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Record of Proceedings

Transportation Committee Receives Overview of Reorganized Department on February 18, 2026 (transcript dated Feb 17)

Board of Representatives — Wednesday, February 18, 2026
BodyStamford, Connecticut
SessionBoard of Representatives
DateWednesday, February 18, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:07:15

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

We can go ahead and get started.

0:01

We have quorum.

0:03

Um, I'm gonna call the meeting to order.

0:06

It is February 17th at 6:31 p.m.

0:11

This is the uh transportation committee meeting, and uh we have on the call um uh vice chair Stone.

0:25

We have uh representative Weathers, Representative Sanford, Representative Politia, uh Representative Hughes, Representative Adams, and we have um our guest speakers, um Thomas Turk and Luke Buttonweiser.

0:46

My missing anybody, both from the transportation department.

0:50

So we have one item on the agenda, it's a review item, and uh, we're gonna be getting a presentation, uh, basically presenting an overview um of the uh transportation.

1:00

I've been anxious uh for this presentation for for a few months myself to uh really get in uh more in-depth knowledge of how um how things work within the city.

1:12

And I think that the timing is very timely.

1:15

Um, it's been a tough uh couple, it's been a tough winter.

1:19

Um, I know a lot of people working very hard, and we appreciate um you guys taking time after hours to be on the presentation with us uh tonight.

1:27

So um let's go ahead and get started.

1:31

So we are we going to you uh John.

1:35

Yeah, I'm uh excuse me.

1:38

I know the director Keonis wanted to start this.

1:40

I'm not sure where he is, but in the meantime, I can get us started on the presentation that Luke's gonna share with everybody.

1:46

Okay, and if he shows up, uh he'll probably just jump in.

1:50

I'll do my best to clarify what he was envisioning in the beginning of the slides, and then the rest of it's more informational on what I'm in charge of and what each department does.

2:00

So I'll get us started.

2:03

Let me share my screen.

2:10

All right, what is everyone's seeing?

2:13

There you go.

2:14

Good.

2:16

Okay, perfect.

2:18

All right.

2:19

All right, so the the new name of the collection of departments is called Transportation Department.

2:27

Before the road maintenance department was separate uh to basically everything else that was consolidated.

2:35

You can do the next slide, but uh, so the transportation department mission, enhanced safety, efficient resilient movement of people, vehicles, and water infrastructure.

2:48

Basically, to put in layman's term, it's everything to do with the roads and how to move people, cars and pedestrians around the city through the city as safely and as and as efficient as possible, and that includes capital improvements to make things better, as well as maintaining them such as pawholes and curbs and sidewalks, stuff like that.

3:14

Next, please.

3:16

All right, City of Stanford Transportation Department Unified Vision and Responsibilities.

3:22

Do you guys want me to read this slide so everybody can absorb it at the same time?

3:27

Or you want me to just let you read it.

3:32

Um you can you can uh we can read it while you're while you're speaking if you want to give just a you know high-level overview explanation to us, and we'll um and I'd also like to ask if we can have this presentation so we can enter it into the record uh following following as well.

3:47

So we can go back to it.

3:48

Yeah, I'll send it um after the presentation tonight, Jeff.

3:51

Great, thank you.

3:53

So I'll let you guys read the details, but what happened in general is that the previous bureau chief of transportation, Frank Patisse, which some of you may have known, may have not known.

4:06

Uh, he left on his own accord.

4:09

And I think it was slightly unexpected, but with that opening, which is not easy to fill, uh, the director and and the people in his administration were brainstorming on how things could be more efficient and better.

4:24

Uh, they approached me as the head of the road maintenance department.

4:29

Just so you guys know my background.

4:31

I started with the city in December of 2011, uh, as the road maintenance manager.

4:39

I've been in the same position for 14 years now.

4:43

I think this is my 15th winter.

4:46

So I've driven in just about every snowstorm for the last 15 years.

4:51

My estimate is about 200 of them, so I'm pretty good in the snow.

5:00

So they approached me because when hiring that position before, even in David Martin's administration, it was very difficult.

