IChange Justice Podcast #16- One Engineer’s View on Solving the Public’s Safety Needs

How do successful engineers think about problem solving and planning projects? Clear answer: They ask the client what problems they want to solve, what they need, what they want, and LISTEN to the answers for the purpose of meeting those needs. It doesn’t work the other way around.

In this episode, we talk with our guest Atul Deshmane, an engineer who has worked in both the private and public sector for decades. And, he has served our community as a Whatcom County Planning Commissioner and as a Whatcom County Public Utilities District Commissioner and has been a Board Member of the Restorative CommUnity Coalition. Recently he has been appointed to the Whatcom County Stakeholders Advisory Committee (SAC) that has been tasked with assessing the needs of the community related to public health and safety issues as they relate to passing taxes and building jail facilities.

Join us as we ask him about resolving complex political issues, pressures and influencers. How do we get beyond oppositional thinking, presumptive biases and very different goals? Bottomline, he refreshingly points out that the clients are the people who pay taxes. The taxpayer’s needs must be met to solve the problem. Clearly, the SAC has some work to do, and it is good to have an engineer helping steward the process.