Fresh Loaf

While I was up in Washington, D.C. and New York City on a fact-finding mission, it looks like y’all had a helluva time. Mayor Shirley Franklin asked the feds for a life preserver, the Georgia Department of Transportation decided years-old e-mails of a lascivious nature weren’t grounds for dismissal (use Gchat, Gena!), Buckhead was — gasp — called overdeveloped, and the DeKalb County Courthouse was visited by Peter, Ray and Egon. Oh yeah, and some guy who lost a presidential election visited. And there was also this news.

Sure, all I have to show for my hedonistic jaunt are a lot of blisters and FedEx receipts because I shipped all my books, DVDs and tiger-taming gear from my old NYC apartment to Decatur. But it’s good to be back. I’m eager to get back into covering the U.S. Senate and Public Service Commission races and all the other sordid beats. And finally getting the pedicure that I, being the “prominent journalist” that I am, promised a lucky lady. Viva Atlanta! Viva Creative Loafing! Viva chaos!

How was your week, Atlanta?

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The state DOT board met Thursday afternoon for a closed-door discussion of the lingering scandal surrounding Commissioner Gena Evans and whether she could continue to function effectively as agency head  – no pun intended.

As the AJC and Morris News Service report today, Evans is still standing.

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InsiderAdvantage is reporting that DOT Commissioner Gena Evans may be in a new world of trouble. Apparently, a recent barrage of TV news pieces about saucy e-mails that Evans exchanged five years ago on government computers with a former boyfriend while working at a completely different agency has riled up the DOT board. IA suggests the board may consider dumping Evans — who not coincidentally, is a veteran reformer who’s been picking apart the DOT’s long history of waste and graft — at a meeting as early as today.

Stay tuned. In the meantime, you can catch up with the salacious details on WSB-TV, Fox-5 and, of course, CL.

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Dale Russell of Fox5 Atlanta has an investigative report airing tonight at 6 and 10 p.m. that looks into DOT Commissioner Gena Evans (nee Abraham) and explicit e-mails she sent to former boyfriends when she worked at different state agencies. If they’re the same ones reported late last week by WSB’s Richard Belcher, then they’re sexual in nature.

Evans has denied she did anything wrong and has understandably questioned who’s behind the examination of her past. The commissioner’s widely considered a reformer at the uber-powerful and long-beleaguered state agency. It’s been rumored, however, that her appointment angered many proponents of the status quo. Whatever the case, word is that some high-level folks are keeping an eye on this item. UPDATE: Galloway says the DOT Board will discuss the e-mails in a closed-door session on Nov. 13.

Says Russell:

It began with a computer disk with hundreds of e-mails written by DOT Commissioner Gena Evans. Written, before she was at the DOT, while working at other state agencies. Written on state computers, often during office hours. Many are personal. Some, very personal, even sexually explicit. They took us on a trail to personal relationships that some say conflicted with her professional responsibilities.

Click here to check out Russell’s preview of the report. (I was going to say “tease,” but that just seems too easy in this case.) Click here to view what aired on WSB.

The look into the e-mails — which were unearthed by Open Records enthusiast George Anderson  — has generated an interesting discussion on Peach Pundit and Live Apartment Fire. (Dale at LAF examines the newsroom decisions that led to the airing of the e-mails; Erick at PP says he thinks reporters are being led on a witch hunt by enemies of Evans.)

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DAVID FRANKLIN: The ex-husband of Mayor Shirley Franklin and a chief architect of the Maynard Jackson political machine died Sunday at 65.

TRAVELATROCITY: Atlanta and several other U.S. cities are suing 17 online travel sites including Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia, alleging the companies have cheated the cities out of millions in taxes.

REVACUEES: Gulf Coast residents who fled Hurricane Gustav may be repeating the ordeal less than two weeks later as Ike heads west-northwest.

OH, THE HEWED MANATEE: Four manatees are killed in the Savannah River, presumably by a large commercial or military prop boat.

HOSCHTON: The northeast Georgia city has broken Cincinnati’s world record for scarecrows in a single ZIP code, with nearly 5,000 at last count.