5:06

So I think they found it better to consolidate road maintenance with all the other road disciplines, such as traffic engineering, signs and lines, signals, parking, which by the way, when I first started, I was actually in charge of signs and lines, and I was also in charge of parking.

5:27

And about nine years ago, David Martin reorganized things and gave me all the capital improvements for paving, uh, which branched out into utility paving and sidewalk capital improvements.

5:41

And when I got the capital improvements, he consolidated signs and lines and parking into the new traffic department.

5:50

So I was no longer in charge of them, and I became in charge of the capital.

5:55

What's happening now is I'm getting everything back.

5:58

So I already had the familiarity with two-thirds of what they gave me, which I think is why I made the best candidate.

6:06

Because I ran that stuff for about six years.

6:09

So I was familiar with the people, I was familiar with the operations.

6:14

So I'm not trying to speak to what Kionis had in his head, but it basically just unified everything that had to do with the roads.

6:23

I was the right person at the right time to help lead that and implement their vision.

6:29

And what I've only been in the position for two weeks now.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Transportation Safety██████████████████████████████████34%
Parking███████████████15%
Public Engagement█████████████13%
Public Safety███████7%
Public Transportation███████7%
Snow Removal██████6%
Winter Road Maintenance█████5%
Procedural████4%
Personnel Matters███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Transportation Committee Meeting - February 18, 2026

Note: The meeting transcript indicates the meeting occurred on February 17 at 6:31 p.m., while the provided date for this summary is February 18, 2026. This discrepancy is noted.

The Transportation Committee convened to receive an overview of the newly consolidated Transportation Department. Director Kionis (who joined late), Thomas Turk (Director of Transportation), and Luke Buttonweiser (Senior Transportation Planner) presented the reorganization, which merges road maintenance, traffic maintenance, transportation planning, and parking under one umbrella. The committee discussed operations, snow response, parking enforcement, the Fix It system, and addressed constituent concerns.

Discussion Items

  • Department Reorganization: Thomas Turk explained that the former Bureau Chief of Transportation position was eliminated, and he was promoted from Road Maintenance Manager to Director of Transportation. The new structure consolidates previously siloed departments: Road Maintenance (managed by Doug Hoyt), Transportation Planning (led by Luke Buttonweiser), Traffic Maintenance (signals, signs, lines, managed by Steve Fritz), and Parking. The reorganization is cost-neutral and aims to improve efficiency and communication.
  • Snow Operations & Seasonal Constraints: Turk detailed that the department has faced an unusually harsh winter with 14 storms, depleting salt supplies. The city maintains three salt domes with a total capacity of 13,000 tons and started the season full, which was critical. Salt delivery delays occurred due to barges being locked in ice. The department prioritizes proactive salting before storms. Leaf pickup (November–January) and snow operations (November–April) delay other maintenance like pothole repairs. Committee members were encouraged to educate constituents about these seasonal limitations.
  • Sidewalk Snow Removal: Turk explained that the city cannot clear all sidewalks; it relies on property owners per ordinance. Enforcement and education are increasing, but the city lacks the resources to assist all residents. Crosswalks and curb ramps are a gray area; the department is considering ordinance updates. Volunteer groups are welcome to help without city permission.
  • Parking Enforcement: Director Kionis and Turk discussed parking rules. Out-of-state plates are not automatically violations; the 120-hour rule applies to abandoned vehicles. Commercial vehicles (e.g., dump trucks) parking on residential streets overnight may be a parking violation based on size and plate type, but vans or pickup trucks with company logos are generally allowed. Parking enforcement includes booting for three or more unpaid tickets. Representative Walston raised concerns about work trucks parking on Connecticut Avenue, and Kionis offered to have parking enforcement follow up.
  • Fix It System: Director Kionis described the Fix It system as the primary way for residents to report issues. Tickets are reviewed by the citizen service department and routed to the appropriate department. Response times vary; seasonal issues like snow and leaf pickup generate high volumes. The department holds monthly synchronization meetings to improve responses. Streetlight and zoning enforcement responses have improved; long-term items like sidewalk repairs depend on budget.
  • Traffic Signal Issue: Representative Adams reported a sensor problem at the intersection of Letlow and Pacific, where the light takes over two minutes to change. He had submitted Fix It tickets without resolution. Turk and Buttonweiser said they would follow up.

