(WASHINGTON, DC) The Council of the District of Columbia recently confirmed Christopher J. Shorter as Director of the Department of Public Works. Mayor Muriel Bowser nominated Director Shorter on September 29, 2015 and the Council confirmed his nomination at its April 5, 2016 Legislative Session.

“I am grateful to Mayor Bowser for this opportunity to lead the Department of Public Works and ensure we fully implement her vision of providing customer focused and cost effective services for residents,” said Director Shorter. “DPW provides critical municipal services that keep the city clean and healthy and ensures access to curbside parking for residents and business customers. My charge is to ensure our workforce has the means to perform at the highest level and that includes providing the necessary training, equipment and facilities to make that happen.”

Director Shorter is committed to using data to drive performance improvements and achieve time and cost efficiencies. Since his June 2015 appointment as Interim Director, he established the Office of Organizational Effectiveness and Change Management to create a framework for continuous quality improvement within DPW. OECM’s first product, the DPW dashboard, is a weekly statistical review of DPW’s solid waste, parking enforcement and fleet management operations. The dashboard helps managers understand agency service levels. This document is available on the DPW website, www.dpw.dc.gov.

Another initiative led by Director Shorter is the Integrated Product Team (IPT), a task force of DPW and Department of General Services staff that was created to identify overlapping services, produce operational efficiencies and potentially reduce costs. The IPT review already has resulted in the consolidation of DGS and DPW grounds maintenance.

Other high priorities are realizing the requirements of the Sustainable Solid Waste Management Amendment Act of 2014 and the goals of the Sustainable DC Plan. To achieve these objectives, the Office of Waste Diversion was reassigned to report directly to the Director’s Office and engages with the environmental community to ensure a close relationship to better understand their perspectives, resources and expertise.

Under Director Shorter’s leadership, DPW is offering an array of training opportunities to meet the needs of employees at every stage of their careers. This year, DPW began Career Pathways, an ambitious program to radically transform how its employees view their work. With Career Pathways, DPW is training for the present, educating for the future, and developing to lead.  In support of Mayor Bowser’s goal of creating pathways to the middle class, DPW has taken up the challenge to develop this program as a tool for employees to take control of their personal and professional advancement and development. Through Career Pathways, employees will increase their knowledge, skills and abilities; enhance productivity within their current functions; and increase the options available for future growth within DPW as well as outside of it.

“I am very proud that almost 70 percent of our workforce lives in the District,” said Director Shorter. “My charge is to invest the necessary resources in our team to ensure they achieve their full potential in the workplace.”

In addition to investing in current employees, DPW also is investing in potential employees through the Learn Earn Advance Prosper (LEAP) Academy and the Career Connections program. Currently, DPW is training 25 young adults in either vehicle mechanics or solid waste operations through the LEAP Academy, and another 60 young adults are working as interns through the Career Connections program.

Director Shorter believes that recognizing employees’ talents is an important means to encourage continued growth. This spring DPW and District Department of Transportation employees were provided the opportunity to display their superior skills at the 2016 Professional Equipment Roadeo. These professional drivers and equipment operators tested their abilities operating a 6-wheel dump truck, bucket truck, front-end loader, pick-up truck, 4-wheel street sweeper, backhoe or knuckle boom. The first and second place winners in each event won the right to represent the District at the APWA Regional Roadeo, May 4-6 in Roanoke, Va.  This is the first time the Roadeo has been held since 2009.

The Roadeo served another purpose, it marked the end of snow season. Director Shorter’s first DPW snow season was punctuated by Snowzilla, the 22.4-inch blizzard that hit the District on a Friday. The DC Snow Team made it possible for DC government employees and District students to get back to work and school 72 hours after the snowfall ended.

With snow season behind him, Director Shorter is undertaking a far-reaching initiative to publicize and effectively communicate information to and receive information from DPW’s customers. The District’s population growth in the past 10 years means there are tens of thousands of new residents using agency services. For them to benefit more from these services, and avoid the pitfalls of enforcement actions when they don’t, Director Shorter will have DPW mount a comprehensive and wide-reaching community outreach and rebranding program.