CLAYTON NOT APPEALING: The school system has decided not to appeal SACS’ accreditation-removal decision, instead focusing on getting its accreditation reinstated by September 2009.

ZONE COVERAGE: Former UGA and Cincinnati Bengals dynamo linebacker David Pollack, whose football career was ended in September 2006 with a broken neck, has signed on to host a sports talk show on 790 the Zone.

CONNECTING THE DOT: DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham and former DOT chairman Mike Evans were married Saturday night in Alabama.

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The former state legislator is currently involved in a sexual harassment investigation at the transportation agency.

InsiderAdvantage has more details.

Pinholster’s the second boardmember to resign in several months; the first was former Chairman Mike Evans who resigned to pursue a relationship with DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham. State lawmakers from the congressional district Pinholster represents will have to vote for a replacement.

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The election for the DOT Board seat left vacant by Mike Evans — he who fell in looooove — wasn’t nearly as contentious as the one earlier this year. Those races left a couple of state representatives who didn’t side with Speaker Glenn Richardson’s pick finding themselves relocated to less prestigious offices and losing committee appointments.

But that’s the past, man. Everybody behaved themselves this go-round. And now that Evans and DOT Commissioner are planning their nuptials, we, the gridlock-enslaved scribes of the city, present to you…Steve Farrow! (He’s a former state senator and attorney who oddly enough, seems to have never been photographed in his life. No, I don’t think this guy holding the lobster is him.)

After the jump, the requisite press release giving you the background on Farrow.

(more…)

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The DOT board revealed the news today. The future bride and groom have registered at C.W. Matthews.

Pretty fast courtship, judging they only realized their love for one another a couple of months ago.

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The Georgia Public Policy Foundation, the banner carriers of the Peach State’s free-market movement, hosted DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham last week to update powerplayers and bigwigs about the transportation agency’s pulse.

Here’s Abraham in a Florida Times-Union article about the event, talking about some of the good deeds that have gone unnoticed in light of all the romantic hullabaloo during her tenure (emphasis added):

In her speech, [Abraham] complained that news reports of [her relationship with former board Chairman Mike Evans] were distracting the public from information of substantive progress at the agency, namely a commitment to proceed with a long-discussed commuter-rail line from Atlanta to Lovejoy.

“I want to mention something that I am very excited about that the board passed in the last board meeting that didn’t get written about. Everything else in my personal life did. The board was very, very excited, and so was I about passing a resolution to look at commuter rail,” she said.

*Cough, cough* Ahem.

In more substantive news, the article also includes this choice nugget:

Another way of paying for [transportation projects] would be through privately run toll roads or, at least, toll lanes. Perhaps that’s why the luncheon was sponsored by Transurban, an Australian company that operates toll lanes for rushed commuters in Washington, D.C., and a toll road in Richmond, Va.

Common sense would tell me these speedy lanes would benefit the folks who could afford them — and who aren’t getting pinched by high gas prices — and cripple those who can’t, leaving them sitting in traffic in the Average Joe lanes, burning gasoline and seconds of their lives.

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Don’t look for this story in That Other Paper or on any of the television networks in town save for Fox5 — it ain’t there.

Three months ago, Dale Russell, the station’s investigative watchdog, broke a story about the state Environmental Protection Division’s Carol Couch giving developers planning a Wal-Mart in Forsyth County a green light to build on top of a stream.

In doing so, Couch essentially overrode her own agency’s previous judgment, and left many people wondering if the decision wasn’t part of a deeper political powerplay by Gold Dome bigwigs aimed at convincing then-DOT Board Chairman Mike Evans — who was developing the big-box store deal — to cast the deciding vote that placed Gena Abraham at the helm of the state transportation agency. Evans and Abraham later revealed they fell in love after she took the job. Evans resigned, Abraham stayed, c’est la vie, oobla di, oobla da, that’s amore.

Dedicated government gadfly George Anderson, of nonprofit one-man watchdog group Ethics in Government Group, filed complaints Friday about those scandals with the state inspector general against the EPD, DOT officials and Gov. Sonny Perdue. Anderson’s filed more than 300 such complaints and even questions the inspector general if she’ll act on them.

