SHOULD THE LEGISLATURE REVAMP DOT OVERSIGHT?

Yes: Poor leadership causes roadwork delays, more traffic congestion

By TOMMIE WILLIAMS

Last week the Senate championed efforts to transform Georgia’s transportation by passing Senate Bill 200. The bill introduces a new transportation governance structure that will be responsive to the needs of Georgia’s citizens.

Over the past two years, Department of Transportation has had major accounting problems, cost overruns and been the center of political infighting. Recently, the DOT board dismissed Commissioner Gena Evans. What gets lost in the headlines is the fact that Georgians continue to lose valuable time with their families and at their jobs because they are sitting in traffic. We can no longer tolerate this gridlock, which has a direct impact on our state’s economy.

It affects every part of Georgia. I have seen this firsthand in my own rural district where projects that were approved and started years ago are still not completed.

There are projects that have taken over 15 years to even get started, let alone finished. As these projects are continually delayed, the costs of steel and concrete continue to increase at a cost of millions to taxpayers. This results in increases of millions of dollars more than the original plan, meanwhile driving the DOT further into debt. The domino effect continues to occur with other projects being delayed. Throwing more money at a dysfunctional agency will not fix this.

These problems, along with the negative press on the DOT, give a lot of competent employees around the state a bad name. The department’s regional offices and employees are doing excellent work maintaining our roads. This plan is not aimed at eliminating DOT jobs, the board or commissioner.

SB 200 simply restructures our state’s transportation agencies to equip them to succeed in carrying out their mission, in a more responsive manner through increased accountability. The problem is the department’s ineffective governing structure, lack of accountability and transparency contribute to the status quo. The department is set up for failure under its current structure.

This is why the governor and leadership in both the House and Senate have come up with the Transforming Transportation Investment Act. This legislation will streamline the decision-making process by combining the State Road & Tollway Authority with the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority to form one new agency called the State Transportation Authority. This will allow for a new, transparent model for funding decisions that gives the General Assembly and the governor direct appropriation powers, much like the way other agencies in Georgia are governed.

This plan will return control of local transportation matters to counties and cities through a direct grant program to local governments, so they can choose which projects they want to complete. As Albert Einstein said, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” Just like businesses must adapt to market challenges, government must also adjust to efficiently deliver services to the residents of Georgia.

> Tommie Williams, president pro tem of the Georgia Senate, is a sponsor of SB 200.

No: Agency gets high marks despite lacking money to meet growth

By BRANDON BEACH

Thanks to the federal stimulus bill, $932 million in bridge repairs, road paving, highway capacity and congestion relief are about to commence from the Florida border to the Tennessee state line, from Alabama to the coast.

With the politics of the past behind us and the former commissioner of 14 months gone from office, the DOT is ready to move forward and build projects that will bring economic development and traffic relief to all Georgians.

With that in mind, the DOT board opposes efforts to change what has been a successful transportation model for many decades. We don’t need a new agency to perform what we have done just fine at the DOT. For example:

> The Georgia DOT is ranked No. 1 in the nation in the condition of its urban and rural interstate highways, according to the Reason Foundation and researchers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

> The state’s DOT is ranked first in the condition of its rural arterial roads, according to Reason and UNCC.

> Atlanta’s interstate system is one of the best urban interstate systems in the nation, according the The Road Information Project, a Washington-based nonprofit.

Gov. Sonny Perdue and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle are pushing a total revamp of how we manage transportation —- including a new 11-member authority instead of the current 13-member DOT board. This seems odd considering Perdue’s Commission for a New Georgia found, “Georgia’s DOT is a highly professional organization that prides itself in providing quality roads.”

Instead, what we lack in Georgia is revenue to meet our dramatic growth. Capacity has not kept up with demand, which is why consultants found last fall we will have a $100 billion shortfall in funding for transportation during the next 20 years. Reshuffling the deck on how we deliver transportation services in retaliation for the removal of the DOT commissioner will not get roads paved any faster.

If Senate Bill 200 is adopted, five members would be appointed by the governor, three by the lieutenant governor and three by the speaker of the House. Each would need time to become students of transportation policy. The learning curve would slow down the implementation of transportation plans and could even slow down the expenditure of the $932 million in federal stimulus funds. We have only 120 days to spend the first $326 million or risk losing these funds.

Is it wise to put the appointment of such an important board in the hands of only three people? Currently, DOT Board members are elected by the members of the Legislature who are within each Congressional district. That system provides checks and balances, as opposed to any one individual having control over his or her an appointee.

Rural Georgia would also likely lose representation if SB 200 became law. Appointees would likely push transportation spending to Atlanta at the expense of other regions.

The old saying is if something isn’t broken, then don’t fix it. Such is the case with our DOT. It only needs more cash to do an even better job for the entire state.

> Brandon Beach is on the Georgia DOT board, representing the 6th District.