Doug Hooker, a fixture in Atlanta power circles for more than two decades, has been tapped to take over a slumbering giant of an agency that has awakened to its own power over people’s daily lives.
Hooker is the national search committee’s choice to replace Chick Krautler as executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission. The full board votes on Hooker’s selection Oct. 31.
If hired as expected, he will take over a once-quiet planning agency that is flexing new-found power after leading review and negotiations for a $6.1 billion regional transportation project list.
There, as well as in pending discussions over water issues and economic development plans, ARC is poised to move from an agency with a reputation for churning out studies destined to collect dust on government shelves to one with the ability to influence the future of the Atlanta region.
“Really, I see the impact of the ARC growing in the future, but only if we get everyone to focus on the priorities that make sense,” said Buzz Ahrens, the Cherokee County Commission chairman who headed the search committee. “Doug is the perfect guy to cobble the players together and get them to the table. He’s the gentle giant who gets people to listen.”
Hooker cites his professional background as key to that image of being an honest broker.
He started his career as an engineer and manager in the private sector. Then he took on government jobs working for Atlanta Democrats and later was head of the State Road and Tollway Authority under Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue.
He admits he had to be talked into even interviewing with Perdue, worried as a black man he would be a token candidate. The governor convinced him he needn’t worry.
“His first words to me: ‘Congestion is not Democrat. It’s not Republican. It’s just frustrating,’” Hooker said. “He knew we couldn’t solve the traffic problem in four years or even eight but wanted to lay out a plan and direction. I couldn’t agree more on that approach.”
His tenure at the agency started the review process of high-occupancy toll lanes, a system Hooker said studies show must be used on several highways, not just one, to ease traffic. The much-criticized HOT lanes are now only on I-85.
Catherine Ross, head of Georgia Tech’s Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, thinks Hooker's experience will be a key contribution to building the coalitions needed for next year’s regional transportation referendum. ARC was able to weave together a deal on the project list, but winning voter support will take a whole different kind of leadership, she said.
“Jumping into that situation will not be smooth sailing,” Ross said. “I think his career with one foot in the public sector and one in the private sector will serve him well in knowing how to unify those worlds for a partnership.”
In his new role, Hooker will not be the policy maker. He is charged with providing data to the ARC board and Chairman Tad Leithead.
Supporters say Hooker is up to the technical task but also will be willing to stand up to a sometimes divided regional body.
Colleagues recall in 1995, when Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell was about to tout a new technological solution to the city’s sewer problems -- one he thought also would save about $11 million and avoid a rate hike.
Hooker, who had been carried over from Maynard Jackson’s administration as public works director, calmly explained to his increasingly agitated boss that he couldn’t support the untested method because it could end up costing Atlanta millions more if it failed.
An hour late to his own news conference, Campbell ended up saying the city was “exploring” the technology. The idea collapsed shortly thereafter.
“He is a company man, but not if it violates his professional experience or principles," said Angelo Fuster, the former mayor's spokesman. “And that temperament, being pretty even-keeled, carries the day so everyone ends up working together.”
The ARC needs that kind of consensus if it is to keep its success from the transportation list going, Leithead said. First up: The agency will be key in the push for voter approval of the list, as well as overseeing projects if the referendum passes.
“We are becoming more relevant,” Leithead said. “I think Doug has a real passion for making a difference with us and leaving a legacy we will be proud of.”
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