For a quick rundown of the details, view Russell’s report here.

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MYANMAR CYCLONE: Death toll exceeds 22,000.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: Georgia’s the first state to start killing prisoners again, with William Earl Lynd scheduled to be lethally injected at 7 tonight.

GEORGIA AQUARIUM: Adding dolphins, as well as 1.3 million gallons of water for them.

NORREESE HAYNES: Clayton judge says Haynes can’t have his school board seat back and he sued the wrong group, since the school board doesn’t administer elections. Haynes says he’ll appeal and now sue the right group, the board of elections.

MORE IN CLAYTON: New corrective superintendent is making all school administrators reapply for their jobs.

FALCONS: Linebacker Michael Boley arrested in Dacula on charges he beat his wife.

KEPT ON TRUCKING: Disgruntled truck driver drives truck cab into lake.

ARTHUR TESLER: Trial underway for the only cop involved in Kathryn Johnston shooting to plead not guilty; lawyers say he was manipulated by two senior officers.

MAN FROM PLANES: Delta prez explains to surly Minnesota lawmakers that he’s going to be taking their Northwest HQ back to Atlanta.

DOT FIRINGS: WSB-TV open-records request finds reasons why Gena Abraham has fired 43 employees since taking over in December, ranging from theft, pulling a machete on another employee, bringing a gun to work and e-mailing porn.

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That’s what Rep. Carl Rogers, R-Gainesville, is saying to the Gainesville Times:

“I was told about some things going on, and I knew they would surface. I just didn’t know when,” Rogers said. “They had been seen together, and I couldn’t give you any particulars.”

Rumormongering! That’s my kind of a guy. Us scribble-happy muckrakers would have more to write about if only all our elected officials were so loose-lipped.

The article also spells out some other names being bandied about for former DOT Board Chairman Mike Evans’ seat. Worth a look. Sen. Chip Pearson, R-Dawsonville, announced he’s seeking a third term, so contrary to previous reports, he’s out of the running. Breathe easy, Jon — for now.

(Photo illustration by Thomas Wheatley)

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Cupid fires his bow and in the process shakes up the state’s most powerful agency.

In a whirlwind series of events more akin to a Lifetime television movie, DOT Board Chairman Mike Evans resigned on Thursday two weeks after disclosing that he and DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham had begun a relationship that was deeper than just traffic plans and public-private initiatives — a no-no according to the agency’s rules.

On Monday the board scolded Abraham with a written reprimand but decided to keep her at the helm — a move that surely pleased such voices of support as Gov. Sonny Perdue, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and many associations who have eyed Abraham as the breath of fresh air DOT needs. All while this was happening, WSBTV reported board member Garland Pinholster, who resigned his position as acting chairman today, is the subject of a sexual harrassment investigation.

Evans was the deciding vote in a contentious political battle to appoint Abraham as commissioner. Many applauded the budding couple’s disclosure as a by-the-book step in the right direction, although that’s likely to be change if it’s revealed their relationship began earlier than the couple has described.

Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson must now announce a special election to fill Evans’ seat for the North Georgia district which he served.

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OBAMA: Getting snarkier, outspending Clinton 2-to-1 on TV ads in Pa. on Primary Eve.

GRACE UNDER FIRES: Okefenokee Swamp open, still recovering from last year’s forest fires; boat tours survey remaining damage.

A NICE METH YOU’VE GOTTEN ME INTO: CNN reporter arrested in Central Park with meth in his pocket while returning to his hotel room with friends.

THE TRIALS OF ABRAHAM: Smitten DOT commish to announce today whether she plans to stay in her post, will then be voted in or out by the board.

KATHRYN JOHNSTON SHOOTING: Jury selection for Arthur Tesler’s trial begins today.

THE NEGOTIATOR: Jimmy Carter gets Hamas to agree to hypothetical peace deal, gets snubbed by Israelis.

HAWKS: Lose Game 1 handily.

JUNK FEUD: NBA players LeBron James and DeShawn Stevenson hold proxy feud via rappers Jay-Z and Soulja Boy.

