Iowa Statewide Urban Design and Specifications

The former Sioux City Public Works Director will also lead Iowa Public Works Service Bureau

The Iowa Statewide Urban Design and Specifications program (SUDAS) welcomed its new director, David Carney, in August.

“I am very excited to have been selected as the new SUDAS Director,” Carney said in the SUDAS announcement. “This will be an exciting career opportunity for me, while getting to remain active in the public works sector. Following in the footsteps of Paul Wiegand, Larry Stevens, and Dale Harrington is an honor in itself.”

Carney joins SUDAS with over 30 years of experience in public works engineering and maintenance—including 13 years with the City of Sioux City and 7 years with Monona County—and nearly 20 years of service on various SUDAS committees.

While the position will be different in some ways from his previous experience, Carney is ready and enthusiastic to take on the new role.

“I am looking forward to this new challenge. Iowa has something unique here with our SUDAS program,” said Carney, who is also leading the new Iowa Public Works Service Bureau (PWSB).

SUDAS Program Director Beth Richards and Carney now take on the task of developing a funding source for the PWSB in addition to improving the accessibility and acceptance of the program for over 900 cities across the state. The major task for SUDAS will be making updates to ensure compliance with the newly adopted Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG).

Carney is filling the roles after the retirement of previous Director Paul Wiegand in July.

“I want to say that the last 18 years has been very rewarding. It has been so good because of you—the public works professionals in the state,” Wiegand said. “I have had the pleasure of working with the SUDAS users across the state, and it is because of your involvement that we have been able to develop and maintain the only statewide design and construction specifications program in the nation.”

Wiegand, who retired after 51 years in public service, also noted that he and SUDAS Program Director Beth Richards have worked hard over the past five years to establish the Iowa PWSB, and he hoped city staff continued to help make the service bureau a success.

“We still have a long road ahead of us, but we’ve already made great headway with the PWSB. I look forward to what David and I can do together to further improve the services we provide and the cities we serve.” said Richards.

In addition to the new director, SUDAS is looking for a database administrator to aid with Iowa PWSB web management, after the May departure of the inaugural person to hold the position.