Fresh Loaf

Not Mike Evans. But it kind of looks like him.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has appointed Mike Evans, the former State Transportation Board chief who resigned after he and Commissioner Gena Abraham revealed the two were in a relationship, to the Department of Community Affairs Board.

After resigning from the DOT board, Evans was rumored to run for the Public Service Commission’s Northern District or try to return to the General Assembly. (Evans served eight years in the state House of Representatives.) He and Abraham recently married and she took his last name.

The Department of Community Affairs serves as an advocate for local governments, operates a large number of state and federal grants, and helps communities with planning, housing and building. (They’re also to thank for all those nifty Georgia History markers you see around the state.) Evans will serve as an “at large” representative.

Bookmark It

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.

Bookmark It

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.

Bookmark It

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…)

Bookmark It

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.

Bookmark It

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.

Bookmark It

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.

Bookmark It

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)

Bookmark It

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.

Bookmark It

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)

Bookmark It

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.

Bookmark It

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.

Bookmark It

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.

Bookmark It