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COUNTY COMMENT %u2022 February 2025 12ROADWORTHY NEWSBy Darryl Lutz, KAC Local Road EngineerIwas introduced to you in the January 2025 County Comment issue. As promised (or warned) I%u2019m using my first official article to share more about myself, some personal strategies that I learned through my career, and my vision for working with my County road and bridge department peers across the state. But, before I jump in, I want to thank Keith Browning and Norm Bowers for the great work they did in their respective former roles as Local Road Engineer. They both created a lot of good research and resources for me to use and build on to share with you. Keith retired at the end of December 2024 and had a nice article in the January County Comment issue sharing his parting thoughts.I am a Kansas native originally from Olpe, KS. If you don%u2019t know where Olpe is, then you probably have not experienced The Chicken House Caf%u00e9, home to the best fried chicken there is anywhere. Olpe is in southern Lyon County about 10 miles directly south of Emporia on Highway 99. I was born into a farm family and was the second oldest of five children. My wife, Anne, likewise, is a farm girl and is the youngest of eight siblings who grew up on a dairy farm in Garden Plain, KS (western Sedgwick County). Anne and I have been married 35 years and have five children. Our three oldest children are married and have settled into their lives and careers. So far, we have been blessed with five grandchildren with expectations of more (hopefully many more) to come. Our two youngest children are twins (boy and girl) who turned 20 last fall. They are both in college and planning their futures. I moved away from Kansas for a few years. In the late 1970%u2019s my father was offered an employment opportunity that ultimately resulted in selling the farm and moving the family to Texas. While in Texas, I attended college at the University of Texas %u2013 Arlington where I earned a bachelor%u2019s degree in civil engineering. Following graduation from college in 1987, I had an opportunity to move back to Kansas to take a job with Butler County as an office/field engineer. I had the opportunity to work under a long time County Engineer who was nearing retirement. I learned a lot about the county and the functions of the department. The few years I had with my predecessor set the stage for my future as a County Engineer in Kansas.In 1992, I became the Director of Public Works and County Engineer for Butler County. I could write a book covering all the adventures I experienced through my career. I was young and still had a lot to learn when I took over as head of the department. It was a large department and we had a lot going on. It was also a big adjustment for me and for the department staff. I got involved with the Kansas County Highway Association and found that I could learn a lot from my counterparts across the state. They were willing to share. All I needed to do was ask. I relied heavily on my neighboring counties. I can tell you that I made some mistakes along the way, but one thing I tried to never do was to make excuses. I made sure that I owned my mistakes and that I learned from them. Working with employees was a lesson in the diversity of human character. I had to grow in maturity and grow out of naivety. I also had to learn not to take things personally. Some employees were very supportive and wanted to help me succeed. Some employees wanted to test the new kid to see if he would survive. For me, it was about showing up to work every day, working hard and showing your employees that you care about them. I made sure they knew that I always had their back. If we screwed up, it was on me and when we were being recognized for doing something good, it was on them. I would acknowledge failures and then work with staff to get it right the next time. The premise of the most important strategies I employed was that we are all humans, and humans respond best when they are treated with respect, treated with honesty and treated fairly.I think the biggest challenge for anyone new as a department head is %u201cchange%u201d. Change can be intimidating for staff and causes people to move continued