The national network of LTAP/T2 Centers are a surprisingly close-knit group of people for the geographic spread and the diverse needs of local agencies across the country. When one of our long-time colleagues decides to hang up the hat, we always have mixed feelings. The selfish side wants them to go on another five years, but our more compassionate side says, yeah, you deserve to move on to the next chaper. Our dear friend from the Maryland T2 Center, Janette Prince, has decided it’s time to return to Scotland, her first home.
Janette began her work at the University of Maryland in November 1999. What started as a temporary position quickly turned full-time and she has been a part of the Maryland Transportation Technology Transfer (MD T2) Center since January 2000. In her role as Program Manager of Outreach she has provided logistical, organizational, operational, and technical support by arranging training instructors and managing courses. Of course, she performed all manner of program administration (quarterly and annual LTAP reports and so on) and planned bi-annual meetings with the Advisory Board. We knew her best through our regional planning for the Roadway Management Conference.
But she has been a true Marylander for long enough that we couldn’t let her forget how much she has been appreciated by local agency folks there and her LTAP family across the country. So, Rusty looked into having an American flag flown for Janette over the legislative capital in Annapolis, Maryland. There was a good bit of legwork, but he managed it in time for the service appreciation event that her colleague Patrice Abrams arranged.
Rusty had to be out of town for the May 28 retirement social, but Sandi and Matt were able to attend, and we recruited Dan Webber, retired Chief of Roads for Cecil County, Maryland, to join them. Dan has known Janette longer than any of us and she was delighted to see him.
Janette has been a fixture for Maryland local agencies since 2001 and she has many friends among them, many of who can pick out perhaps one of every three words she says; that Scottish accent can hang in there for a long, long time. But soon, she’ll be back in Scotland, where she doesn’t need an interpreter. Perhaps now her husband, John, will be the one hearing “what was that” all the time instead.
In the LTAP world, we know that we have to earn and guard the trust of our local agencies and bring them real value, or we just are not valuing their time. Janette’s Director, Thomas Jacobs, talked about that at Janette’s service appreciation, and acknowledged that whomever followed her might have to re-earn that trust over time; it doesn’t get inherited.
In Maryland, roads are maintained by 23 counties and 157 towns and cities (including Baltimore), as well as the various parts of Maryland Department of Transportation. So, in her time with the Center, she got to know a lot of agencies and their personnel, connecting them with resources, cheering them on, and introducing them to training opportunities.
Since we share a border with Maryland and the Eastern Shore is right in our side yard, there have been many opportunities to collaborate between our Centers, stretch our collective resources farther, and introduce locals to each other for sharing of ideas and collaborations of their own. Janette has been instrumental in developing those collaborations and both our Centers and all of our local agencies have benefited.
In our region of LTAP Centers, we have many enjoyable memories of Janette and we are going to miss her energy, enthusiasm, and support. But we wish her well as she settles back in to her familiar homeland, knowing that Maryland will always be a closely held second for her. If you’re reading this, Janette, we love you Lady, and we wish you a great retirement.
If you’re wondering, it was strawberry shortcake and it was delicious!
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