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DEL.ICIO.USCagle says he’d like to see Abraham as head of DOT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With this week’s announcement that Harold Linnenkohl will soon retire as state transportation commissioner, and a Legislature-driven reorganization of the Department of Transportation in the offing, movers and shakers in the state Capitol are quickly making their ideas about a replacement clear.
In a letter to Republican state senators, just e-mailed today, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle all but endorsed Gena Abraham, who heads the Georgia Building Authority, as well as the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission.
She’d be the first woman to hold the job, and has something of a squeaky-clean image around the Capitol. “Reform-minded,” in the phrasing of the lieutenant governor.
Wrote Cagle:
“While this is a decision that will ultimately be made by the [state DOT] board, I did want to make you aware that I have a very high opinion of Gena.
“She has a demonstrated record of success at GSFIC for managing projects to completion on time and under budget, implementing design build methods, and securing favorable underwriting terms for our debt portfolio.
“Should she make the short list for the board to consider, I believe she would be a strong, reform-minded candidate.
See the entire letter on the jump.
To the Senate Republican Caucus:
As you’ve no doubt become aware, Commissioner Harold Linnenkohl has announced his decision to begin enjoying a well-earned retirement from the Georgia DOT after years of valued service to the state.
The political process being what it is, speculation has now become focused on who might be chosen by the GDOT Board to fill this position. In my view, our state is at a critical juncture on transportation, and the importance of selecting a commissioner who will boldly guide us into new ways of doing business - such as utilizing concession and design build processes - cannot be overstated.
As you know, the Senate will and should play a significant role in the process of selecting a Commissioner because of our responsibility for electing members of the GDOT Board. For that reason, I would encourage you to pay close attention to this process and give me - and your board members - any thoughts you may have on filling this vacancy. Additionally, Chairman Jeff Mullis and Majority Leader Tommie Williams both have significant expertise on the transportation issue, and will be deeply involved in the selection process, so I would encourage you to talk with them as well.
You may also have read that our State Properties Officer, Dr. Gena Abraham, has been discussed as a possible replacement for Commissioner Linnenkohl. While this is a decision that will ultimately be made by the Board, I did want to make you aware that I have a very high opinion of Gena. She has a demonstrated record of success at GSFIC for managing projects to completion on time and under budget, implementing design build methods, and securing favorable underwriting terms for our debt portfolio. Should she make the short list for the board to consider, I believe she would be a strong, reform-minded candidate.
As always, if you have any thoughts on this issue, please let me know. I look forward to seeing you at our retreat in October, but hopefully before then.
Your friend,
Casey Cagle
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Victor Jones
September 7, 2007 7:18 PM | Link to this
How can one person be so smart? I can’t even remember the Acronyms for the Deptartments that she heads.
Who else is on the short list for GDOT head?
During the public input meetings for the Fall Line Freeway, down here in BBiB County, Linnenkohl sent a bunch of fragrance models to take citizen input and then ignored the input. I asked one of them three polite questions and she started crying. I think he spent more on PR than road building. Who gets to do the OR to find out the fragrance model to tar & feather ratio?
We offered the BBIB County Commissioners a 1-2-3 compromise On Forest Hill Road today, hope GDOT is listening, it will save our fellow Georgians about 15 million bucks, that’s a lot of Chanel #5. Compromise Details at:
(www.macon-bibb.com/FHR)
By galoco_lee
September 7, 2007 10:56 PM | Link to this
Casey Cagle who?
By tony r
September 8, 2007 8:56 AM | Link to this
Once again, the governor barks and cagle does exactly what he’s told. What a wuss.
By Buh Bye Harry
September 9, 2007 8:15 PM | Link to this
When the baseball team crashed and killed students, Harry feigned indignity and said the ramp met “mininum federal standards”.
GDOT needs fresh blood. It’s stale and incestuous. Hire someone from far outside the state, and let them make change after change after change.
And GDOT needs to be audited, a comprehensie forensic audit and a procedural audit. The amount of money wasted is mind-numbing.
