure projects in the State

 Chapter 27 Spring Education Seminar Featuring the Following Speakers:

7:15 AM - 8:15 AM - CHECK IN

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM - Don Grebe, Deputy Director of Real Property, CA High-Speed Rail Authority

Topic: The California High Speed Rail Project

Bio:  Don Grebe is the Directory of Real Property for the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Don is responsible for all aspects of property acquisition and the right-of-way process, which includes appraising, acquiring and relocating businesses and residences impacted by the Authority’s high-speed rail project. He oversees a staff of experienced Right-of-Way agents, Real Property reviewers and contract managers that work for the State of California. Don also supervises over 200 right-of-way consultants working in the field.

Prior to joining the Authority, he spent more than 30 years at California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) doing right-of-way work in both metropolitan and rural districts. Most recently, he was the Right- of-Way Headquarters Office Chief at Caltrans overseeing policy and procedures in the areas of acquisition, condemnation, relocation assistance, railroad agreements, federal and state land transfers, hardship and protection and certification. He also served as an Appraiser and Acquisition agent, and a Senior Right-of-Way agent in the areas of right-of-way planning and management as well as project delivery and coordination. He is also an ex officio member of the Caltrans Real Property Law Committee. 

9:45 AM - 10:45 AM - Chuck Gardner, President and CEO, Hallmark Group Capital Program Management

Topic: California Waterfix Project

Bio: Mr. Gardner has over 30 years of program management, organizational leadership and strategic planning experience. As a project turnaround specialist, Mr. Gardner has been brought in to direct capital projects struggling with funding, scheduling, and leadership challenges. His projects include a wide range of complex and politically sensitive programs that require creative collaboration with local and national government entities including influential public stakeholders.

Since 1998, he has worked closely with public and private entities on innovative, large scale projects significant to the state of California. Mr. Gardner applies his background in economics, construction, and extensive program management expertise to expedite complex and politically sensitive initiatives. Regardless of the subject matter, Mr. Gardner’s deliverable based approach encourages accountability and collaboration of multiple stakeholders with sometimes competing agendas, enabling projects to move through seemingly intractable issues.

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM - Veronica Hicks, Chief State Water Project, Power and Risk Office (Retired), CA                         Department of Water Resources

Bio: Veronica Hicks has over thirty seven years of experience having worked in increasing levels of responsibility at the management and executive levels within the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR).   The first twenty years culminated in the position of Chief, Real Estate Branch responsible for all appraisal and property acquisition projects for both the State Water Project (SWP) and the Central Valley Flood Protection Board.  In early 2003, Ms. Hicks was selected to be the Executive Manager, Power Systems to address the gap in the power needs of the SWP, including partial acquisition of a modern natural gas plant.  Essentially creating a new division, she eventually managed a $600 million budget and over fifty engineers to address all transmission and power contracts for the SWP.  This included reducing the SWP’s greenhouse gas footprint from its energy sources and participation in Cap and Trade.   The transition from right of way work to energy was facilitated by Ms. Hicks’ role in supporting the Deputy Director charged with stepping in to procure power on behalf of the utilities during the energy crisis of 2001.

Prior to retiring from CDWR in the summer of 2016, Ms. Hicks lead a matrix team in the analysis and negotiations for potential power and transmission services for the California Water Fix.  

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM - Lunch hosted by Chapter 27

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM - Kristina Assouri, Chief Deputy Director, California Transportation Commission

Topic: California Transportation Commission's Role in the Delivery of Transportation Infrastructure Projects

Bio:  Ms. Assouri serves as the Chief Deputy Director of the California Transportation Commission (Commission), a thirteen-member independent public agency dedicated to ensuring a safe, financially sustainable, world-class multimodal transportation system that reduces congestion, improves the environment, and facilitates economic development through the efficient movement of people and goods. As Chief Deputy Director, she oversees the internal operations of the Commission and serves as the chief of staff and policy advisor to the Commission’s Executive Director. The Commission is responsible for programming and allocating several billion dollars annually for the construction of highway, passenger rail, transit and active transportation improvements throughout California.   

Ms. Assouri’s  career spans more than 19 years of legal experience representing clients in the transportation and healthcare sectors.  Prior to the position with the Commission, she served as the California Department of Transportation’s (Department) lead innovative project delivery attorney for the State and led the Department’s transition to more innovative contracting methods including public-private partnerships, design-build, and construction manager/general contractor as viable alternatives to the conventional design-bid-build method of contracting. 

  Ms. Assouri has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Southern California, a Juris Doctor from Whittier College School of Law, a Master of Laws from Stockholm University School of Law in international commercial arbitration, and is a member of the State Bar of California. 

2:15 PM - 3:15 PM - Bruce De Terra, Chief of Transportation Programming, Caltrans

Topic: Transition to Asset Management, the State Highway System Management Plan

Bio: Bruce has worked with Caltrans since 1989, at its San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento district offices and at Caltrans’ Headquarters in Sacramento, currently serving as the Division Chief of Transportation Programming for the past two years.  Prior to working in Programming, Bruce held positions in Transportation Planning in both Headquarters and district offices overseeing freight and highway system planning, and transportation multi-modal programs for specific regions.

Before working at Caltrans, Bruce served as an Education Fellow with Audubon Canyon Ranch; a     Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador, South America; and a staff member to both the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Area rideshare agencies.

Bruce has a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from California State University Northridge and a Master’s in Education from Sonoma State University.

3:30 PM to 4:30 PM - Keith Dunn, Dunn Consulting & Self-Help Counties Coalition

Topic: Self-Help Counties Coalition - Projects Overview

Bio: Keith Dunn is the Executive Director of the Self Help Counties Coalition (SHCC), the organization of 20 (and hopefully more) local county transportation agencies delivering super majority voter-approved transportation sales tax measures throughout California. SHCC member agencies are dedicated to keeping the faith of the voting public who provide the authority and the funding so that we may deliver priority transportation projects Californians depend upon every day.
 
Mr. Dunn also operates Dunn Consulting, a lobbying firm and is a member of the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, headquartered in Washington, D.C.,

Among his proudest achievements is co-founding the SAVING ONE ANOTHER  house, a secular, non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to helping the orphan children of Nepal by providing food, clothing, shelter, education, vocational training and medical care in our home in Kathmandu, Nepal.

5:30 PM - 7:30 PM - Mixer

Region 1 Spring Forum Business Meeting - 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Register Now!