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Questions to Ask Candidates for Public Works Director?

Norm Van Eeden Petersman

A member of Strong Towns asked: 
Our town will be interviewing for a new Public Works director this coming Thursday. I am curious if you have any resources that I could send to our mayor and interview team that articulate Strong towns values for this role?  Mostly right now, I want to articulate that I would like a person in this role who prioritizes and has a vision for non-motorized  transportation (our last guy was an 80 year old who specialized in WASHDOT highways).  Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I reach out this week with my thoughts to the hiring folks.

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  • Comment author
    Norm Van Eeden Petersman
    • Official comment
    I shared this question with a few colleagues and we came up with several ideas:
    • Describe your approach to balancing technical expertise with community input, especially when residents push for lower-cost, small-scale improvements.
    • Give us an example of how you’ve approached a situation where the long-term maintenance costs of a project outweighed the short-term benefits.
    • Can you share a project you’ve worked on (or wish you had) that prioritized pedestrian and cyclist safety?
    • How would you help the town avoid risky long-term liabilities related to oversized or overbuilt infrastructure?
    • What metrics or indicators do you use to determine if an infrastructure investment is truly “productive” for the community?
    • Imagine the mayor pressures you to fast-track a large highway expansion project, but you’re concerned about the financial and social impacts. How do you respond?
    • Let’s say a neighborhood group proposes temporary traffic-calming measures (planters, paint, bollards). How would you respond, and what role do you see for low-cost, community-led experiments in your work?
    • How do you ensure that infrastructure investments equitably serve vulnerable populations, such as people who don’t drive, youth, or older adults?
    • How do you approach situations where you can’t secure the big grant or funding needed to “fix everything at once”? How would you move forward incrementally?
    • Ask the candidate if they are willing to explore adopting the Crash Analysis Studio for the city.
    • Ask if they have ever conducted a walk audit of a completed project? What did they observe and what did they change in the design? This is also an opportunity to understand their approach and ability to work with both policy makers and citizens. It's also a good indicator if they have no idea what a "walk audit" is or react negatively to the idea.
    • Overall, do they seem open to new ideas and approaches? The current climate will require a lot of out of the box thinking. This is an opportunity for change in the city that council should take advantage of.

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