As president of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers, I take strong exception to a disturbing trend that threatens to endanger public safety and undermine the public’s confidence in the engineering profession. Several municipalities around the state are replacing, or planning to replace, licensed professional engineers with non-licensed political appointees, all for the sake of saving a few dollars. This is penny wise and pound foolish.

To cite one example, the Town of Colonie has removed a licensed professional engineer from the position of commissioner of public works and replaced him with a non-licensed individual. This directly contradicts the position’s job description calling for a “Professional Engineering License as recognized by New York State.”

In another instance, Syracuse is proposing to amend its city charter to remove the requirement that the commissioner of water hold a professional engineer’s license. Again, this contravenes state education law: It is unlawful to practice the profession of engineering in New York State unless you are a licensed professional engineer. And what kind of confidence does it inspire when the person charged with overseeing many critical system operations lacks the training and experience that only a licensed engineer can provide?

The ramifications of these decisions could be extremely harmful. Removing the professional engineer’s requirement from positions that are so immersed in technical decision-making is not a prudent way to streamline operations. Giving an unlicensed individual the authority over the operations and maintenance of critical public infrastructure not only jeopardizes public safety, it also burdens the municipality from a liability standpoint.

The Society of Professional Engineers is compiling a list of all municipal jurisdictions and regulatory agencies actively planning, in the name of budget restrictions, to make these impolitic substitutions. The municipalities already on notice include Colonie, Syracuse and the City of New York. Several others are currently considering but have not yet published their intent to replace professional engineers with political appointees.

The unlicensed individual may be certified by new groups to create the illusion of competency and generate the needed perceptions of legitimacy for the appointee. The public is being told that these moves are made to achieve economies. However, when the safety shortcuts invariably endanger the public — through infrastructure failures, the need for new capital projects or harm to our citizens — don’t be surprised when the blame for resulting tragedies falls not on the appointees but on the licensed professional engineers unfairly removed from their jobs.

This move to save a few bucks may well backfire, to the detriment of public safety.

James J. Yarmus, Ph. D., P. E., is president of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers.