Blunt wants governor to pick MoDOT chief

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A few years ago when House Republicans were in the minority and proposed making the head of the Missouri Department of Transportation a gubernatorial appointee, Democratic leaders weren't interested.

When Gov. Bob Holden, a Democrat, embraced the idea in 2003, enthusiasm among Republicans, who by that time controlled both legislative chambers, had waned.

But with an incoming Republican governor who campaigned on the proposal as a way to bolster administration oversight of MoDOT, there might be renewed interest on the part of GOP lawmakers when the legislative session begins Jan. 5.

Governor-elect Matt Blunt's spokesman said the idea remains "a pillar of the new governor's transportation plan" but acknowledged such a major shift in the department's leadership structure won't be easy to accomplish.

"We're sure it will be a very spirited debate, but we do believe it is something the legislature will look favorably on," said spokesman Spence Jackson.

MoDOT is currently run by the State Highways and Transportation Commission, an independent six-member board. The commission appoints a director who oversees the day-to-day operations of the department.

Blunt proposes replacing the director with a secretary of transportation selected by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. The transportation secretary would report directly to the governor and carry out his policy directives.

Whereas Holden's plan was to reduce the commission to a mere advisory board, Blunt wants the commission to remain as the final authority on funding decisions and project selection. The commission, however, would lose its power over personnel matters and general departmental operations.

With a transportation secretary beholden to the governor, Blunt believes the agency would be more accountable to the public than it is under the commission structure, Jackson said.

In recent years, MoDOT at times has been criticized for failure to deliver promised projects and for being unresponsive to elected officials.

State Rep. Gayle Kingery, a member of the House Transportation and Motor Vehicles Committee, said he has mixed feelings about reducing the commission's power but believes Blunt's proposal has merit.

"Matt is a person who is strong enough to make it work," said Kingery, R-Poplar Bluff. "If there are any flaws in it, he could iron them out for succeeding governors. I think it would be a good idea to try it."

However, Kingery said it might be appropriate to give new MoDOT director Pete Rahn, whom the commission hired in August, a chance to improve the agency's public image before pursuing radical change.

With Rahn's recent hiring and last month's statewide voter approval of a ballot measure that will pump more money into highway construction, state Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Lee's Summit, said many lawmakers may not be keen on immediately addressing the MoDOT leadership issue and prefer to give the department another year to "get its act together."

Even so, Bartle plans to actively push for constitutional amendment that would not only create a secretary of transportation appointed by the governor but abolish the commission. Such an amendment ultimately would have to be approved by voters.

"We need a governor who has the power to do something about our roads," Bartle said. "Under our current structure, it doesn't work that way."

Bartle said he is open to retaining the commission in some fashion but that the governor and his transportation secretary would need to play an active role in funding decisions.

Commissioners currently are appointed by the governor to fixed terms. Once approved by the Senate, however, they are answerable to no one.

The independent nature of the commission was intended to insulate highway funding decisions from political pressure. Bartle said that hasn't worked.

"When you make an entity nonelected, all the politics are there but none of the accountability," Bartle said.

If the governor is the one ultimately in charge of Missouri's transportation system, voters could retaliate at the ballot box if they are unhappy with how MoDOT is being run, Bartle said.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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