Bill Manning's Misadventure

Manning's emails are in red, mine are in blue.

Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005, 5:01:29 PM
To : kerrywest@kerrywest.org (kerrywest@kerrywest.org)
From: William A. Manning (wmanning@multatech.com

Mr. West,

You seem to be concerned about ethics in our City Council for which I
applaud you. I am however concerned that you are using the title of
Engineer in your literature if you are not a registered engineer. Your
education does not list an engineering degree and a degree in business
obviously does not allow registration. Any comment?

William A. Manning PE, JD
Registered Engineer and Attorney at Law
 

From: Kerry West [mailto:kerrywest@kerrywest.org]
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 5:19 PM
To: William A. Manning
Subject: Re: Use of the Title Engineer


Hello Mr. Manning,

Systems Engineer is my job title, not a claim that I have a degree in
engineering. Such titles are common in the computer industry - i.e.
Design Engineer, Project Engineer, Software Engineer, etc. Many
computer companies, IBM for example, do their own systems training and
assign such titles to their employees based solely on their own
criteria, not whether the employee graduated with a particular college
specialty. Some of the best engineers in the industry are not degreed
as such nor do they belong to any engineering societies. Nonetheless,
they are highly qualified in their chosen field of endeavor.

I hope you find this answer to be satisfactory. Is it your opinion
that I am claiming to be something I am not?

Best regards,

Kerry

From: "William A. Manning" <wmanning@multatech.com>
To: "'Kerry West'" <kerrywest@kerrywest.org>
Subject: RE: Use of the Title Engineer
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 13:29:39 -0500

Mr. Kerry,

Thank you for your response but it is not an opinion that I was trying
convey.

Using the term "Engineer" in campaign material when you are not a Registered
Engineer is a violation of the Texas Engineering Practice Act. The
arguments you use in your response make it clear you are not aware this
Texas Statute exist. The Texas Board of Professional Engineers enforces
this act diligently.

As you can imagine, people who have finished a rigorous college curriculum
and performed all the other requirements to become a Registered Engineer do
not want our profession represented by those who have not.

William A. Manning PE, JD
Registered Engineer and Attorney at Law

Mr. Manning,

I was unaware that any such statute existed until you contacted me.
However, I have since reviewed it and am confident that I am not in
violation per sections 1001.057 and 1001.301. I do not claim to be a
degreed or registered engineer nor do I perform or solicit any
engineering services outside the context of the private business where
I am employed. Since it is common practice for well known firms such
as Microsoft, IBM and others to issue job titles with the word
“engineer” in them, I would think you would have much bigger fish to
fry.

Since your interest in my job title coincides with a divisive city
council election where the Mayor, the incumbents and their surrogates
are deliberately publishing false information about me and the other
opposition candidates, I have difficulty believing that you are
pursing this for purely professional reasons. The fact that your
focus is on campaign materials in which the word appears only once and
which are totally unrelated to any business activity only adds weight
to my suspicions. I also note that you are an appointed member of the
NRH Construction Code of Appeals Board. Who is it that appointed you
to that position Mr. Manning?

Feel free to file your complaint if you feel it is appropriate. I
think I can bear the scrutiny. Can you?

I will not provide any additional responses to you regarding this
matter.

Sincerely,

Kerry West

Mr. West,

I do not care what you believe about my interest you misrepresenting
yourself as an engineer. By the way the Chief Building official sought me
out to serve on the committee to assist in adopting the International
Building Code for the city a few years ago from a list of register engineers
living in our area code. I do not know any city council members or the
mayor nor have I donated to any of the city races.

I will send in the complaint to the Board. You do not fit any of the
exemptions listed. You want people to believe you are an engineer to assist
you in your election or you would not have listed your title. This action
violates the statute.

This misrepresentation was put on my front door and it is also listed on
your web site. My interest is for someone to cast the stones you do in the
unprofessional way you do and then to misrepresent yourself makes me sick.
Engineers are honorable people and many citizens now think you are one,
which drags the engineering profession down. You further show your true
colors by accusing me of being involved in this race. You are a sad
paranoid person.

William A.Manning PE, JD
 

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