Horrifying experience set stage for committee membership

by Tamara Wilhite
(Bedford, TX)

I had complained about government long enough and decided to step into the civic arena. Having an engineering degree, I thought I might be one of the few people with solid real world experience building, managing projects, and practical problem solving skills (on a real world budget, too).

I had volunteered for several of my city’s committees. The city council thought my skills might best be a fit primarily the economic development and planning committees.

I stated that as an engineer, I had experience in both transportation logistics and facility planning, making me qualified for either committee.

One of the city board interviewers asked me, "It says here on your resume that you also write horror, as well as being an industrial engineer."

"That is correct," I said, wondering where the question would lead.

"You could get a lot of ideas for your stories from our economic development committee."

"Then I think I'll pick roads. I don't need any help coming up with ideas for horror stories – I work in IT."

I was selected for the roads development oversight committee. The primary benefit of the roads project management position? Traffic is already a nightmare, so it can only get better from the current state.