Articles

August 2014 - Main Speaker

Topic: High Speed Rail Opportunities fo North Texas

Main Speakers: Tom Shelton, PE, AICP, Sr. Program Manager NCTCOG and Rob Franke, PE, Mayor of Cedar Hill

 Tom Shelton, P.E., A.I.C.P, 

Senior Program Manager
North Central Texas Council of Governments

Mr. Shelton is Senior Program Manager leading the new Streamlined Project Delivery Team at the North Central Texas Council of Governments.  Tom has over 31 years in a wide range of transportation planning and design projects, including large-scale, multidiscipline rail and transit projects, including rail and transit system planning and design, including serving as Project Director or Project Manager on a number of regionally-significant assignments.  His specific project experience ranges from multi-county regional transportation plans, engineering and cost analyses, to serving as Project Manager for final design of rail and transit improvement projects.   Some of his more notable projects include the Cotton Belt Innovative Finance Initiative, Tower 55 Rail Improvement project, Dallas Streetcar TIGER project, Rail North Texas Regional Rail Corridor Studies, D/FW International Airport transit access project, and multiple DART corridors extensions.

Mr. Shelton received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the Southern Methodist University and is a Professional Engineer in Texas.  He is proudly married to his wife, Kay, and has a son, Jacob, and daughter, Sara.

Rob Franke is a peacemaker.  His diverse background includes resolving complex issues through consensus, shared values and mutual success in high-energy situations.  Rob’s experience in mediation, engineering, business, political environments, and charged situations provides clear focus to turn challenges to opportunity.

Rob is serving his 7th term as Mayor of Cedar Hill.  He has served 16 years as mayor plus three years’ service on the city council (two years as Mayor Pro Tem).  He is the 2011 recipient of the William J. Pitstick Award - presented annually by the 16-county North Central Texas Council of Governments, to recognize an individual who has demonstrated a commitment to “regionalism” by promoting cooperation between citizens and government officials.  Educated as a chemical engineer, Rob is also a certified mediator specializing in public policy, engineering, and municipal conflicts.  Rob has a diverse business background from environmental remediation to infrastructure engineering, serving on boards of directors, and part owner in his own engineering firm.  He also serves on numerous regional boards, non-profit corporation boards, and ministries.