HOW IS COVID AFFECTING BUDGETS AND PROJECTS
PANEL DISCUSSION WITH LOCAL AGENCIES
Teala Cotter - City of Oceanside
Teala Cotter is a licensed Traffic Engineer and has worked for the City of Oceanside for 14 years in the Traffic Engineering Division, working her way up to Associate Traffic Engineer. Prior to Oceanside, she worked for the City of Carlsbad for approximately 4 years in their Traffic Engineering Division. She got her Bachelor of Science Degree in Materials Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. From 2016 to 2020, Teala was a Board member for ITE San Diego, serving as President in 2019. She is one of the chairs with the San Diego Regional Standards Committee.
Abe Bandegan - City of Encinitas
Abe has a Master's Degree in Traffic Engineering and is a licensed as Professional Civil Engineer (PE), Professional Traffic Engineer (TE), and Professional Transportation Planner (PTP). He has worked in the industry for 17 year, including 10 years in the public sector and 7 years in the private section. He has worked for the cities of San Diego, Escondido, Long Beach and Encinitas in various traffic engineering positions. He is currently City Traffic Engineer at the City of Encinitas.
Heather Furey - Metropolitan Transit System
Heather Furey is the Director of Capital Projects and Land Management at San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, or MTS. Heather joined MTS in 2019 after spending nearly twenty years in the private sector, assisting public clients with planning, design and construction of major development projects. At MTS, Heather is leading a group of trolley and transit engineers implementing the agency’s capital improvement program and real estate professionals providing access to our property for maintenance work and in some cases TOD developments. The department is new to MTS, created in January 2019, to combine the trolley and transit engineering staff into one group. Heather’s goals for the group include standardizing budget and schedule reporting, continuing to build strong relationships with the A/E, CM and Construction communities, and completing projects on time and under budget.
Heather has a BS in Civil Engineering from Michigan State University, is a licensed civil engineer. Upon retirement, Heather and her husband Chuck plan to cruise the worlds waterways aboard their sailboat, Blond Fury. Practice runs have included a sail from Los Angeles to Honolulu in 2019 and San Diego to Puerto Vallarta in 2020, just before the start of the pandemic.
