Santa Barbara County Public Works Director Scott McGolpin was installed as president of the National Association of County Engineers (NACE) at the group’s annual business meeting held via teleconference on April 22. McGolpin’s term will run through April 2021.

NACE is a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional association in its 64th year, representing some 3,000 county road officials and related professionals in the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S., local roads account for about 75 percent of highways and roads, or 2.93 million miles. Counties manage 1.74 million miles of those roads. Counties also own 231,000 bridges and operate one-third of the nation’s transit systems.

“It is an honor and privilege to serve the nation’s county road professionals this year,” said McGolpin. “With infrastructure sure to play a key role in our nation’s economic recovery, I look forward to engaging with policymakers and stakeholders to ensure county road infrastructure receives the attention needed to provide our nation with a safe, reliable transportation network.”

As part of the installation of officers, Phil Demery, former Santa Barbara County Public Works director and NACE past-president, officiated McGolpin’s swearing-in ceremony. McGolpin has served as Santa Barbara County Public Works director since 2007 and has been with Santa Barbara County Public Works Department since 1988.

As Public Works director, McGolpin functions as the county engineer and oversees the operation and maintenance of all county-owned infrastructure and equipment, including roads, bridges, flood control, municipal solid waste, and all county surveying applications.