Penny-Wise and Pound-Foolish

As president of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE), I take strong exception to a disturbing trend that threatens to endanger public safety and undermine the public’s confidence in the engineering profession. Several municipalities around the state are replacing, or planning to replace, licensed professional engineers with nonlicensed political appointees, all for the sake of saving a few dollars. This is penny wise and pound foolish.

To cite one example, the Town of Colonie has removed a licensed professional engineer from the position of Commissioner of Public Works and replaced him with a nonlicensed individual. This directly contradicts the position’s job description calling for a “professional engineering license as recognized by New York State.”

In another instance, the City of Syracuse is proposing to amend the city charter to remove the requirement that the Commissioner of Water hold a professional engineer’s license. Again, this contravenes state education law: It is unlawful to practice the profession of engineering in New York State unless you are a licensed professional engineer. Furthermore, what kind of confidence does it inspire when the person charged with overseeing many critical system operations lacks the training and experience that only a licensed engineer can provide?

The ramifications of these decisions could be extremely harmful. Removing the professional engineer’s requirement from positions that are so immersed in technical decision making is not a prudent way to streamline operations. Giving an unlicensed individual authority over the operations and maintenance of critical public infrastructure not only jeopardizes public safety; it also burdens the municipality from a liability standpoint.

The NYSSPE is compiling a list of all municipal jurisdictions and regulatory agencies actively planning, in the name of budget restrictions, to make these impolitic substitutions. The professional engineer’s skills, responsibilities to the public, and license demand extraordinary levels of care and technical knowledge. These credentials are simply lacking in the political appointees or scientifically inexperienced administrators being chosen to replace the professional engineer.

The municipalities already on notice include Colonie, Syracuse, and the City of New York. Several others are currently considering replacing professional engineers with political appointees but have not yet published their intent.

The unlicensed individual may be certified by new groups to create the illusion of competency and generate the needed perception of legitimacy for the appointee. The public is being told that these moves are made to achieve economies. However, when the safety shortcuts invariably endanger the public—through infrastructure failures, the need for new capital projects, or harm to our citizens—don’t be surprised when the blame for resulting tragedies falls not on the appointees but on the licensed professional engineers unfairly removed from their jobs.

Opportunistic public officials may hire consultancies to determine forensically how errors were made, as if to absolve the politically connected appointee who replaced the technically competent professional. Officials, take heed: This measure will simply fail to mask the appointee’s misdeeds.

As NYSSPE president, I feel an obligation to speak out against any practice that puts the public’s safety at risk. NYSSPE is the premier statewide organization of professional engineers that promotes and defends the lawful and ethical practice of engineering. This includes upholding the integrity of the license and its primary function: to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

Replacing licensed professional engineers with unlicensed political appointees to save a few bucks is a move that may well backfire, to the detriment of the public’s safety. It’s penny wise and pound foolish.