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DEL.ICIO.USHomebuilder to join state DOT board
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gwinnett homebuilder Rudy Bowen on Thursday became the county’s new representative on the state Transportation Board.
State lawmakers from Gwinnett and four other counties elected Bowen in an open vote held at the Georgia Capitol. The vote was unusual because Department of Transportation board members are usually elected in secret.
But the result wasn’t a surprise because Bowen was the only one running for the job.
‘I feel excited,’ Bowen said. ‘I enjoy the challenge of serving the people of the seventh district. I’m ready.’
Bowen becomes one of 13 DOT board members. Each represents an area based on one of the state’s 13 congressional districts. The board, which oversees the spending of billions of dollars in federal and state construction money, is among the most powerful panels in Georgia. Its members serve five year terms.
Bowen’s election ends a three-year absence of Gwinnett representation on the board. The last board member from Gwinnett was Steve Reynolds, who opted in 2004 not to run for re-election.
Gwinnett lawmakers hailed Bowen’s election.
‘He knows the area and has been actively involved in the community,’ state Rep. Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth) said. ‘He is a great visionary. He’s going to do a wonderful job.’
Bowen, a native Georgian and longtime Gwinnett resident, founded a construction company in 1969.
Today, Bowen Family Homes builds houses across the southeast and has offices in Florida and Texas, as well as Georgia.
At 67, Bowen says he has a lot of time to devote to the DOT board because he no longer oversees the day-to-day management of the company.
‘It s going to take a lot of work,’ Bowen said of his new responsibilities. ‘I have tremendous concerns about the traffic congestion in our area and how to improve it.’
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By Bill
January 15, 2007 08:13 AM | Link to this
I find that a builder on the DOT board is a direct conflict of interest. If it works as usual and has for years, I’m sure the road projects will end up benfitting his friends and family. It has been that way for the 29 years I lived in Gwinnett county.