itecentralcoast

The 2024 Central Coast Section elections were postponed at the request of the Western District while we had discussions about potential reorganization and or combining with the Central California Section. We have concluded the discussions and the Western District has allowed us to move forward with the 2024 elections. We are happy to announce that we have a slate of candidates. The election schedule will be as follows:

Announcement of Candidates: February 9, 2024

Ballots sent out to Section members: March 8, 2024

Balloting closes: April 5, 2024

The candidates are as follows:

President: Thomas Mericle, PE, TE

President/Principal, TKM Engineering (LinkedIn Profile)

Vice-President: Ryan Caldera, PE, AICP

Transportation Planner/Engineer, City of San Luis Obispo (LinkedIn Profile)

Mark Bueno, PE

Associate Engineer, City of Thousand Oaks

Since Mark does not have a LinkedIn profile he has provided the following statement:

My name is Mark Anthony Bueno and I am a licensed Professional Engineer with over 9 years of experience in the Transportation Planning/Traffic Engineering field. When I was an Engineering Consultant at Linscott, Law & Greenspan Engineers, I gained transportation planning and engineering experience with a particular emphasis on site access and internal circulation. I prepared Transportation Impact Analyses and parking studies for a variety of project developments. I also assisted in the design of traffic signal and signing/striping plans among other work tasks.

I also have public agency experience from working at the City of Glendale and I am currently an Associate Engineer at the City of Thousand Oaks. I have served as Project Manager for various citywide programs and assisted with updates to the General Plan Mobility Element. I also reviewed Vehicle Miles Traveled Analyses and localized Transportation Impact Analyses as well as prepared conditions of approval for development projects. In addition, I prepared staff reports, presentations, and engineering studies for Planning Commission and City Council meetings.

When I attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), I served as student chapter Treasurer for the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). Fast forward ~9 years and I am the Fundraising Chair for the ITE Central Coast Section. I recently managed the hosting of the Section vendor show in November 2023.

Hello ITE Central Coast Section Members:

I hope this email finds you well and you are getting ready for the holiday season and will spend some needed rest time with your friends and families. We have had a good year with several successful meetings and a fantastic Vendor Show in Ventura. It was the first time we had the show in over 2 years and I really want to keep the momentum going in growing our section and overall member participation and benefits.

The Central Coast Section has decided not to hold elections this year and to keep the same officers on the board. This decision is based on current discussions about possibly restructuring the section. The past few months have included discussions about how we might strengthen our respective sections by combining the Central Coast and Central California Sections. This has the potential to provide more membership and financial resources for the Section to operate better.

This is still in the early discussion phase, but we seek your input to add to the discussions. We want to hear your thoughts in the next few weeks before our next meetings in early January on how this could benefit or impact the Section. Please also consider ways we can strengthen our current section or how a larger combined section may provide more opportunities or impact your level of engagement. Ultimately, we are all looking for ways to improve the long-term sustainability of the Section(s) and remain relevant and meaningful to the members.

Please send me an email with any thoughts, suggestions, or feedback for our Section.

Happy Holidays!

Kathy Kleinschmidt

ITE Central Coast President.