New CAC and TAC Members for the MPO

The Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) are beginning 2016 with new members. During the past few months, the CAC’s and TAC’s membership subcommittees were tasked with the difficult assignment of narrowing down several qualified applicants to fill four vacancies on the CAC and one vacancy on the TAC. As a result, the MPO’s governing body, the Urbanized Development Commission (UDC), approved the appointment of Cory Diedrich, Joe Dvorak, Gayleen Riedemann, and Rita Salazar to the CAC and Clark Meyer to the TAC. In addition, Erik Nelson was appointed to serve an additional three-year term on the CAC. 

Cory Diedrich will serve on the CAC representing Private Transportation. He is the Enterprise Director of Transportation for Sanford Health, where he is responsible for a large transportation department. Cory oversees couriers who drive nearly 10,000 miles each month in the City of Sioux Falls to serve the needs of Sanford and non-Sanford clients.

Joe Dvorak will serve on the CAC representing Persons With Disabilities. He is the Director of Day Services at DakotAbilities, where he assists with arranging transportation services for 130 people in and around the City of Sioux Falls on a daily basis. Joe has worked with adults with disabilities for over 27 years, during which time he has worked with the City of Sioux Falls and other agencies in the community to advocate for the transportation needs of persons with disabilities.

Gayleen Riedemann will serve on the CAC representing Concerned Citizens. She has lived in Sioux Falls since 1972 and has been a long time member of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce’s Issues Management Council and Business Transportation Committee, which has provided her the opportunity to stay updated on traffic concerns of the City of Sioux Falls and surrounding communities.

Rita Salazar began serving on the CAC in November representing Education. Prior to retiring, Rita taught at various levels of education in Iowa and South Dakota. She grew up in Minnesota, but has called Sioux Falls home for the past four years.

During the TAC’s November meeting, the TAC expressed its gratitude to retiring committee member Jon Mulloy for his dedication to the MPO planning process while serving as the Railroad Representative for the TAC. Clark Meyer began serving on the TAC in January as the Railroad Representative. Clark is the incoming President of Ellis & Eastern Rail Road. He has worked in various capacities for Sweetman Construction Co. / Concrete Materials / Rail to Road / Ellis & Eastern for the past 21 years.

The CAC and TAC are important component of the MPO’s transportation planning process, which directs and oversees all transportation planning and programming activities within the official metropolitan planning area, including the Cities of Brandon, Crooks, Harrisburg, Hartford, Sioux Falls, and Tea, as well as portions of Lincoln and Minnehaha Counties. The CAC is the committee established to solicit public participation into the local transportation planning process with membership comprised of interested citizens representing various segments of the population within the planning area. The CAC serve as liaisons between the general public and the formal transportation planning process. The TAC is the committee comprised of staff from each of the participating units of government as well as representatives from various modes of transportation. The TAC's role is to assist and advise on technical matters as they relate to the different elements of the transportation planning process. Both the CAC and TAC serve as advisory committees to the Urbanized Development Commission, the decision making board of the MPO, which is primarily comprised of elected officials from the government participants of the MPO. To learn more, or become involved with the MPO planning process, please visit the MPO’s website at www.siouxfallsmpo.org.