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Let’s begin with a beautiful quote:

“There’s no light switch in the relationship that comes on one day. It’s not like that. We establish relationships — when you work with somebody you develop a mutual respect, it becomes an admiration, and then it develops into deeper feelings than that.”

That was Gov. Sonny Perdue waxing poetic about the magic of amor in a press conference at the Capitol. Standing alongside Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, the governor voiced his support for DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham and said that while surprised by the revelation that she and now-former DOT Board Chairman Mike Evans had begun a relationship, he still thinks she is the right person to reform the state agency.

“I still have absolute confidence in Gena’s ability,” Perdue said when asked by a reporter if he would ask Abraham to resign. “For the last five months she’s been dealing with tremendous change in the DOT. The fact is change is tough and needs to take place. The change she’s talking about is good for the state, good for the public, good for Georgia’s infrastructure, and transportation, and I’m convinced she’s resolved to see that change through.”

Cagle agreed with the governor, saying that he thinks Abraham still has “the fight in her” to lead the dysfunctional agency.

Perdue said that Abraham told him about the relationship on Wednesday while he was in Texas at an energy summit — which was actually a Republican Governors Association conference, but whatever.

“It was a much more distraught Gena Abraham than I’ve seen before,” he said of their conversation. “She’s usually always much more in command of her thoughts and is very disciplined in her approach to solutions. And [their conversation] was very uncharacteristic of that.”

He said that he’s spoken with members of the DOT board and expressed his confidence in the commissioner. Abraham did not offer him her resignation, he said.

When asked if he would still support Abraham if evidence reveals their relationship started earlier than one month ago — the time Evans and Abraham have said they started developing feelings for one another — Perdue effectively dodged the question and said he trusts what he’s been told.

There may be more fallout from Evans’ and Abraham’s relationship. Earlier in the press conference the AJC’s Ariel Hart asked the governor if rumors that a private investigator’s discovery had triggered Evans’ announcement. Perdue laughed and said he hadn’t heard about such a thing. Before Cagle left the briefing, she asked him if he had convinced Evans to resign. He chuckled and made a swift exit. Whatever the case, on Monday we find out whether Abraham stays or goes.

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)

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ALL SHOOK UP: Illinois quake measured 5.4 on the Richter scale, was felt in Georgia and as far south as north Florida.

GWCC: Tornado damage is about $100 million, but officials say it will open April 28.

ASPHALT MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER: As Thomas reported yesterday, DOT chairman and commissioner are in love, and the former has resigned. Now Gov. Perdue has to grumble back into town to handle things.

SHOT IN THE DARK: Entire Charter cable TV, phone and Internet service knocked out Wednesday night in Hall County by a single bullet.

COAST IS CLEAR: Vidalia emergency room doctor is one of several volunteers being honored for working to fill potholes and doing other maintenance on coastal wildlife refuges that might otherwise not get done due to budget cuts.

FLU OFF THE HANDLE: Bad vaccine-mixing made 2007-08 the worst flu season in several years.

HONEYTASED HAM: Cops Tase a frenzied pig on I-75 after it falls off the back of a truck, the second time in two weeks a hoofed animal has caused an uproar on the interstate.

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I just want to thank my colleague Thomas Wheatley for reporting about the drama at the Georgia Department of Transportation today.

I finally have an explanation for all of the weird road signs I’ve been seeing around Atlanta lately.

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From the DOT:

STATEMENT BY BOARD CHAIRMAN MIKE EVANS

The following statement was made at today’s meeting of the State Transportation Board by Chairman Mike Evans in announcing his resignation:

“In the past five months, I have worked closely with Commissioner Abraham to work towards change within the Department. Over the course of those five months, I have grown to admire her and respect her more and more every day. Her sense of integrity and work ethic is well known throughout state government and I can see why. Over the last month or so we have grown to care for each other more than on a professional level, she became my friend. As our friendship developed, we realized that there was the possibility of something more than friendship. At this point we met with the Vice-Chairman, Garland Pinholster, to discuss and determine the best direction and concluded that it was best to also inform the Board, which was done in Executive Session yesterday.

