Page 8: of Marine News Magazine (September 2011)

The need to sustain and increase the reliability of America?s inland waterways has arguably never been more important. Michael Toohey arrived in August at WCI with more than 30 years of federal government expertise. As Vice President of Government Affairs for Ashland Inc., Mr. Toohey served as the principle representative to the federal government and also supervised state government relations for that Fortune 500 corporation. He also served as Assistant Secretary of Transportation from 1992 to 1993. This month, the newly installed WCI President weighs in on the latest from the heartbeat of America?s transportation engine. Congratulations on your appointment as President and CEO of the Waterways Council. What project is now number one on the WCI agenda and what are you and your staff doing about it? The charge I received from the Board of Directors of the Waterways Council is to make as my primary focus the development of reliable, efficient systems of waterways. To achieve this goal, WCI has offered a comprehensive Capital Development Plan (CDP) encompassing three elements: project delivery reform, including cost-sharing re-alignment; funding priorities for the 17 authorized but unfunded navigation improvement projects; and a user fee enhancement for increasing the revenue flowing into the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. We have recently met with senior officials of President Obama?s Office of Management and Budget to advocate our plan and to request that the President?s Jobs Initiative include funding for inland navigation projects, 17 of which are ready to put people to work in good paying jobs immediately. Advocating for a properly funded and well-maintained system of inland port and waterways is a tough, ifnot impossible job in this financial and political envi-ronment. What is your strategy going forward? Our strategy will be based on three key initiatives: a direct federal lobbying campaign to engage Executive Branch and Congressional decision-makers to support the CDP. Secondly, we will initiate a media campaign which will focus on educating editorial boards back home in key con- gressional districts and states on our pro-waterways mes- sages. We will also urge constituents to write letters to the editor on behalf of waterways improvements and attend town hall meetings, Rotary and Chamber of Commerce events, and try to earn media attention focused on our infrastructure and job creation ideas. Thirdly, we will seek to engage the people back home in support of the CDP and have them actively and frequently tell their elected officials about the importance of supporting infrastructure investment to modernize our water transportation net- works. INSIGHTSPresident and CEO of Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) Michael J. Toohey 8MNSeptember 2011MN#9 (1-17):MN 2011 Layouts 9/7/2011 9:24 AM Page 8