I got the opportunity to work with Steve after a reorganization at the Oregon Department of Transportation formed a unit to work on the long range plans. Before that he worked in the Environmental Section doing economic analyses for environmental studies. One major report that he worked on was the Bend Parkway.
Steve was highly self-motivated and only needed a manager to support him and clear the way for him to do great work. He helped with many of the plans, but quickly became the freight expert for the agency. He was a natural leader and helped educate others with gentle prodding, testing theories, and making suggestions.
Steve was humble; he wrote the first major freight study for the agency, Freight Moves the Oregon Economy. This study provided a great deal of information about the tie between the movement of freight and the importance of freight to the state and the link to the national and even the international economy. The document provided an agenda of actions that could be pursued by the agency or others in the state to raise awareness of freight issues. In the printed version he didn’t give himself credit, he simply listed himself as the contact.
He was instrumental in the formation of a freight advisory committee. It began as an informal committee and the freight community took it to the Legislature and it was formalized as the Freight Advisory Committee. Steve worked tirelessly with freight leaders in Oregon and the leadership within the Agency to craft an agenda.
He became a friend to me and to my family. He was always a kind and thoughtful friend that I will miss dearly.
