Session 7 -- Public Information: The Other P3 . . . Communicating with the Press, the Public, and Public Officials

Moderator, Ms. Lee Ann Jacobs, Transportation Planning Specialist, Florida Division, Federal Highway Administration
Mr. Dick Kane, Communications Director, Florida Department of Transportation -- Presentation -- Slide 3 Video (wmv file, 13.2 Mb) -- Slide 7 Video (wmv file, 56.6 Mb) -- Slide 14 Video (wmv file, 16.4 Mb) -- Slide 17 Video (wmv file, 19.7 Mb) -- Slide 28 Video (wmv file, 3.5 Mb)
Ms. Rusty Ennemoser, State Public Involvement Coordinator, Florida Department of Transportation -- Presentation -- Slide 28 Video (wmv file, 1.9 Mb)

The passage of the new federal law, SAFETEA-LU, brought with it several new requirements for Metropolitan Planning Organizations and state transportation planners, including the requirement to employ visualization techniques. In January, Governor Charlie Crist signed Executive Order 07-01, calling for all state agencies to adopt a Plain Language plan. Dick Kane presented his short course on dealing with the news media and discussed Governor Crist’s Plain Language Initiative and how FDOT is responding to it. He talked about the need to be an educator when dealing with reporters and the public. He showed a video that demonstrated how the Governor of Louisiana’s press secretary responded to a group of protesters against water pollution. Dick’s point was that if a group is trying to embarrass your agency, you need to do something proactive. A charge unchallenged is a charge affirmed. If someone makes a charge against FDOT that we don’t respond to, people will take the charge as true. Dick stated that news is different now because of the 24-hour news cycle. It has to be unusual and notable in order to be picked up by the media. He discussed former Clinton press secretary Mike McCurry’s 5C’s of press relations: credibility, candor, clarity, compassion, and commitment. What people take away from a presentation is 60% visual, 30% verbal, and 10% message. Dick then discussed the Governor’s Plain Language Initiative, which is an Executive Order. It includes using clear language that the audience can understand; using only the information needed by recipient; using short sentences in the active voice; and designing your presentations so that they can be read and understood.

Rusty Ennemoser presented information about the new federal planning regulations that relate to public involvement. She discussed how the federal public involvement requirements have gotten more explicit since ISTEA, TEA-21, and now SAFETEA-LU. For example, MPOs have always had to have a public involvement process, but now they have to have a documented Public Participation Process. This process itself has to be developed with public participation. The new regulations also require the State and MPOs to consult with certain government agencies when developing their plans and programs. There is more emphasis on making information available electronically, but Rusty pointed out this is not meant to be a substitute for making the information available in the more traditional formats. Rusty showed some examples of visualization techniques to show transportation projects to the public.

___________________________________________

Documents provided in PDF format must be viewed with the Adobe Acrobat Reader which is available from Adobe at no charge. Viewers can also convert PDF files to HTML format through the Adobe Web site. (A new browser window will be opened when you access these external links)