DOT Policy does not permit relationships other than professional or friendship within the direct chain of command. As Chairman of this Board, I strongly believe that I should be the model for respect and adherence to policy that I wish to see in all GDOT employees, especially with the challenges that we face. In doing so, I must therefore tender my resignation today as Chairman and a member of the Georgia Department of Transportation Board.

I have served as a member of this Board for five years and it has been my honor and privilege to do so as a representative for District 9. My heart is heavy today because I know that in tendering my resignation, I am also disappointing a great number of people who have supported me throughout the years, in particular, during my re-election to the Board this year. There are those who suffered great losses in support of me. I will be eternally grateful for their support.

I will spend the rest of my days trying to restore their trust and in gaining their forgiveness for having stepped down at this point in my term.

I want to thank my colleagues on the Board who have been a support to me as well. As I leave my seat and return to my daily routine, I will still remain an advocate for systemic reform for Transportation in Georgia. It is still a worthwhile and noble cause that I will always believe in.

To the employees of the department, I have said how great they are and what dedicated public servants they are. I hope the board and senior staff will honor their service by doing everything they can to give them the department they deserve.

To the board, I hope you will continue the momentum and change that I have been pushing for the last five years, and that has accelerated over the last five months.

To the cities, counties and individuals whose dedicated support helped me win re-election I apologize for my untimely departure and will never forget their loyal support.

As always, I am honored to serve the people of the 9th District and the state of Georgia.

Again, I thank everyone for the opportunity to serve.”

At this time, there will be no further comment from the Department on this matter.

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Love will tear us apart … from our positions on powerful state agencies!

Georgia Department of Transportation Chairman Mike Evans admitted to the state agency’s executive board today that he and new Commissioner Gena Abraham have been “dating,” a DOT spokesperson says. Evans will resign from the chairman position and the board effective immediately. Evans was elected to the DOT board in 2003 and was elected chairman in 2006.

No word as to how long they’ve been dating and how much their relationship played a role into Evans joining Gov. Sonny Perdue to support Abraham over state Rep. Vance Smith, R-Pine Mountain. Speaker Glenn Richardson wanted Smith in the job. That battle was a nasty one, resulting in House members who opted for Abraham to be stripped of their prized office spaces and placed on committees for not kowtowing to the Speaker’s wishes.

Lots of unanswered questions. Why now? Apparently, Abraham and Evans both came to DOT Board Vice Chairman Garland Pinholster two weeks ago and informed him of their budding relationship. They wanted to disclose it, Evans says, and move forward appropriately. Will Abraham face any punishment or penalty? We’ll find out April 21. The board has scheduled a special meeting for that date. Why does Mike Evans remind me so much of Huey Lewis? Unfortunately, this is more of a personal issue that I prefer to allow figure itself out.

We’ll have more on this as the day unfolds.

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Apparently something big is going down at a Georgia Department of Transportation executive meeting being held right now.

Word from a source at DOT says that it’s related to at least one of several developing stories coming out of the beleaguered state agency in recent weeks. Those include the $1 billion shortfall, the DOT board elections, toll roads, etc. The list goes on. This follows on the tensions over Gena Abraham’s appointment to the commissioner’s office.

Apparently someone’s in trouble. Watch this space for more info.

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Gena Abraham, commissioner of the state Department of Transportation, and Carol Couch, director of the state Environmental Protection Division, spoke today at the South Metro Outlook conference held at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park. Lots of interesting tidbits, but to aid you, dear reader, I’ve bulleted the eyebrow-raisers of the morning.

• “We have to look at alternate modes of transportation,” Abraham said. “We can not build enough roads and bridges to build ourselves out of this transportation problem.”

Increasing property and construction costs have presented a challenge to the cash-strapped and mismanaged state agency that for years has been known as “the Department of Roads and Bridges,” she said. (Abraham took the reins in December 2007.) While Abraham did not want to jump too far ahead and outline what she thought the metro region needed in terms of transportation fixes, she did say that she would support the findings of the Transit Planning Board. That board is a coalition of MARTA, the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and the DOT. View its plans for metro Atlanta here.

