2008 Board Member Elections

Peter Dague, Ohio
Peter is a Certified Public Accountant in Columbus, Ohio and is seeking re-election for his second term on the ECGA Board of Trustees. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1971, with a B.S. degree in accounting, with a minor in finance. Peter is the founder and principal of Dague Business Services CPA Inc., which offers traditional accounting and tax compliance services for an assortment of family-owned companies throughout central Ohio.

His prior volunteer experience includes a four-year term on the Board of the North Market Development Authority, a non-profit organization that manages and develops a city-owned public market in downtown Columbus, Ohio. He was also instrumental in bringing to Bexley the Wendy's International Sports Festival, which sponsors the Bexley Street Sprints, a nationally known professional cycling event.

Peter has been a touring cyclist since 1974, and has participated in organized tours and solo rides in 17 eastern states. He cycled the northern portion of the old East Coast Bicycle Trail in 1977.

Mark Fenton, Massachusetts
Mark Fenton, host of the PBS television series "America's Walking" is a passionate, compelling and knowledgeable walking advocate. He is also a champion race walker: from 1986 to 1990, Mark was a member of the U.S. national racewalking team five times and coached the U.S. team in the World Cup in Beijing, China. Mark is the author of three books and is former editor of Walking Magazine. He lectures widely on the health benefits of walking and trails.. Mark earned a BS and an MS in mechanical engineering at MIT.

Mark has served on the Board of Trustees of the East Coast Greenway Alliance for the past nine years and has served as Vice Chair for four years.

Chuck Flink, North Carolina
Chuck Flink, FASLA, is founder and owner of Greenways, Incorporated, a greenway planning firm based in North Carolina that works nationally and internationally on greenway, bicycle and pedestrian planning projects. He is recognized as a national authority for the planning, design and implementation of greenway systems and facilities. Chuck has shared his extensive knowledge of greenway design and development as a featured speaker at more than 125 national and international conferences.

Chuck has a landscape architecture degree from North Carolina State University. He served as a three-term Chair of the Board of American Trails, and was director of both North Carolina Trails and North Carolina Rail-Trails. He was Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture at NC State University for five years. Chuck was elected a Fellow in the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2003 in recognition of his contributions to the profession.

Chuck has served on the Board of Trustees of the East Coast Greenway Alliance for the past nine years and has served as Chair of the Board during the four years.

Mariano Vega, New Jersey
Jersey City Councilman Mariano Vega is an open green space advocate who has championed the East Coast Greenway in Jersey City. He has won widespread respect for his success at reforming New Jersey's second largest welfare agency, and is a formidable advocate for poor families, the homeless, the hungry, working women with children and children with special needs.

Mariano is the Director of the Hudson County Department of Public Resources where he has been the policy advocate for open green space, alternate fuel vehicles, solar & renewable energy, and restoration of the historic Brennan Court House. Mariano received a Master of Arts degree in Human Services in 1977 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 1972, both from Montclair State University. He enjoys biking, skiing, scuba diving, bird watching and photography.