After I stopped working with the tools, my career took a different direction. I earned an MBA from Penn State, Harrisburg, and my Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) designation from the Wharton School and the IFEBP. I have spent the last 25+ years trying to bring labor and management together on benefit issues, primarily health care benefits.
A red-letter day occurred in my current job. As the Executive Director of the Transit Employees’ Health & Welfare Plan, I report to a board of union and management. A collective bargaining agreement had left the plan with an unusually knotty implementation problem. I spent many hours with the lawyer and consultant just trying to frame the issues so the board members could focus on the key decisions that had to be made. After months of information gathering, presentations and discussions, the parties were able to agree on a path forward.
I returned to my office that afternoon after the agreement was finalized. To my surprise I received telephone calls from both the union president and the chief management representative thanking me for helping to resolve this issue.
It’s that skill that I can bring to the County Council.