October 26, 2006 Tri-State Transportation Campaign Honors Lee Sander At its October 26th annual gala, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign honored Elliot (Lee) Sander for his advocacy efforts with the Empire State Transportation Alliance (ESTA) and his founding of NYU’s Rudin Transportation Center, which spotlights key issues facing New York City and State. Sander was NYC transportation commissioner during Mayor Giuliani’s first term and is presently a senior vice president at DMJM Harris, a worldwide consulting company specializing in mass transit. ESTA has combined a range of environmental, pro-transit, business and other constituencies to effect the scale and content of MTA five-year capital programs adopted in 2000 and 2005, and it promoted a detailed transportation reform agenda during the city mayoral race of 2001. In his remarks at the event, Sander noted that his experience as city transportation commissioner heightened his appreciation of non-governmental actors in policy-making, leading to the later formation of ESTA. He also spoke of his family’s flight from war-time Europe as the personal prism through which he sees and places very high value on a political and policy making environment that accommodates a multiplicity of voices, including groups like the Tri-State Campaign. Lee was introduced at the event by Tri-State board member and Parsons-Brinckerhoff vice president Janette Sadik-Khan, who entertained the excellent cross-section of the region’s transportation community at the event with a hilarious routine about his various “hats” and guises. Sander is reported by various news outlets to be a leading candidate to run the MTA under Governor-elect Spitzer. We offer sincere thanks to all who attended and sponsored the event: Bombardier Transportation The Tri-State Transportation Campaign is an independent, non-profit policy and advocacy group promoting environment-friendly transportation policies in the New York metropolitan region. |