I am excited to announce that I will be joining Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration in Chicago on May 16th to run the Chicago Department of Transportation.  I am excited for a new exhilarating adventure and to serve the wonderful people of Chicago (I am amazed at how friendly everyone is here btw).

I am sad to leave my wonderful friends, family, and former coworkers in Washington D.C. but as Helen Keller said “life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all,” right?

This is an opportunity to continue public service in the 5th largest urban economy in the world, for a leader every bit as reform-minded and results oriented as former DC Mayor Adrian Fenty; to make Chicago an example nationally for innovation in transportation and public space, and most importantly, to positively impact quality of life for the 2.6 million residents of Chi-town.

Thanks for your continued support, and to everyone at CDOT: I can’t wait to meet and learn from you, build on your great work thus far, and accomplish great things together.

gabe klein

This Thursday March 24th, I will be on Voice Box in Arlington, that airs live from 7:30pm-8:30pm, and talking about local transportation issues with Dr. Gridlock.

May 11th, in NYC for a panel that WNYC and Transportation Nation are hosting at the Greene Space on  transit, land values, housing affordability, and urban space. (The impetus is a radio documentary called “Back of the Bus: Mass Transit, Race & Inequality”)

I may also be in Chicago for the Mayors Summit on City Design April 27th-29th, will let people know when firmed up.  Pending speakers include President Obama, Secretary Lahood, many Mayors etc.

I am excited to be coming to Eugene, Salem, and Portland in the first week of April for the Sustainable Cities Initiative to speak at University of Oregon, Portland State University, and local leaders about the future of transportation, bikesharing, entrepreneurship and more.  I will post the 3-day intensive schedule in the next week or so.

Also, registration is now open for Creating Climate Wealth May 3rd and 4th at nationals Stadium here in D.C., put on by Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room.  Richard will be there, the former President of Costa Rica, myself (for the transportation track) and many influential people and investors that you won’t want to miss.  The private sector can solve much of this if we work together to overcome barriers, and with the policy people to move solutions forward, fast, and raise the $ to make it happen.

http://creatingclimatewealth.com/

This is a complicated question, and not wanting to appear like a total know-it-all, I will admit that I am going to give a partial answer from my point of view. First off, what is a leader? There are many definitions, but one of the most basic is “a person who rules or guides or inspires others,” and “leadership” according to Wikipedia is “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.” This makes it clear that a leader does need to get (some) people on board to accomplish their vision.

So why do we have so many leaders that really seem to be followers?

1. We often reward actual leaders by defeating or ousting them because they make some of us “uncomfortable,” particularly if they tell us the truth, as we are not used to it.
Whether it’s Al Gore, Adrian Fenty, Michelle Rhee, Jim Oberstar, there are different types of people out there. There are the visionary progressives, the futurists, the risk-takers, the enemies of the status-quo… who by the way are the same personalities that have created our entrepreneurial economy. Then there are those that would rather not rock the boat for a variety of reasons that I will get into later, but my view is that it’s typically due to personality types and traits or because there is $ to be made, although often to the detriment of the longer term health of society.

I want to be clear that I am not saying that there is an absolute “for” progress, and “against” progress in general as that would be too simplistic. But when it comes to the environment, smart growth, human rights, religious and spiritual freedom, health-care as a basic human right, excellent education for all of our children, and the freedom to love and marry who you want as some examples, I think progress is inevitable and obvious, and there are actually those people that are as I term them, “the enemies of progress.” They have always been there, fighting against suffrage, civil rights, gay rights, controlling the military industrial complex welfare system, smart growth etc. Students of history know that you can’t stop progress, you can just prolong the wait, but again, to our detriment on multiple levels.

So when it comes to these cornerstone issues that define who we are as a people, we need leaders with a moral compass with regard to their work, and be un-corruptible, and unwavering in the face of criticism, often by those that claim higher moral ground, but have something personal to gain. Sometimes it’s money or overcoming a personal trauma: false prophets if you will.

