House Transportation Chairmen Vance Smith Has “Inside Track” To Commissioner’s Post
June 9, 2009
Jim Galloway of the AJC speculates that Vance Smith has the “inside track” on being named the next GDOT Commissioner. His article is below.
Homing in on a new DOT commissioner
Bill Kuhlke, chairman of the board that (sort of) governs the state Department of Transportation, said eight formal applications have been received for the job of DOT commissioner. A search committee will interview candidates next week, and a decision is expected by June 18.
But Dick Anderson, director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, has told my AJC colleague Ariel Hart that he has taken his name out of contention for the post.
That means means state Rep. Vance Smith, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, has the inside track. Smith sought the commissioner’s job in 2007, but lost to Gov. Sonny Perdue’s choice, Gena Abraham.
Also, the following was from Dick Pettys with InsiderAdvantage:
Vance Smith Rated Likely To Be Next DOT Commissioner
By Dick Pettys
InsiderAdvantage Georgia
(5/27/09) When you dig around a bit in the business of the DOT board, you emerge mostly with rumors, guess work and off-the-record, background information. That said, however, the conventional wisdom at this point puts state Rep. Vance Smith in a strong position to get the vacant DOT commissioner’s job when it is filled by the board, probably next month.
Following the governor’s signing of SB 200 <http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/versions/sb200_AP_14.htm> , the next commissioner won’t have as much power as his predecessors. Some of the clout will go to a new director of planning – an official the governor gets to appoint with the approval of the House Transportation Committee, currently chaired by the same Vance Smith under consideration as DOT commissioner. And some of the clout – particularly over money – will go to the Legislature.
But weaker than in the past or not, the post still is one that Smith wants. At last count, it appeared three others also wanted the job, but it is now less certain that all of them will remain in the running.
There’s no good speculation yet on who Perdue will appoint as planning director and, in fact, that decision doesn’t seem to have been made yet.
At any rate, we’re clearly nearing some kind of turning point for DOT, but exactly what that produces remains to be seen. The agency has been under fire for months from legislators and the public for what critics contends is a failure to get the job done.
In February, the board fired Commissioner Gena Evans after a tumultuous
16 months on the job. Her election in October 2007 had been a major point of division between Gov. Sonny Perdue, who supported her, and House Speaker Glenn Richardson, who even then was pushing for Vance Smith’s election as commissioner.
In early April, the Legislature went home without passing a transportation tax increase that road advocates and consumer groups had been pushing for two years straight. But at least in part because of a crisis in confidence in DOT operations, particularly as expressed by the governor and the lieutenant governor, the Legislature passed – and Perdue later signed – the bill that separates DOT’s planning functions from its operational functions.
The bill does, however, keep the DOT board – elected by caucuses of legislators – intact, and gives it the power to name the commissioner.
But to some extent it may be a sullen board that makes the decision about a new commissioner next month; its members fought the transportation makeover bill as hard as they could.
Old grudges aren’t easily put aside, and we’ve even picked up on some chatter about the board possibly selecting Smith as commissioner and then encouraging his old House committee to dilly-dally about confirming whoever Perdue selects as planning director, perhaps postponing it indefinitely But that’s not being taken too seriously among some we talked with for this article. “When you start down that road, it’s genocide,” one observer told us.
Still, this is a board that Perdue does not control, as is obvious by its decision to fire Gena Evans. And, as a result, we hear he has not expressed a preference for commissioner.
Whether he has or not, some board members are said to feel that he would prefer to see Dick Anderson, currently head of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, as commissioner. And that, naturally, is a strike against Anderson in their minds. Anderson is said to be – or to have been – one of the four under consideration.
Another under consideration is said to be Gerald Ross, the interim commissioner. He’s won favorable marks from many board members for his performance so far. But he’s also within a few years of earning one of those lucrative DOT pensions. Taking the commissioner’s slot – a job whose tenure in recent years hasn’t been all that secure or long – could be financially disadvantageous to him.
One long-time board observer said the board is split 5-5 between Smith and Ross with 3 undecided. Another said he believes Smith has at least 9 votes right now. A third said he believes it is close with Smith the likely winner if the vote were held now.
Comments
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