Key Outcomes

  • The committee received the presentation and discussed the reorganization in detail. No vote was taken as the item was for review only.
  • Director Kionis committed to sending an email to committee members with names and contact information of department managers.
  • The city anticipates proposing ordinance changes to the committee in the coming months, including potential updates to sidewalk snow removal rules.
  • The meeting adjourned without a motion, as noted by the chair.

Meeting Transcript

We can go ahead and get started. We have quorum. Um, I'm gonna call the meeting to order. It is February 17th at 6:31 p.m. This is the uh transportation committee meeting, and uh we have on the call um uh vice chair Stone. We have uh representative Weathers, Representative Sanford, Representative Politia, uh Representative Hughes, Representative Adams, and we have um our guest speakers, um Thomas Turk and Luke Buttonweiser. My missing anybody, both from the transportation department. So we have one item on the agenda, it's a review item, and uh, we're gonna be getting a presentation, uh, basically presenting an overview um of the uh transportation. I've been anxious uh for this presentation for for a few months myself to uh really get in uh more in-depth knowledge of how um how things work within the city. And I think that the timing is very timely. Um, it's been a tough uh couple, it's been a tough winter. Um, I know a lot of people working very hard, and we appreciate um you guys taking time after hours to be on the presentation with us uh tonight. So um let's go ahead and get started. So we are we going to you uh John. Yeah, I'm uh excuse me. I know the director Keonis wanted to start this. I'm not sure where he is, but in the meantime, I can get us started on the presentation that Luke's gonna share with everybody. Okay, and if he shows up, uh he'll probably just jump in. I'll do my best to clarify what he was envisioning in the beginning of the slides, and then the rest of it's more informational on what I'm in charge of and what each department does. So I'll get us started. Let me share my screen. All right, what is everyone's seeing? There you go. Good. Okay, perfect. All right. All right, so the the new name of the collection of departments is called Transportation Department. Before the road maintenance department was separate uh to basically everything else that was consolidated. You can do the next slide, but uh, so the transportation department mission, enhanced safety, efficient resilient movement of people, vehicles, and water infrastructure. Basically, to put in layman's term, it's everything to do with the roads and how to move people, cars and pedestrians around the city through the city as safely and as and as efficient as possible, and that includes capital improvements to make things better, as well as maintaining them such as pawholes and curbs and sidewalks, stuff like that. Next, please. All right, City of Stanford Transportation Department Unified Vision and Responsibilities. Do you guys want me to read this slide so everybody can absorb it at the same time? Or you want me to just let you read it. Um you can you can uh we can read it while you're while you're speaking if you want to give just a you know high-level overview explanation to us, and we'll um and I'd also like to ask if we can have this presentation so we can enter it into the record uh following following as well. So we can go back to it. Yeah, I'll send it um after the presentation tonight, Jeff. Great, thank you. So I'll let you guys read the details, but what happened in general is that the previous bureau chief of transportation, Frank Patisse, which some of you may have known, may have not known. Uh, he left on his own accord. And I think it was slightly unexpected, but with that opening, which is not easy to fill, uh, the director and and the people in his administration were brainstorming on how things could be more efficient and better. Uh, they approached me as the head of the road maintenance department. Just so you guys know my background. I started with the city in December of 2011, uh, as the road maintenance manager. I've been in the same position for 14 years now. I think this is my 15th winter. So I've driven in just about every snowstorm for the last 15 years. My estimate is about 200 of them, so I'm pretty good in the snow. So they approached me because when hiring that position before, even in David Martin's administration, it was very difficult. So I think they found it better to consolidate road maintenance with all the other road disciplines, such as traffic engineering, signs and lines, signals, parking, which by the way, when I first started, I was actually in charge of signs and lines, and I was also in charge of parking.

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