• Abraham said that MARTA should be the backbone for the transit system in the state. (I think she meant “city” here. She was speaking about how the transportation dilemma is a statewide problem, affecting Georgia’s ports as well as metro Atlanta congestion. Continued inaction would lead to economic impacts, she said. For example, freight traffic coming from the state’s ports into the metro region would be affected.)

• “Now, about public-private initiatives,” Abraham said. “They are not the panacea. They only cover a portion of these projects. We have to look at alternate modes of transportation in addition to PPIs.” Multiple sources of funding exist, she said, and should be explored and considered. (more…)

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If you’re the kind of guy or gal who enjoys watching grown men and women act like petty schoolchildren, you’ll want to be at the Capitol today. A political popularity and pissing contest starts at 10 a.m. or 30 minutes after the end of the state House’s session, whichever comes first. You guessed it — it’s the DOT board elections! There are a lot of background details and salacious gossip to get caught up on, but if you just wanna jump into it, here are some basic details:

State House Speaker Glenn Richardson — no wait, I wanna use this photo — is very angry that DOT Board Chairman — and probable distant relative of Huey Lewis — Mike Evans didn’t side with him and vote for state Rep. Vance Smith for the transportation agency’s commissioner job that opened up when Harold Linnenkohl announced his retirement late last year. Evans instead voted for Gov. Sonny Perdue’s pick, former Georgia Building Authority boss Gena Abraham. She’s the state’s first female transportation chief and supposedly a management wiz. Richardson, still smarting from all this, has been trying to get other state representatives to oust Evans when the caucus elections are held throughout the day tomorrow. No word yet on whether they’ll be secret ballot, heads-up-seven-up or what. His ultimate goal: get his picks on the DOT board, then — allegedly! — boot Abraham out of the top slot.

Oh, and the other guy Richardson wants out? Raybon Anderson. Who does King Glenn want in his place? Former Rep. Stacey Reece, R-Gainesville. He was caught in some shenanigans in 2006 involving lobbyists and his wedding shower.

Jesus, I feel like I just wrote a gossip column. Now go back and reread all that crap and don’t tell me that while, yes, it sure does makes for some Gold-Dome drama, it’s also slightly depressing. Back-slapping, back-stabbing, backroom-politickin’ bullshitake mushrooms. It’s like a Hollywood movie, only everyone’s not attractive. And the reason the kerfuffle is getting so much press is because no one really knows what’s going to happen. If the state House had some brains they’d sell advertising on tomorrow’s webcast. I’m sure they’ll have a healthy viewership.

But so be it. They gotta cast the votes anyway and at least it makes for good reading on what would be an otherwise mundane subject. Human faces and emotions illustrating the political process. Might even be a fistfight. We’ll see.

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Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson wrote an excellent piece in the January 2007 issue examining Rudy Giuliani — presidential hopeful and “America’s mayor” — and his lucrative foray post-9/11 into the business and legal world. Bracewell & Giuliani — formerly known as Bracewell & Patterson before Mr. 9/11 joined the team — represents one of Georgia’s biggest polluters:

By the time Giuliani became part of [Bracewell & Paterson], in early 2005, it had also become the go-to law firm for major polluters: oil and gas as well as coal companies. Among its significant clients are Chevron/Texaco, Pacific Gas & Electric, Dynegy, Southern Company, Valero Energy, and Shell Oil.

Emphasis added. That fact’s been widely reported, known for quite some time, and notable if only because it shows a well-connected local company doing business with one of the nation’s most well-connected men. But included in Shnayerson’s piece is information about another company Giuliani’s firm represents: Macquarie, an Australian banking group that specializes in such public-private initiatives as toll roads and the uber-controversial Trans-Texas Corridor.

During his State of the State address, Gov. Sonny Perdue suggested that newly appointed DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham should oversee the State Road and Tollway Authority, which may hint at some more serious discussion of public-private initiatives. Abraham has said on record that the agency isn’t poised to take on such projects yet in its current mismanaged state, but she’s hinted in the past that it’s an area in which the DOT needs to explore its options.

