Message from President Karla Musso-Garcia, CRS-I
Dear AORS Members,
I’m absolutely honored to share that on March 31st I took on the role as the President of AORS – Association Of Ontario Road Supervisors, and I’m proud to be the first female President of the association. I have not been able to take the time to take in this momentous occasion as the onset of my presidency has started amidst an unprecedented ice storm for our area which required an emergency declaration for Township of Oro-Medonte and surrounding municipalities, and duty called, and my focus shifted to the community and my team to ensure the safety and well-being of our community.
I am just now able to take a pause and elaborate on how this
and many other experiences with natural disasters underscored the vital role we as public works professionals play as community caretakers. The Townships Operational teams along with the Fire Department, Hydro One, and the Municipal partners and suppliers, exemplified resilience and commitment to the community. Even in the face of the worst conditions, these teams worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of our residents. I am incredibly proud to work alongside my team, many without power, heat, water, destroyed properties and trees quite literally on their homes showed resilience and dedication showing up every day working around the clock to ensure the community was accessible where they faced dangerous conditions with countless trees down, hydro down, and with some added flooding midway thru.
I also want to extend my deepest thanks to the Municipalities of Bradford West Gwillimbury, New Tecumseth, Midland, Wasaga Beach, & County of Simcoe for the Mutual aid with staff and equipment during this emergency. The collaboration between our teams made a real difference.
I am grateful that I was able to take a moment to attend the AORS Annual General Meeting at the Good Roads conference, although I was unable to stay I am grateful for the ongoing and continued collaboration providing yet another platform for us to collaborate and share ideas.
As we look ahead, the year to come will be an important one for all of us in the industry as we face staffing shortages in municipal equipment operators, financial and supply chain uncertainty, It will require a strong focus on community, advocacy, growth, and most importantly collaboration.
Neighbours helping neighbours extend beyond the houses on a road and as public works professionals, together, we must continue to champion and promote the vital work we do, ensuring that our communities are safe, resilient, and prepared for whatever comes next.
Municipal public works is an extremely rewarding and wonderful career, it truly is a vocation in community caretaking.
It’s an honor to serve in this capacity, I look ahead to work alongside Cyrus Rife, CRS-I , Jim Borton, CRS-S and Joseph Reid, CRS-S, to bring AORS forward with what we can achieve together in the year ahead.
Sincerely,
President Karla Musso-Garcia, CRS-I