Forward Motion: Public Policy and Mobility Newsroom

04/02/2026

Tempered anger. Disappointment. Worry. And, yes, at times the urge to shake people up a little.

That is the place I wrote this from.

I have worked in environments far smaller than the White House where words still mattered enough to go through a process. That is one reason Trump’s communication style keeps boggling my mind.

This is not funny to me, either. I have had family members and friends affected by strokes, traumatic brain injuries, dementia, and Alzheimer’s. I have done outreach and raised money connected to these issues. I know this is not something to mock.

I am tired of Americans being told not to believe what they can plainly see.

A blunt, personal reflection on honesty, media denial, and public trust.

A personal reflection on ego, decline, media denial, and why public trust matters more than party loyalty.

03/29/2026

Did You Know Trump Used Pseudonyms Before “Fake News”?
What started as a Doug Flutie story turned into a very different kind of rabbit hole.

Some stories do not begin with a plan.

03/22/2026

🚨 Wake up. This is not a drill, and it is not just tech people talking to tech people.

AI is moving into jobs, schools, utilities, land use, and local deals faster than most people can track.

🤖 Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind and a 2024 Nobel Prize winner, compared this shift to the Industrial Revolution — except 100 times faster.

That is not a generation.
That is not even a decade.
That is the length of a lease you already signed.

That line stopped me cold, because this is not just about Silicon Valley.

⚠️ This is about your job.
🎓 Your kid’s degree.
💡 Your electric bill.
💧 Your water.
🏘️ Your community.

If you think you can learn about this later, that may be the biggest mistake of all.

I wrote this piece in plain English because this is not fake news, not a side distraction, and not something that only matters to people in tech.

If you want a slightly more Facebook-punchy ending, use this last line instead:

This is already landing in real life — whether people are paying attention yet or not.

Wake up. This is not a drill. AI is moving into jobs, schools, utilities, land use, and local deals faster than most people can track.

02/28/2026

I’m nervous posting this. We hit Iran again.

Before you cheer. Before you rage.

Ask one question: Who benefits? We’re told it’s necessary. Strategic. Different.

Is this about security —or power, money, and narrative control?

If that question makes you uncomfortable, read the article.

Link in bio.

Forward Motion: Looking Back

02/18/2026

Forward Motion: Big Change Starts Local. 🚍🌎

I’m posting this because I’ve worked with Crissy Ditmore on transportation and public policy for over 10 years — and I can say this plainly: she’s one of the most thoughtful, effective, and action-oriented leaders I know in the mobility space.

Whether you’re a mobility/transit/public-policy “wonk”…or you simply want to understand how housing, plumbing, sanitation, and transportation systems shape your daily life, your commute, your workforce, and your bottom line — Crissy’s work is worth following.

On LinkedIn, you can find her as Crissy Ditmore — “the Mobility Girl.” She’s the founder of Edgewise Network LLC, and Edgewise connects the right people to the right projects to move ideas into action:
➤ Mobility + transportation policy
➤ MaaS / MOD + tech ecosystems
➤ Strategy + funding pathways
➤ Fare modernization + implementation support

If you’re an employer, a community leader, or someone trying to make systems work better where you live:
➤ Follow Crissy Ditmore
➤ Follow Edgewise Network LLC
➤ Watch what they’re building — and share it with someone who needs to see it

👍 Like 🔁 Share ➕ Follow (on LinkedIn)

Visibility creates opportunity. Opportunity creates impact.

02/01/2026

In 2005, the Astrodome wasn’t hosting baseball, football, or concerts. It became a shelter for tens of thousands displaced by Hurricane Katrina—a role no bond vote or glossy rendering ever promised.

That moment says a lot about public investment, civic responsibility, and the long life of big decisions.

A few threads worth holding together:

➤ Public financing for stadiums didn’t begin with Houston. It quietly shifted in 1953 when Milwaukee County Stadium—built with county bonds—attracted the Braves from Boston.
➤ The Astrodome made the model visible in the 1960s: futuristic, ambitious, and publicly financed.
➤ Over time, stadiums became more than places for games—symbols of identity, economic bets, and, sometimes, emergency infrastructure.
➤ Economists remain skeptical of promised returns, yet cities keep saying yes. Pride, fear of losing teams, and “once-in-a-generation” narratives are powerful forces.

Baseball history keeps revealing something bigger: how we spend public money, how long obligations last, and how decisions echo long after the final out.

So here’s the question I keep coming back to:

When public money builds private venues, what exactly are we buying—and how long does the responsibility last after the cheers fade?

Curious how others see it.

From County Stadium to the Dome — and Back to the Public Ledger

01/27/2026

$28 BILLION for border enforcement. And right now, Minnesota is at the center of why that number matters.

Over the last few weeks, federal immigration operations in Minneapolis — including the fatal shootings of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti — have pushed border and interior enforcement into the national spotlight. This isn’t abstract anymore. It’s happening in real neighborhoods.

Here’s what many people don’t realize:

➤ Nearly $28 billion of the FY26 DHS budget goes to border and interior enforcement (CBP + ICE).
➤ On top of that, Congress passed a massive supplemental package — yes, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” — that adds tens of billions more outside the normal budget process.
➤ That extra funding includes signing and retention bonuses up to $50,000, student loan repayment, and accelerated hiring authority.
➤ At the same time, training timelines have reportedly been shortened, raising serious questions about preparedness and oversight.

This isn’t about being “pro-” or “anti-” border control. It’s about transparency:

Where is the money going?
What guardrails are in place?
And how do national decisions ripple into local streets, transit systems, and airports?

Here’s the part that gives me hope: people are calling, writing, and speaking up — and it’s already shaping what lawmakers are willing (or unwilling) to rubber-stamp.

Complaining without action rarely changes anything. Engagement does.

I wrote a deeper breakdown on Substack — link also in my bio.

I want you — the reader — to know this piece is landing as the story is still moving.

01/07/2026

What does a duck, SeaWorld, Taughannock Falls State Park, and lawyers have in common? No—this is not a lawyer joke.

A woman said she was hit in the face by a bird while riding SeaWorld’s Mako roller coaster. She sued. A judge dismissed the case. Most people laughed, rolled their eyes, complained about “frivolous lawsuits,” and kept scrolling.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about something else:

The labor. The invisible workforce that spins up the second someone says, “I’m suing.”

➤ incident reports
➤ claims adjusters
➤ insurance coverage reviews
➤ filings, deadlines, clerks, law clerks
➤ motions, research, hearings
➤ discovery (the cost monster)
➤ mediation meetings that burn whole days
➤ years of time… even when a case ends early

And then I brought it home to my own life:

Between 2006–2018, when I organized my 5K Chili Challenge, I had to buy liability insurance for ONE DAY—often $400 to $1,500—even with waivers, safety planning, and an ambulance on standby. One day. That’s one of the reasons I had to pause hosting: the costs of “doing it right” can start pricing people out.

This isn’t really about a duck. It’s about how systems, incentives, and risk quietly drive:

➤ clogged courts
➤ rising legal fees
➤ rising insurance premiums
➤ higher costs for small businesses and community events
➤ and fewer “good local things” happening

New Substack post is up now. Link is also in my bio.

If you read it, I’d love your take:

Where have you seen “the system behind the headline” show up in your own life?

What is your take on New Zealand Law?

No—this is not a lawyer joke.