For your enlightenment, read the VF piece about Giuliani. Note Macquarie’s dealings with the former mayor’s businesses and the opportunities those connections allowed. And just in case we hear some more concrete language from the state about allowing private companies to build and charge for access to roads, remember to keep the name of that Australian banking outfit filed somewhere in your mind.

Shnayerson ends the piece with a beautiful summation of just why any of this matters:

In the businesses that Giuliani built and bought these last six years, more deals have yet to be examined, more dots connected in the picture of his great financial success. But enough are there already, with lines between them, for a shape to have clearly emerged. It’s a picture of a politician leading a parade, as Mayor Giuliani so often did. Only the marchers behind him aren’t drum majorettes or wartime veterans or firefighters or police. They’re a ragtag band of Texas lawyers and energy lobbyists, penny-stock sharpies and security-industry entrepreneurs, agog with visions of the ultimate pay-to-play presidency.

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Harsh, but the truth hurts. After just a week on the job, DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham has come to Gov. Sonny Perdue with a confused look on her face and wondered just what the hell kind of a mess she inherited. Abraham, a successful woman with a reputation for efficiency, rose up through the ranks in public service and the construction industry and has been spotlighted as a person who can possibly shake the agency’s inertia.

Here are just some of the problems: When asked how many projects DOT currently has on its books, Abraham was told 1,100. After a couple of updates from staff, she says it appears the total now hovers around 9,211. The 1,553 lawsuits the agency faces are not being managed properly. The accounting operations at DOT, she discovered, don’t even communicate. And while agency honchos told InsiderAdvantage and That Other Paper they honestly don’t believe there to be any chicanery going on, they think a wider gap needs to exist between planners and private industry chums. These are problems with the process, and not the people, they said. And there’s gonna have to be some ch-ch-changes.

Lee Biola, president of Citizens for Progressive Transit, says he hopes the agency can learn some lessons from Abraham’s report. “Before we even knew of problems with the projects, we knew [DOT's] larger aims were out of touch with much of Georgia,” he says. “We know they’ve been resistant to the idea of commuter rail. Very often they do their projects with very little sensitivity to community. Like on 14th Street, they’ve already taken out several restaurants, are impacting pedestrian access and making it a high-speed area for cars. It’s time for them not to be just efficient, but more sensitive.”

Abraham’s findings may be echoed during the upcoming General Assembly when legislators may discuss if taxpayers, especially after all this was revealed, will be able to trust DOT with their tax dollars. Groups such as CFPT — which supports a regional sales tax for transportation projects — say that the best planning decisions are made at the local level and should be paid for by those directly affected by them. If a region has the cash to pursue a transportation project, why should DOT even be involved?

That Other Paper describes DOT as being in “disarray,” but I’ll label it crony-influenced malaise perpetuated by hand-shakery and look-the-other-way-ism. It’s a rare disease that affects certain sedentary members of political bodies. Rarely found in community organizations or jobs where people don’t have the luxury of catching Fat Cat fever, it is usually only treated by moving on to private industry or consulting work. Usually the disease is terminal at that point.

Jay Bookman eloquently outlines the crony culture that has been a mainstay at the state’s transportation agency for decades, as well as the political squabbling that both went on before Abraham’s appointment and appears to be continuing as motorists sit in gridlock.

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Many people’s eyes rolled when state Rep. Vance Smith was announced as the chief competition to Gena Abraham in the GDOT commissioner race — after all, he owns a construction and grading company, and that meant he would bulldoze and build mercilessly, right? But he very well could have been a saving grace for a region lacking in transit options and awash in pavement. Abraham, who was approved on Wednesday as commissioner-elect, also comes from a construction background but has experience in engineering and academia, and as of late, has been touting public-private initiatives — calling them “definitely something we have to do” at a press Q&A yesterday. PPIs the DOT is currently pursuing or considering involve roads and lanes rather than rails and trains.

Which made this little snippet from Dick Pettys’ InsiderAdvantage Georgia piece from yesterday interesting …

For sure, Democrats are just as mad. They had thrown in with the Republican leadership in an effort to sway the election to [state Rep. Vance] Smith, who had promised to give due consideration to some of their key transportation goals – mass transit and multi-modal operations for Atlanta.

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