DOT's new chief will find his power diminished

On Thursday, the 13 members of the state Department of Transportation's board plan to pick a commissioner to guide the agency through a turning point in Georgia transportation history.

The candidate favored to win knows the board members well. Over his years in the Legislature, he has tried in vain to gut hundreds of millions of dollars from their budget, and this year he shepherded through his committee a bill that undermined their power and the commissioner's for the first time in a generation.

That's water under the bridge for the candidate, state House Transportation Committee Chairman Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain); his advocates say the DOT needs his name recognition and political prowess. DOT politics are famously unpredictable, but the board's choice seems to be between him and Deputy State Property Officer Marvin Woodward.

Neither candidate would say much so close to the election. But both have a deep background in transportation —- Smith as a politician, Woodward as an administrator. Each has said he has just what it takes to turn around the beleaguered DOT.

Georgia Tech professor Mike Meyer understands their interest. "For many years the commissioner was viewed as the second-most-powerful position in the state after the governor," and residual prestige remains, he said.

Whoever wins will find the post diminished. For 46 years, the DOT commissioner has sat in judgment over the state's road budget, now $2 billion, receiving local officials for a road-requesting ritual that came to be called "kissing the ring." The throne is about to lose a leg or two.

No one is exactly sure how the new law that Smith guided through his committee will work, but in general the DOT should have less power, and the governor and the Legislature more.

Instead of choosing all project lists and submitting them to his board for approval, the new commissioner will see a major chunk of the road expansion money allocated by other people: the governor, a director of planning approved by the governor and the House Transportation Committee, and the Legislature.

Backers of the law said the changes will get more road projects out the door. Its opponents said the real problem was lack of funds, and that hasn't changed.

Most observers agree that whatever happens, it's imperative the board, the governor and House leaders —- who have often feuded —- and officials who report to them work together well.

Meyer said he once held a position in Massachusetts similar to the director of planning.

"If that person is not in communication with the commissioner or doesn't get along with the commissioner," he said, "it's a recipe for disaster."

It takes imagination to think what could go worse. The DOT's road spending now would be at a near-standstill if not for the federal stimulus.

Before the board ousted her in February, Commissioner Gena Evans, backed by the state auditor, said the DOT had misread its books and drastic cuts were necessary to bring them into balance. DOT employees take furloughs, and trash and weeds are accumulating by roadsides as the department scales back where it can.

Woodward, who spent years as a manager at the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and other agencies, including some time in the federal government, said the financial troubles presented an opportunity to focus on the process and fix it.

One bright spot about the job may be a stronger role in selecting toll-road projects. Another remains its $175,000 salary. That's a nice pay raise for almost any state employee.

Until last year, Smith ran a family business that moved and graded dirt for the construction industry, which has been under economic pressure lately.

Smith sold off the company's equipment last fall. He would not discuss the business this week, saying he didn't want to comment so close to the election. His biography notes that the company has always paid its debts.

Smith also applied for the commissioner job the last time it was open, during the boom times of 2007. It's his political resume that brings him support.

It's been three long years since Smith and other House colleagues tried to teach DOT leaders a lesson by nearly blowing up their budget. Fences are mostly mended now. As for the DOT restructuring law, after it passed his committee, he voted against it on the House floor.

He said this spring his opposition to a law he'd have to implement as commissioner wasn't a problem. "In 17 years, I voted against a lot of bills that became law, and I moved on," he said.

Whether his ability to walk that line and maintain opponents' respect will be enough to make the DOT productive again is the question. Some supporters hope he could give the DOT the credibility to persuade the Legislature to vote for more funding.