2. Personality: We are born with certain personality types, to parents with distinct views and religious convictions etc., and then have millions of positive and negative experiences over time that also make us who we are. To stereotype for a minute, the visionaries, progressives, risk-takers are willing to think outside of the box and actually pursue their ideas publicly, and often quickly. For many of them, they don’t know how else to work and are inspired by the ability to make positive change. For many others, this “change” and the pace of it make them feel uncomfortable. The irony is that this feeling seems particularly strong amongst those that prefer to listen to people outside of themselves primarily vs. their own inner voice. They often have a visceral reaction to someone like an Adrian Fenty… “who does he think he is,” and “why does he think he knows what is best for me,” or “he is arrogant.” My hypothesis is that the biggest piece of the puzzle here is that they simply can’t relate to the Leader because they are so different personality type, or trait-wise. The Leader has some ownership here too, to know thy constituent and relate to them. But in Adrian’s case, and many others, those constituents that intuitively embrace change, also often embrace the Leader.

3. So what about listening to people? Compromising? This can be the toughest part of the equation and a fine line to walk. Obama is doing a fine job of this right now, it’s like a case study. He looks across the aisle, and sees the traditional corporate republicans and the Tea Party types knocking the crap out of each other. He is playing the middle of the road politician, the guy with his head on straight, staying out of the fray and actually leading through change (!) People are complaining that he is compromising too much, that he is giving in. I am going to sound like a hypocrite here, but hogwash, he is getting things done! Does he have his moral conviction intact? I think he does. He has his eyes on the prize: get 2/3 of what you want, take the moral high-ground and get reelected to get the other 1/3 done and another 4 years of progress. Now I am not now saying that people should ignore the voices of others, or on the other side compromise willy-nilly to special interests. Quite the opposite, but you also have to see the forest through the trees, and have eyes on the prize. Yes, a very tough road to walk, and some are meant to be sacrificed after 2 or 4 years, and some are meant to compromise to hold on for another 4 years. It depends on what is at stake.

So what are the take-away points?
Compromise: Don’t compromise your core principals, ever if you can avoid it, but on the details of the policies, you have to give. This will earn you respect and make you more friends than enemies.

Personality: Some people are predisposed to disagree or dislike change-agents based on who they are through nature and nurture. A leader has to make up for this with charisma, and genuinely connecting with people on their level, but sometimes you have to plow ahead because some people won’t get why the progress is urgently needed.

Progress: We need to recognize as a people that democracy means progress. Our leaders need to make this an uncompromising principle and start explaining why progress will make us a healthier society on all fronts: emotionally, health-wise, economically…. And it’s all tied together.

And can we learn from history please?
We have made a lot of mistakes as a society: killing the Indians for being here, enslavement and forced migration of millions of innocent Africans, relying on the automobile and combustion engine for “freedom.” We can’t undo what we have done, but we can recognize a mistake, and change course, quickly, before we do damage that is catastrophic. For example, at various points, and ongoing really, we make African Americans, women, gays, jews, immigrants and others feel like 2nd class citizens out of insecurity and ignorance. Not perfectly, but we have changed course, and now have a mixed race president, women leading major companies and organizations, gays out of the closet, Jews running Hollywood (I’m kidding people), and immigrants… well we are still fighting that one. But much of this change happened in the last century.

The Elders

Think if we put our minds to it, learned from the inevitability of progress, and lessons from the past, and tried to fix this planet as we would undertake a war.  Transformed our cities into zero-emission models of Livability;  Re-planned and remade our suburbs into Urban Villages; Saved our farms by creating a clean energy economy on their land, and a 2nd revenue source to make them viable; Invested big $ in electric vehicle and smart-grid infrastructure, as well as solar and wind; reinvented materials used in construction, and rethought transportation so that we are thinking about and working towards moving people vs. cars, and about access vs. costly ownership…

We could create millions of rewarding jobs, have a better quality of life, have a future on earth. We need leaders who will live up to their titles, and stop following the false prophets. Lead, or get out of the way.

P.S. making positive change can be a lot of fun

I woke up the other day to see this headline in the Washington Post:

House GOP readies bill to restrict EPA’s regulation of carbon emissions

“Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) is expected to unveil draft legislation Wednesday that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act….”

I am going to admit something here. I was so annoyed that I didn’t even read the article. My first reaction was: these people still exist? These are many of the same people that assert themselves as religious with deep morals and values?

I am going to tell you something – they are not. Whether it’s corporate funded politicians, or so called right wing, religious “leaders” who are commonly in bed with special interests, there is always a common theme: money and cowardice.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves”, (Matt: 7:15).

