DOT job search gets all Perez Hilton
September 26, 2007 at 1:27 pm by Thomas Wheatley in NewsFor those of us watching the race for the next Georgia Department of Transportation commissioner, the resourceful Erick at the delightful Peach Pundit tosses some insider gossip into the muck. It reads more like a fourth-grader’s birthday party, but whatever.
A little bird lands upon his windowsill and whispers …
The Governor does not have the votes for Gena Abraham and Vance Smith does not have the votes either. [Ed’s Note: Remember, Cagle and Perdue like Abraham and Richardson likes Smith]
DOT Board members are very nervous. They do not want to piss off the Governor, but they don’t want to piss off the Speaker either. They’re all pretty pissed off that they’re getting caught in the crossfire between the legislature and Governor.
One guy said, “What in the hell does the Speaker’s tax plan have to do with the DOT Commissioner?†But that’s exactly the kind of politics going on.
Key members of the Board and General Assembly started pushing around an idea today. Their idea is to make Mike Evans, the current Chairman, the Commissioner. He’d offer Gena the position of COO of the Department of Transportation. Evans would offer Vance a senior role too, assuming Vance wants one.
Everyone would save face and everyone would win.
Governor Perdue likes Mike Evans. He’s one of the few people who actually works well with Sonny. He’s a former House member and leader and good friends with the Speaker. When in the House, h [sic] was part of Casey’s delegation, so they have a working relationship. Evans was also one of Cagle’s key backers early on and lined up lots of transportation community support for Cagle in the primary, see e.g. the Atlantic Station event.
Bold emphasis added, of course. Not to toot my own horn here, but I like to think CL’s online job listing for the DOT’s top slot should bring a massive influx of fresh-faced candidates from all walks of life into the agency’s pool of applicants. How awkward — and fruitless — is it going to be when one of these go-getters sits down for an interview with the very same person — DOT Chairman Mike Evans — who is already being talked about for the job?
Oh, to be … a fly … on the wall.
But this is my favorite line regarding the picking of teams so as not to wrinkle the brows of top-dog pols:
Everyone would save face and everyone would win.
Yes, everyone but the people trying to do something to fix the gridlock mess we call “everyday Atlanta traffic.” Lovely how — at least when viewing the tip Erick received — there’s little discussion about who has experience in the issues and more focus on appeasing the backslappin’ echo chamber and CEO of West Paces Ferry.
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