Appreciate ya putting in 40 years Harold, but don’t let the door hit ya on the way out. And as the 2 Live Stews say, he’s gone!
By same old same old
September 11, 2007 11:23 AM | Link to this
What a wasted opportunity. They don’t even care about transportation needs in Georgia or the impact that bad policies have on us. They just want someone who is tight with the construction and road building industries, and who will get behind their crazy tax proposals - even if it screws over every citizen in the state (except the rich ones, of course).
By Lee M.
September 11, 2007 2:00 PM | Link to this
If Gena is nominated, and if it’s true that women are good with curves, maybe she can bring a fresh approach about building curvy roundabouts to GaDOT! But,I have to wonder how much someone who heads the GBA and GSFIC, understands about modern and progressive transportation planning. Understanding that concept is the only way we are going to get out the mess that GaDOT’s leadership and archaic planning for the last 30-40 years has gotten us into today. We don’t need another politico/administrator at the helm, we need an urban planner/designer. If the person applying doesn’t have that experience to lead, then move out of the way and let’s raid another State DOT for someone who does. I suppose it’s just too much to ask, to promote some of the young DOT staffers who already have the skills and progressive knowledge to do the job, but are now relegated to being “yes” men for the ingrained political management. Now is the time to change the existing “make work” bureaucracy of GaDOT- a prime example of which is the “Macaroni Junction” that is proposed for the intersection of I-16/I-75 in Macon, Ga- and go for a leaner, smarter, context sensitive, and more fiscally responsible GaDOT. The citizens of our state will thank you for your foresight.
By J H Webb
September 11, 2007 3:44 PM | Link to this
I must agree with some of the other comments regarding the need to professionalize and de-politicize the GDOT.
Linnenkohl promised to be more receptive to citizen input and opinion. Instead, at least in Macon, the “public meetings” which are advertized as being informative and seeking citizen-input are a joke. Forum after forum is held, with no appreciable change being instigated as a result of the citizen-input. So, citizens get fed up and quit going to the meetings, which then allows GDOT to say “we asked, but no one showed up”. A cynic might suggest it is designed to have this result.
The over-built designs for the I-16/I-75 connection are so much more than what is needed to cure the intersection’s problems that it would be laughable if it were not so sad. These GDOT ideas will ruin that entire corridor through our historic town, with no thought at all being given to unnecessary impact. GDOT continues to be told that the citizens of Macon do not want or need a mini-spaghetti junction in Macon. There are many much less expensive solutions, with much less impact on our town, that have been proposed to GDOT but, because GDOT is only intersted in “more concrete, more roads, wider roads” etc., these ideas are never incorportated into the plans.
The planning and the concepts GDOT has been using are out of favor with most of the world and, yet, we Georgia citizens are supposed to shut up and accept what is proposed, even if the proposed solutions are unwarranted and ill-conveived.
I don’t know Dr. Abraham at all, but I must agree that GDOT needs someone with some well-reasoned, progressive ideas about solving our transportation problems, rather than another political appointee.
By Lindsay Holliday
September 11, 2007 6:13 PM | Link to this
Clean-out the Ga DOT. From top to bottom.
And make Linnenkohl and other retirees wait at least 2 years before they can work for a GDOT contractor.
www.CautionMacon.org
By P.E. Fisher
September 11, 2007 10:50 PM | Link to this
A good manager would be nice. Someone reform minded would be nice. But what Georgia really needs is someone who is forward looking in the transportation area. Someone who doesn’t think that transportation always equals roads.
On the topic of roads, I have driven across the southern US, and Georgia is the only state that still uses the 1950’s street lighting that creates more glare than illumination. That’s right, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Texas are more progressive than we are. And only in Georgia are sign companies, RV dealerships, and truck stops allowed to point 10,000 watt lights in the eyes of drivers. You may think this seems pro business, but what outsiders see is a state that is too eager to sell its soul. As a result, they put their new car factories in Alabama.