Many could interpret this quote to mean that one should ignore false prophets. I think it should be interpreted to mean that we need to be very vigilant. Our world is at stake, and the lives of our loved ones, and an entire planet full of animals and vegetation.

Listening to Kojo Naamdi’s show last a couple weeks ago, I heard two experts, Peter Hildebrand from NASA and Mark Hertzsgaard talk about how it’s actually too late to undo the damage that we will see for the next 50 years, and that the urgent need now is to focus on adapting to the change that is underway.

Don’t our “leaders” realize that not only our quality of life is at risk, but also our economy? The longer that we bury our heads in the sand, the larger the lead many countries around the world have over us in innovating to meet the challenges of the 21st century and beyond. At Davos last week this dominated much of the discussion. European Union Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard warned that U.S. businesses are losing out: American business should be aware that we’re up here saying this is a race,” Hedegaard said. “It’s bad economics, it’s bad business not to be among the front runners but to be hesitating. I hope that even more American business people would understand that they need to put the pressure on their politicians.”

So I am joining others of late, to call on the moderates and liberals to regain the moral high-ground (and I am seeing more of this). To stop being afraid of the repercussions on Fox News, The NY Post etc. and tell the American people how it is, without pulling punches. Our health, well-being, food supply, financial stability, security and and economic future is tied to taking the right moral stance and speaking up. You don’t have to be a visionary at this point, just have the courage to speak the truth. The time is not the future, it’s now, and it’s do or die, folks.

Hello Friends and Fellow District Residents,

I first want to thank everyone that has been asking me to run for the At-Large Council seat for their belief in my ability to win, and to help move the city in a positive direction.  I agree on both counts.  Also, all the emails and calls asking to volunteer to work on a campaign if one came to be have been great.

I have done a lot of soul-searching, and have come to the conclusion that my passion is not in a role on the Council.  If you don’t have the passion for it, you shouldn’t do it.  It’s been a tough decision to make with all of the support, but the right one for me and the race.

I am more of a CEO/Entrepreneur than a legislator, and my passion lies in utilizing and mixing technology, transportation options and infrastructure to make cities more livable, sustainable, and vibrant (and fun).

I love DC, and want to continue to help make it a world class city to live, work, and play, and I will find ways to do that in the future.   I also want to explore opportunities to work beyond the borders of DC, in the private and/or public sector to affect change.  And that’s what this is all about really isn’t it?  Where can each of us affect the most significant changes for the greater good, and have some fun in the process.

We have some good candidates that are entering the race, so lets see what they say, and who is really courageous enough to take some risks, do good work, and who is toeing the old political line and focused on their own needs first.   It’s pretty easy to spot if you look hard enough.  I always say “you have to be willing to lose your job to do good work,” and the city deserves this from its public servants if they are worth their salt.

-gabe klein

The District is going through a re-transformation, as are many cities across the United States.

People flocked to urban areas in the first half of the 20^th century, fled to the suburbs in the 2^nd half, and are rediscovering the historic beauty, convenience, and livability of our urban cores in the 21^st century.  For the first time in 40 years, Washington D.C. is growing again with 30k new residents over the last decade as of the recent census.

We saw vehicle registrations fall by 11% over the last 3 years, and in the same period saw biking grow by 82%.  [Click here for more info]

When we work to create a vibrant, livable, healthy and safe city focused on residents well-being, we go back to some aspects of a Washington D.C. with 200k more residents that many of us have just read about, or seen pictures of, but never lived in:

Whether it’s the Streetcar, the prevalence of walking and biking, or the vibrant downtown core…. It’s all coming back.  With more residents, we have a broader tax base to provide better services for all of us.  Better schools, transportation, less debt.

So what does all of this mean?  It means that the work done by thousands in DC over the last 12 years is paying off, and we are one of the cities that is now benefiting from this movement, and many cities that did not aggressively reinvent themselves are stagnating.   We are now seeing a snowball effect in the District over the last few years by all measures.  I am proud that DDOT doing its part, with streetscape reconstructions, and the introduction of many attractive, safe and low cost transportation options for our existing residents, and for our new residents that don’t bring a car (or 2) into the city.   This money that would have been spent on a capital asset/vehicle can now be put into the local economy, into savings, better housing, or starting a business in the city (AAA estimates almost $10k a yr!  That buys you a lot more housing).  We also can attract more residents because their money will go farther in the District…. if we tell the story: separating transportation and housing costs.  DC can actually be a cheaper place to live! With our improvements in schools, public safety, public spaces, and the expanded transportation options, suddenly DC has a better quality of life as well, and is a place you choose to raise a family vs. the suburbs.

Over the last few months, we started to compile our achievements for the updated Action Agenda and Annual Report.  I was actually amazed by how much the 1000 strong DDOT team has accomplished over the last 12, and 24 months.  I am pleased to announce the 2010 Action Agenda and Report:  [Click here for copy of 2010 Action Agenda Progress Report!!!]

Here are just a few of the highlights:

1. Funded and kicked off construction of the largest project in DDOT history: The 11^th Street Bridges
2. Capital Bikeshare: the largest bikesharing system in the United States
3. ARRA funding kicks off 13 additional projects for $124 million
4. Great Streets projects escalated and started: Nannie Helen Burroughs, Pennsylvania Ave SE, H/Benning
5. Facelift for the Agency: New website, Twitter (5000 followers), Facebook (1000), Scribd (documents), Flickr, Youtube in-house videos and more…
6. DTAP 2.0 launched on heels of 1.0 beta with new project portal, safety, transit, road condition, finance…
7. Continuous Process Improvement culture instilled at DDOT:  Sigma Black belt training, DTAP, DDOT University
8. Snowmageddeon: biggest storm in DC history… and we survived
9. Summer-Stormageddeon: DDOT Trees and Traffic Operations coordinate emergency response for thousands of District residents with trees down, and without power
10. Filled over 7,500 thousand potholes during potholepalooza
11. Hundreds of thousands of hours of Traffic Control and School Crossing Guard service
12. First high speed, curbside electric charging stations in the U.S.
13. Multi-Modal Station pilot for rollout in 2011 to bus shelters with Federal grant money
14. Streetcar initial line segments funded, Program Management Team hired, Progressive Transportation Services put together, 37 mile Streetcar System Plan adopted
15. Circulator Bus expanded, turnkey contract signed that rolls bus and facilities costs together
16. With a $16 million snow overrun last winter, our Finance team flexed the unified fund, we balanced the budget to +$67 for the 2010 fiscal year
17. Completed the new Farragut facility for front line workers, got $65 million lease signed for new Leed Certified office building at 55 M Street SE
18. Conducted numerous parking pilots in2010 and our advances in the parking program were noticed by Donald Shoup, the preeminent parking guru:     ”Washington is taking the lead in this country and almost throughout the world,” said UCLA professor Donald Shoup, author of “The High Cost of Free Parking.” “Washington has started its [parking] reforms at just the right time, when there’s so much new technology available.”    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/28/AR2010062804850.html
19. Built DC’s first separated cycle tracks  as a safety initiative to protect cyclists
20. Installed 67 Leading pedestrian intervals to give pedestrians the jump on vehicular traffic at intersections
21. Rolled out the citywide “Livability Program” to address traffic calming and quality of life holistically, and systematically, using the entire tool-box
22. Rebranded Urban Forestry DDOT Trees, worked towards a “participatory model,” and planted 3,750 trees
23. Launched the online permitting system, and enhanced it so that you can now print permits in your office or at home
24. Partnered with Arlington County on a Transportation Demand Management program (goDCgo.com) and Bikesharing and Circulator Bus
25. We had fun doing it every day!

For these innovations, and hundreds of others, I am eternally grateful to the amazing DDOT team, which has new members brought in over the last two years, and teammates that have devoted a ½ century to the agency.   One of the things I am proudest of is the alignment behind a shared vision throughout the agency (that took 8 months to build, share, tweak), and an extremely fast, organized execution which shows that we all bought in.

In closing, what I have hopefully taught, and have definitely learned from the amazing team at DDOT and in the D.C. Government as a whole, is:  Never let anyone tell you “it can’t be done,” always have passion for your work (or do something that will) and tell the public what you are doing so that they can work with you.

Keep up the excellent progress D.C., and let’s make sure that DDOT continues to improve, and of course always delivers!

-Gabe Klein

www.facebook.com/gabeklein